Natalia

When I was 17 I was already earning money. It’s a pity that statement doesn’t mean I am rich.

I was basically hired by one of my neighbors’ parents to help their daughter with her math assignments and then the math bit expanded to Spanish and English as well. To tell you the truth I don’t remember if it was English first and then math.I liked the cookies her mother used to buy everyday and I loved to sit down on the kitchen stool looking at the fish in the aquarium. I had a look at my neighbor’s world which was so feminine: Full of purses and clothes, pinky things, shoes, make up and posters.

She had so many diaries that she gave me one so I could write something interesting there. I started writing one day and of course after some time it ended up in flames just as the rest of the ones I had had.

She really loved the "Spice girls" and so I learned the choreography of all their songs. I must admit I am not ashamed to confess I still remember all the moves.

We also used to play with the other kids (though by that time I was already in the "big kids" group) games like "Hide and seek" and "Cops and robbers". When we din't feel like running we would go to one of the garages without a car or ceiling just to look at the stars and talk about whatever things that troubled us at the time.

We were usually joined at the garage by a couple of kids more, two girls and three boys more sometimes.

I wonder where they all are now.

Anyway, I suppose I am a bit nostalgic today…and all these memories because I was listening to the spice girls CD.

Dressed for success

You are certainly not going to give your neighbors the best impression when opening the door for the delivery man wearing a purple shirt, orange shorts, black socks and pink slippers.

Of course you do realize it once you are already paying for the pizza and your neighbor who is passing by, stares at you like saying: What the…

Art Exhibition

On Friday, we went to the Art Exhibition featuring 86 works of Mr. Victor Diacono. The organizer was our neighbour, who is also an artist - Gabriel Pellegrini.

A historical visit.

I am absolutely delighted to have met the Salvadoran Ambassador in Rome, Mr. José Roberto Andino and his lovely wife Patricia. He is the first Salvadoran Ambassador to present his credentials in Malta. I am extremely happy to know that they are very highly qualified to be the best people to represent my country in Italy, Switzerland, Cyprus, Greece and now Malta. Both of them are very intelligent and kind hearted. They both speak several languages and their English is superbe.

It was a great pleasure to talk to them. In particular, it felt great to speak Spanish again for a few days, to talk about places in El Salvador, food and people who are mutual friends!

We had dinner together twice and we took them to visit the sister island of Malta: Gozo. We went to the Cathedral's guided tour and were very pleased about it. David and I had never visited the inside of the Gozitan Cathedral and it is really something special. We also visited the Citadela, the Gozitan fortifications.

I am quite happy to think that the bonds between Malta and El Salvador could be of some help to my country. You can find out more about the Salvadoran Embassy in Rome here.

Ta Pinu Church, Gozo.

Citadella and Gozitan Cathedral.

At home.

Mary of Angels

Cómo extraño a mis amigos en El Salvador...

Mary of Angels, dame señales de humo para alegrarme el día! :)

Vincent

Qué bonito

Swann in love

"We do not tremble except for ourselves, or for those whom we love. When our happiness is no longer in their hands, how calm, how relaxed, how bold we become in their pressence!"

Marcel Proust.
In search of lost time. Volume I, Swann's Way.

I wish I had read this many years ago...

An unusual call

Last evening after work, I was at home washing dishes, preparing the clothes' loads for the washing machine, ironing...you know...resting after a day at work :) and I received a phone call on my mobile. Now, that is already strange in itself because not even God remembers I have a mobile and the only messages (not even calls) I get are from the cell phones' company offering whatever sort of stupid offer such as if I want to receive updates of the Maltese Big Brother.

I could recognize my own Salvadoran accent on the other side of the line and said, who on earth would be calling me of all people in the world from my country if not even my parents contact me on a regular basis!...and I realized it was my country's Embassy in Italy.

Since we don't have an Embassy in Malta, last year I contacted the Embassy in Italy in order to solve some queries I had regarding paper work. So, I thought "What did I do now?" Could it be related to the movies that DVD rental shop says I never returned which 'authorized' them to print my ID card's number and picture on a board at the shop, as if I were among the most wanted? (It's not only me mind you, it's "normal' for DVD rental shops to show to the whole world who hasn't returned DVDs to their shop in a while or in my case who returned them but they never recorded it properly).

...Anyway, I was not in trouble. The Ambassador is visiting Malta this week and he would like to meet the Salvadoran community living here, that is: me. Sounds cool doesn't it? I'm pretty excited. I haven't seen a Salvadoran since I came here to Malta so it must feel good to talk to someone who was born where I was.

One hundred pages a day

People are usually constantly busy; I somehow envy them and their frantic lifestyle. I really wished to have something like that when I worked for a certain agency and my job basically consisted in answering the phone to provide tourist information about my country or waiting for someone to pop into the office to buy some promotional material. The problem was that the telephone didn’t ring more than eight times a day (when it was really busy, that is) and the only people who bought maps or books about the country were high school students who needed a map for their assignment. Taking into account the fact that there were two persons in charge (using very inverted commas), the whole day turned out to be a pretty depressing experience, at least for me.

From time to time, I was able to work as a tour guide. Not because that was part of my job, but because the person responsible for organizing the familiarization or press trips offered to journalists or to the travel agency representatives invited by the agency was sometimes too busy and I was therefore requested to go with some groups to show them a number of tourist attractions.

Once, I had to go to the beach with a clown and a guy dressed as a squirrel (I am not joking, which is even sadder) who worked for a children's show. I had to wear a bikini and talk to the clown about the sandy volcanic beach where we were and about how many people went there to surf. In the meantime, the squirrel was engaged in doing something that was supposed to be funny; I still remember him dancing around us and pulling the clown’s hair.

At that stage, I had already progressed to a certain number of weird or just sad experiences that I didn’t find the squirrel episode so traumatic. On the contrary, I decided to see the bright side of everything. It was better than being locked at the office waiting for the phone to ring while I read 100 pages a day.

So, after that, I let the clown invite me to share a coconut with him. They opened it and I tasted the delicious water inside the coconut while the squirrel (poor guy, he couldn’t remove the dreadful outfit!) toasted with a beer. At least, we were now under a palm tree where Manuel, the coconut salesman, worked. I suppose the hardest part for the squirrel was to be wearing that horrid, heavy, furry outfit, under the almost-noon sun while filming on the beach.

When I went back to the office, my friend’s boss came to meet me when I was getting down from the company car. She was agitated, which typically led me to think about whether I had done something wrong. But that was not the case this time. The friend who was in charge of organizing the tours was sick or something and I had to replace her in a tour to the volcanoes with representatives of the equivalent to our agency in one of our neighboring countries. I must say I was excited about it and while still wearing my bikini under a top and pants, I headed to meet the high officers and take them to the volcanoes. I felt like climbing.

Half way to the volcanoes, the representatives - two men and a woman - expressed their desire to go to the beach. I didn’t take the suggestion very well because I was happy to go to the volcanoes and I had spent the morning at the beach with the squirrel. But they insisted so much that I told them I had my orders (as if I were a soldier) to take them to the volcanoes to which they replied that they were friends with the agency's president and that they would talk to him on the phone. And I said, “All right, all right, no need to do that!”

We were already very close to the volcanoes. The sun was getting ready to set (because it was 4 pm and usually it does set at 6 or before) when I told the driver to change the route and take us to the closest beach. It happened to be one of the not-so-beautiful beaches in the country, but it was acceptable. The problem was that we didn’t have a hotel where to stay. You see, in my tropical country, the beach is basically privatized and you can’t just ‘go to the beach’. You need to know someone who has a house at the beach or enough money to go to a hotel that has access to the beach.

We enjoyed the sunset at a restaurant where we had ‘lunch’ since none of us had had lunch yet. With a group of Mariachis, the group and I started to feel the “beachy” atmosphere of the place and after several beers they decided to go for a swim. I thought it was a bad idea, first because of the amount of empty bottles that I could see on the table, second none of them had a swimming suit and third, we were not in a safe area. Safe in inverted commas, taking into account that not too many places in my country can be considered as safe; of course, this was just another one of them!

The swimming suit issue was not an issue anymore when one of them gave a kid who was with the Mariachis a 100 dollar note (that didn’t do much to keep our low profile at the beach) to go on his bicycle and buy him a pair of shorts so that he could swim. I was honestly surprised to see the kid return with a horrible pair of shorts and the change of the 100 dollar note. Of course, there was the chance the change was forged, but that is something that I and my 'beachy' mind will never know.

It was time to go back but not for these guys for whom it was just getting started. I had the blessing of the president of the agency so there wasn’t any problem at all; I didn’t see how a couple of hours more could be a problem the next day at work.

Since the restaurant didn’t have access to the beach, we started looking for a hotel in the area with which I was not too familiar and finally found one of the shabbiest hotels (again, using very inverted commas), that I had ever seen. Not the best way to impress the distinguished officers but they wanted to go there so there we went. At that point in time it was already 10 pm and it was pitch dark. The owner of the…hotel…told me that we should be careful because it was dangerous at the beach at the time; something that, as a native of my country, I already knew, but which my fellow officers didn’t highly appreciate, especially after all those beers. I must admit I was having fun though. Not that I could drink because I was ‘on duty’ but I still laughed at their jokes and even drank a bit, ok, not a bit but moderately, (again, inverted commas when saying "moderately") meaning that I was all right.

The man who had bought the shorts really insisted on going to swim at 10h30 pm in the dark water of the rough sea with nothing in his stomach but a couple of beers and nothing to lighten his way except for the stars above us. After hopelessly trying to persuade him, the man just started running to the sea. Of course, I was the tour guide and the person in charge (again inverted commas) and so I ran after him and the driver also started chasing me. I must say I felt like Pamela Anderson, except for the boobs, and so I jumped into the water, not caring about the possible aquatic animals that could be there at that time. The driver stayed on the sand because he didn’t have a swimming suit. The officer looked wasn’t drowning after all; I suppose he was not that drunk and he looked so happy under the stars, just…swimming…that I also let go and started enjoying the waves and the stars and the breeze and the soft sand under my feet…before I had to go tomorrow to the same dull office to wait for the phone to ring while I read 100 pages a day.

Note: I want to thank the people who have sent me e-mails (or comments) related to this entry in the blog. Though I had promised my friend Manu that I was not going to reply to comments because I always tend to be stubborn and write too much, I have to add a clarifying note:The best job I had in my life in El Salvador was in the place that I mentioned in my blog. I particularly enjoyed being a tour guide, actually I loved it. My own frustration with the low work load was due to the fact that at the time the development of the tourism industry was still just starting in my country. And as my friend Mary of Angels rightly points out, the industry has developed enormously since I left and I am really glad about it.

Picture

Chiara

Tonight there was a Maltese show on TV about Eurovision. They showed the songs that had represented Malta in the past. And this one is just amazing! The name is "Angel" and the singer's name is Chiara. Her voice is so beautiful that it makes my hairs stand on end!

My Maltese is getting a bit better so I could understand a lot of the comments. And now I am going to bed: Il-lejl it-tajjeb! You can read the lyrics here.

A good song

Loved it.

The lyrics
More about her music.

So you want to be a writer?

More Bukowski to cheer up my afternoon.

Juanes

Something to cheer me up just before leaving the office and to celebrate that the pump has now been repaired and a new kettle is now in the kitchen ;)

Ravel

As you can see it's another slow day at work :( What would I do without You tube? :) Isn't' this video great?

Breakdown

The kettle, the fridge, the water, the lift. It even rhymes...

The pump is not working again and we don't have water at all since yesterday. The lift hasn't been repaired. The fridge wasn't cooling and the kettle is just not boiling anymore...

I just pray there won't be a power cut like yesterday (2 hours) while I am on the lift...the only one working since I can't remember when...

"In search of lost time"

I'm half way through the first volume of "In search of lost time", one of the masterpieces of the last century. It was no easy task to start but now I can already see the flow. I am really enjoying it.

Martha's picture

One of my colleagues, Martha, sent me this Mdina's picture this morning. She is very interesting and it is great to talk to her! We talk about music (she introduced me to Cesária Évora), books, poetry and now we share photographs as well ;) Cool!

Eurovision: Malta's song

Even though Olivia Lewis'performance during the qualification show was very good and the song was powerful, Malta didn't make it to the final round. This is the first time that Malta will not be participating along with the finalists in Eurovision's song contest :(

The house of horrors

It truly looks like this building is a scary place. Things are kind of slow at work today and the day which is so amazingly beautiful outside.

I wish I were bathing in the sea that I can see from my office building. And that reminded me of the group of young workmen enjoying themselves on the Seine immortalized by Seurat’s painting: “Bathers at Asnières”. I don’t have anything clever to say about this painting because I am not an art critic. I just know I love it. When I want to relax I enjoy visiting the National Gallery of London’s website, while listening to “Enya” ;)

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

To finish the day at work...a nice video

Flexi-time

How I wish we had flexi-time at the office so we could decide at what time we want to start working or if we could work from home. All I need is a good computer and internet connection, a telephone, skype and that's it.

Sometimes I wonder how it would feel to be at home...working...I could get up at 9 and start working then, take a shower at 10 just after breakfast...listening to the music. Well, to tell you the truth I shouldn't complain about the music because I can listen to it at the office too. Actually now I am listening to Sheryl Crow, nice song.

I guess it's not that bad.

Julián was not a man, he was an illness..."The Shadow of the wind"

The other day I was on a train going from one place to another; tired of seeing the same faces at work, in the neighborhood, in the dancing classes, the same faces on the cover of the magazines, the same magazines in the same shops, the same shops attended by the same people, the same people talking about the same things, the same things that occupied our lives, all the same.

So one afternoon I decided to get on a train. I sat down next to a window just to see the landscape moving while I stuck my lips to see how it felt to open them again after hopefully, a journey of many hours.
Just when I was almost celebrating because nobody had sat down next to me, a woman, perhaps my age came to occupy the seat next to mine. She just quickly asked "Is this seat taken?" and I only moved my head to let her know that it was vacant but I didn't wish to talk.
"Point taken" she probably thought and for the first thirty glorious minutes I could enjoy the silence and the view while my thoughts danced euphorically in my mind. After this, an annoying vibration started moving the hand bag of the travel companion that destiny had chosen for me that afternoon.

The vibration was immediately followed by one of the Black Eyed Peas song and I gave her a killer look which could have been easily translated into "Get the phone...now!!!" if her gaze would have met mine, that is. But that never happened. Instead, her eyes were fixed on the handbag which now risked to fall on the floor because of the constant and never ending vibration. When it was almost at the edge of the seat she got the mobile phone out and put it on her table just to stare at it while it kept on moving thanks to the vibration.

At this point I was so annoyed that I couldn't keep on thinking straight. The Black Eyed Peas song had been ringing in my ears for about 5 minutes non-stop and I had to put an end to it; but instead of saying anything I just looked at the mobile moving, singing, flashing with the lights of these modern mobiles well-equipped with a million useless gadgets and of which I daren't imagine the price.

So, I looked at the mobile, she looked at me looking at the mobile, I looked at her looking at me looking at the mobile and I felt so lost for words that I remained there speechless. Then, with the most sensual voice I had ever heard she said:
"I hope I am not bothering you, or better said, him"
To my surprise, forgetting all that discretion meant I bluntly asked "Who is this him?"
"My boyfriend, well, ex-boyfriend since one hour ago"
Numbly I just muttered: "ummm..."
"He is impossible. We have been through this a thousand times and this time I am determined not to go back to him"
"Is that why you are going to this other place wherever that is?"
"I don't know where this train is headed"
"Neither do I"
"What a nice coincidence"
"Indeed"
"I suppose you are not here to chit-chat so I will leave you alone"
"It's all right. I don't mind" I lied.
"I wish I could turn off the mobile, but I can't help enjoying seeing it there, hopelessly vibrating and singing"
"At least you could turn off the annoying song"
"Sure"

And there it layed moving desperately, a green mobile on a table of a train.

"He was the love of my life" She continued. And as if I had asked her to elaborate, she went on saying with the same sensual tone: "We were meant to be together I know, but it's just he is impossible. He was the only thing that made sense in my life, my reason of being"
"And he stopped being that one hour ago?"
"Well, yes, the pain was like a sword cutting margarine but there was something in his soul escaping from his eyes that made me take out all the love I felt at once...one hour ago'
"And that's why he wants to melt your mobile now?"
"Well, yes, that and the fact that I owe him 500 dollars that now I will use for the therapist"
"I see"
"You are not from here are you?"
"Is the accent so obvious?"
"A bit, yes"
"You're right. I am not from here. I am from there"
"And is he from here?"
"No, he is from some other there"
"I see"
"Where is he now?"
"Leading the never-ending list of a***holes that I have let in my life"
And that's how I met Zen, until now, my only friend.

Donde va Vicente

In Spanish we use to say 'Donde va Vicente ahí va toda la gente' meaning that whatever one does the other one also wants to do it. Ayway, my friend Christian installed a site meter in his blog, "Andanzas y Malandanzas" and since I am a huge fan I noticed it and decided to do the same ;)

I am also taking advantage of the fact that I have the day off and have a little time to browse at home and relax, well, at least in theory because in practice I think I will have to do many things here at home, lunch included. I am thinking of preparing a Minestrone Soup, but we'll see.

Gozo. Pictures.

Gozo

Gozo, Għawdex in Maltese, is one of the three islands of the Maltese Archipelago and it is popularly known as "The island of calypso", a nickname originating from the Greek mythological location of Ogygia referred to in Homer's Odyssey. In this epic poem, the island was controlled by the nymph Calypso, who had detained the Greek hero Odysseus as her prisoner of love for seven years.

Regular ferries depart from the port of Cirkewwa on Malta and Mgarr on Gozo. For Gozitans the rate is subsidised which means that theirs is significantly lower than the standard fare.

The capital of the island is Victoria where we arrived at about midday just on time to have a great lunch at one of the coffee shops in the city. Since last year we visited 'The Citadela', an impressive fortification in the capital, this time we decided to go to a beautiful village called Marsalforn close to the sea.

Of course, before that we went to the Sunday market, or 'Monti', where I took this nice picture showing so many hats. It shows that summer is almost just round the corner, right? Though it won't be so useful because Gozo is very windy, or at least that's what I could experience these last two times I have been there.

When we arrived at Marsalforn we were surprised to see so many restaurants, bars, coffee shops and hotels on the Promenade. There are several sandy and pebbly beaches to sunbathe or swim. There is also the chance to practice acquatic sports such as scuba diving, snorkelling, as well as driving motor and sailing boats.

I have added a couple of pictures in the following entry. So, enjoy!

Girl of Ipanema

Sunday morning. We were supposed to leave early this morning to Gozo but we woke up kind of late. Then I started preparing the pancakes like every Sunday while listening to some music. I find something so relaxing in the 'Girl of Ipanema'.

Valletta Waterfront

This evening we went for a walk at the Valletta Waterfront. Cruiseliners and cargo ships can often be seen there.

There are many restaurants, wine bars and shops. We enjoyed visiting the Agenda bookshop and I ended up buying a very interesting book about the Maya culture.

I was going to buy 'The great gatsby' but then I saw this beautiful book containing numerous historical events as well as great pictures of Maya temples and treasures so I decided to go for it.

After relaxing at the Waterfront we went for a walk in Valletta and had a pizza at a restaurant which is located close to the Parliament. You can see a picture of the Parliament at the bottom

I really love Valletta. The whole city is a World Heritage Site and there are many museums and old buildings.

We couldn't stay for a long time because we have to get up early tomorrow since we are going to Gozo, one of the other Maltese islands. There are three main islands which form part of the archipelago: Malta, Gozo and Comino...but then Gozo will need another entry in the blog...

Nina Simone

One of my favorite songs...Nina Simone is just fantastic.

The illusionist

Last night we watched "The Illusionist" at the cinema in St. Julians. We really enjoyed it! The end was totally unpredictable for us and I loved the music, the landscapes, the costumes and that turn of the 20th century environment in Vienna. Highly recommended.

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Valletta in sepia

Couldn't help posting an old picture of Valletta but one of my favorites too.

Nice view of Valletta.

Walking on the sliema waterfront to meet my other half after work.

Ex-pat

When I came to Malta about one and a half years ago, my first impressions were not very positive. Upon landing, I was surprised to see all the shiny limestone but no trees at all; I immediately felt that I was already missing the color green.

That green was, however, easily replaced by the deep blue of the Mediterranean which I found amazingly exotic. The sea was everywhere, in front of the houses and the offices, bordered by wonderful promenades, sharp rocks and bits of golden sand so different from the volcanic one I was used to. Quite predictably, it did not take long for me to get used to the majestic presence of this new friend of mine, especially because I didn’t find its omnipresence intrusive; on the contrary, I found it desirable.

Of course, there have been more changes in my life apart from the colors’ palette and the menu. One of the first things I did after recovering from the jet lag was visiting a bookshop just to face the crude reality that it was impossible to find books in Spanish. With a great deal of reluctance I bought my first book in English fearing I wouldn’t really enjoy its essence because of my lack of fluency in the language at that time. However I took a brave decision and decided to start speaking, reading, writing and even dreaming in my new adopted language. That’s how I started reading my, until now, never-ending list of books in English, thus increasing my fluency and dexterity in this language which to me is like a swarm of fireflies dancing in my mouth.

Now I work in a British company and, of course, I hope that my English will eventually be practically flawless. I think I will be getting there in the near future; that, at least, is my goal!
Finding a job here was not easy, or should I say, looking for a job in Europe was no bed of roses because as a non-European citizen I just couldn’t start looking for one but had to wait for all my documents to be in order after my marriage with my Maltese other half so as to do everything ‘by the book’. Waiting was not easy but it was worth it. During those months I discovered cooking, many new authors and beautiful spots scattered across the islands. Since those experiences are now in the past, it would be pointless to bring them here to this blog but I am still here! And there are so many nice places to visit that I can’t decide which one is my favorite.

There is Sliema’s promenade and busy life; St. Julian’s and the party environment; the traditional summer ‘festas’; Valletta with its impressive fortresses and old buildings; Mdina and its quiet medieval journey through time; the wonderful beaches; Gozo and Comino (which I regret not to know very well); the Mosta Dome, the third biggest one in Europe; the Neolithic temples; the knights of the Order of St. John; Rabat and the Roman vestiges…There is history in every corner of the archipelago and sometimes I just walk by without paying too much attention to all this magnificence.

From now on, I will try to keep an eye on the ex-pat perspective as a gift for the person who asked me to include my Maltese experience in the blog. And not only because of that, but also due to the fact that I am here amidst all of these changes, bombarded everyday by all their beauty but nevertheless getting lost in the “dullness” of everyday’s life that I had almost forgotten to take a deep breath to contemplate these changes and look at the world through the window and not only with a mirror if you know what I mean.

Photo taken by the Sierers.

Lift

Now the water (or lack of it to be exact) problem has been solved and we don't need to get the big bottles of water from the kitchen to the bathroom which ensures our weekly supply of water.
And I don't have any more nightmares about me taking a shower to all of a sudden discover that there is no more water coming from the tap.
Unfortunately the nightmares have just switched from water to lifts. Last night I had an almost premonitory dream. I dreamed about the lift of the building where my office is on the eight and highest floor.

There have been cases of people trapped in there for hours and our health and safety department closing them because they are not safe enough, but we keep on using them. I suppose they repaired them some day perhaps before I started working here.

This morning I came to the building to find a queue at the lounge. One of the lifts had a piece of wood blocking the door and then only one of the two lifts was working meaning that now we have to wait our 'turn' to use the lift.

The other thing is that this lift will be really used these days because there are lots of offices in the building and I hope it is not going to get overstretched and stop working specially when people are actually inside.

We' ll see what the day brings here at the office apart from the lift thing; so far it looks like just another day.

The river-merchant's wife: A letter

Thanks again for this Bohsfan.