Bonġu, jiena jisimni Fiona! Let me tell you about my experience studying in Malta!

A semester of studying and living in Malta turned out to be different from how I had expected. After doing my research on the country, my expectations consisted of Italian cultural influence, a large Catholic population, lots of old architecture, and after that, just the beach. But it turns out Malta, though it’s just a small island south of Sicily in the heart of the Mediterranean, has stayed rich in its culture, practices, and language, which lent well to my theme of Culture and Politics. Starting with the language, the culture in Malta is alive and well protected/practiced. The Maltese language is a fascinating, partially Semitic language born from a lot of influence from different countries and empires across history. First Arabic, then Italian, and later English, all left their impressions on Maltese. The language is used quite frequently and hasn’t changed much in the past century.

These are a few pictures of Malta. The architecture was so unique, and a lot of buildings had these lights that were used for any special occasion. A good example is in the second photo. Malta loves a party. About every other week, there would be a national holiday where no school in the country was in session, and everyone would meet in a town or a few to have a festival. Bands like in the picture would walk the streets playing music, confetti was thrown from the top stories of buildings, and there were lots of tents with food or small shops. This was one of my favorite unexpected parts of Malta, and it became a frequent tradition for my friends and me.

Malta is so colorful in both a physical sense and a cultural sense. Live music and dancing can be found anywhere on the island, on any given evening. The beaches were serene, and the towns were filled with welcoming communities and hidden gems of restaurants. The university was tricky to work with sometimes, but my professors were all masters of their subjects and such incredible people to talk to. I met so many great people in the international student housing, and I wouldn’t trade those memories or connections for anything.

I will see you soon, Malta! Because I will surely be back!