I remember a few things from my time at the university a few dozen moons ago. I learned a lot, made friendships that have lasted for more than a decade and drank many mugs of tea that didn’t cost more than a euro.

At the time, most catering establishments around the university offered low prices. Even back then, parking was a problem. You’d arrive an hour or two early for your lectures and start the ritual of circling the ring road. It was extremely frustrating, and you’d somehow always end up getting to your first lesson of the day late.

In winter, you’d have to contend with the great flooding of Msida, which made you feel like you were steering Noah’s Ark. Once you did get to your classroom, you’d never be sure whether you were going to find a leak or not. I remember once sitting through a lecture with a steady trickle of water dripping down my back and a stern lecturer that I decided it was best not to interrupt.

I also remember actively trying not to be part of the problem and trying to take the bus – this, too, ended up being a massive failure. As unreliable then as they seem now, they would either be too crowded, not pass at all, or pass too early.

I remember sitting through a lecture with a trickle of water dripping down my back- Anna Marie Galea

On one very noteworthy occasion, when we were already running very late, the driver stopped in the middle of the road, walked leisurely into what I presume was his house and reappeared 10 minutes later, happily biting into a Maltese ftira. The tourists behind me couldn’t believe their eyes but for the rest of us, it was just another day in paradise.

It’s been almost 20 years since everything I’ve detailed above happened and despite multiple elections and dozens of different politicians coming into power, nothing has changed. If anything, the university now has less money to stop potential leaks in its classrooms.

We didn’t make the roads safer for pedestrians or bicycles; we didn’t even take a long hard look at our bus routes and see why they have been so laughably inefficient for years.

We just built a new car park (because burying problems in concrete is what we do best) and are now asking students to pay €3 a day for the dubious pleasure of parking. Please note that it’s “only” €3 now because students protested. Then, again, it’s good to see anyone protesting against anything these days.

Speaking of burying problems in concrete and things we should be protesting against, have any of you seen the photo of the cart ruts that were built over and are now the main attraction of someone’s garage? All we need now is to encase them in glass, which we will never clean and get an illegal parking attendant to take up residence there.

He can ferry tourists in and out of the garage to experience ‘the real Malta’. We can even have “Ħallina nagħmlu lira” blaring out of speakers for that truly authentic feel.

Suffice it to say, there’s been barely a bleat from anyone about this except for the usual 20 suspects, who I’m starting to think live exclusively on my social media feed. Just another day in the best country in the world, right?