Privilege to live in Malta

For six months, my husband, Andy and I lived in Malta, such a wonderful country. We left with a deep love and respect for Malta’s beauty, impressive history and truly kind people.

We are so grateful to everyone who made us feel welcome, from the clerks in the shops to the staff of St James Hospital where Andy had unexpected cancer surgery.

We’d like to thank the staff of the American Embassy, the Fulbright International Scholars Program and the University of Malta’s Maria Attard for providing us the amazing opportunity to live and work in Malta. And thank you to Peter Attard for introducing us to Clifford Caruana, who performed Andy’s surgery, and to the dedicated staff of St James for giving Andy compassionate and devoted care.

We’re also grateful to the real estate agent who found us a lovely house in the heart of Sliema and to our landlord, Andre; having a marching band pass under our Maltese balcony during Sliema’s Our Lady of the Sacred Heart festa is a joy that few Americans will ever know. The Maltese dedication to joyful tradition – and fireworks and confetti – knits together communities in a way that I wish Americans would try at home. 

We’d also like to thank Laura, owner of GRM Fruit & Veg. She is so right that the very best fruits and vegetables are grown in Malta.

And a loving thanks to Theresa Attard Previ, the Sliema librarian, who showed me 6,000 years of Malta’s history lightened with literature and warm Maltese wisdom.

Finally, I’d like to thank the dedicated volunteers who care for the sweet and funny cats at Sliema’s Independence Gardens. If you’d like to donate, look for them at https://www.facebook.com/CatsofIndependenceGardens.

It was a privilege to live in Malta. Thank you to everyone who made it so. 

Andrea Gelfuso Goetz – Cambridge, England

Andrea Gelfuso Goetz is the author of My Modena: A Year of Fear, Laughter, and Exhilaration in Italy; she’s writing a book about Malta.

Growing national debt

Is there somebody who can tell me, a non-economist, how, despite seemingly endless economic activity, a lot of it carried out by foreign cheap labour, the national debt has increased to over €9 billion and is still growing daily?

Carmel Sciberras – Naxxar

An inoperative fountain attracts tourists’ attention.

Negative tourist ‘attractions’

Strolling around Upper Barrakka Gardens a few days ago, I overheard tourists airing their disappointment as to why such a large fountain at the entrance was completely unoperative, waterless and, worse, collecting trash and other rubbish.

The commemorative plaque remains but not the tree

Indeed, I subsequently got to know that it has been in this state for quite some time now.

A few steps further in, they came across a commemorative plaque that recalls when and why President George Vella planted a tree, only for that tree to have gone missing. 

Needless to say, even this discrepancy was negatively noted by the same tourist group.

If we really want to attract high-quality tourism to our islands, we must start with the basics.

Mark Said – Msida