day 1

After a day of airport-hopping including getting a last-minute handwritten boarding pass for the plane to malta and a meal that consisted of rabbit, gozo cheese and date cake, I made it to Malta. Two fellow students met me in Heathrow airport and the three of us arrived in the tiny international airport of Malta (and by tiny I mean there were two stalls in the bathroom, and about ten departure gates total) and found a taxi to the ferry that would take us to Gozo. In the taxi, in which I sat on the passenger's (left) side in the front, I realized why driving is #2 on the top ten list of things to avoid in Malta in the traveler's guide I bought. Our driver knew the streets well but it was a unique experience flying down narrow streets on which we had to pull over to the side to let other cars pass and traffic lanes seemed to be nothing more than suggestions for our driver and anyone else. At one point, slowed down by roundabout, a man drove by in a two-wheeled horse drawn cart.
We made it to the guesthouse where we're staying and found our rooms which are extremely nice and have four beds apiece, a kitchen, a sitting room and bathroom. Today we've been primarily meeting other participants and settling into the area, which several students and I did by exploring the nearby town of Victoria. We were dropped off there in the morning by some staff going to buy supplies and explored the town and then made a 45-minute walk back to Xlendi, where we're staying. No classes have happened yet, but we're getting to know the area and each other. The photos below are from this morning's trip to Victoria.