Malta - a Fascinating English-Speaking Island in the Center of the Mediterranean

It was a magical time for me, when I was 16 1/2, to go on a 3-week summer study program on the island of Malta - a pivotal moment towards my eventual bilingualism.   

My first time abroad on my own.

To the astonishment of friends who have grown up in a world of digital cameras, I didn't take a single picture at that time.

Ah, the days before handy digital cameras!  Hard to explain to anyone who hasn't lived thru them!  Teenage me didn't feel like lugging around a heavy, pricey camera that needed expensive film - film to carry, safeguard and later spend more money I didn't have on developing...  Assuming that my dad would have loaned his camera to me in the first place!

So, how to illustrate this grand adventure?  Well, I managed to pull off the Internet a number of images that adequately match my memory of the place.  Theses are NOT generic images - they are images that best approximate Malta, as close as possible to the way I remember it.

The capital - Valletta

I arrived on a large ferry, from Italy.  The family I was staying with, was expecting me at the airport...  A taxi ride, to a nameless street simply referred to as "New Street off Railway Junction" - and a jump-start of my language immersion!  But all was well, and the beginning of 3 unforgettable weeks

The school where I studied English

I got assigned to an "intermediate" level, like my the level of the Brazilian Portuguese class I'm taking at the present!

St. Julian (not me!)

In, or near, a town appropriately named like me now !!!

Amazing waters

On a school excursion, we probably went just where those boats are!

Crazy old buses

The bus depot just outside Valletta.  Buses now look much more modern.  I had to dig out to find photos of the older ones!

Neolithic temples

Amazing, just amazing!  They contributed to a lifelong fascination for ancient civilizations...