Malta had won me over. I felt like a different person, I was calm, relaxed and eager to embrace this new land.
Obviously things were different from back home, the supermarkets sold different things, everyone paid with cash and places were mostly open until midday. I hadn't used cash since I was 14 years old it was strange to be using it again. The siesta concept was new, I cam from a land of 24 hour everything, I had to learn that if you need something to get up early and get it before midday.
Fireworks at 6am were much harder to adjust to, I had never been a morning person, the cannons and fireworks of the village festa were enough to make me a morning person.
As time went by I became accustomed to how things were done in Malta. Complaining about it got me nowhere. The shop is open till midday so you go earlier. The bank closes at one go earlier. It was all about timing - something that I had never had to worry about.
Now after two and half years, I have become more and more typically Maltese. After owning a car in Malta it becomes natural to constantly honk your horn at other drivers after a few very short weeks. |