Greetings, friends, family and students! This is the first entry in what I hope will be a blog that we’ll update twice per week (or so), sharing some highlights from our adventures in Malta.

First, how we got here (in a big picture sense): Luther College has run a semester-long program in Malta for more than 30 years. The program director changes every year, and it so happens that Jennifer and I were chosen to lead the program in 2019. Next year, we’ll hand it off to Bobby Vrtis and family.

We arrived in Malta on Sunday, January 27, mostly in one piece. It was a pretty easy journey, as far as trans-Atlantic travel goes, and still, it was hard on our systems. It took several days for our bodies to adjust, but thankfully, by the third full day, we were operating at full capacity.

Long layover at Heathrow

The students don’t arrive until Thursday, February 7, so this time we have now is great for us—we get to find our rhythm as a family, discover those places that will be regular destinations for us, and do all the prep work we can to make our 12 students feel comfortable and ready to go once they arrive.

Our flat is located in Sliema, a city across the bay from the capital, Valletta. We are two blocks from another body of water, and on that waterfront is a lovely promenade, a rocky beach, and a playground. So, we’ll spend some time there every day. Two doors down from our flat is a convenience store, handy for getting fresh fruit and bottled water; one street over is a slightly larger mini-mart that carries rotisserie chickens (which we eat all the time in Decorah), and a 15 minute walk will get us to a larger grocery store. The university is a bit of a hike, about 35 minutes away, but also reachable by bus.

Promenade with water and park in background

The rocky beach in Sliema

Today was our fourth full day in Malta, and we had our first excursion away from Sliema. We took a bus around the bay to Valletta, the old walled-city built by the Knights of Malta to guard against the Turks. We mostly walked and looked, but also ventured into a church that is dedicated to St. Paul, who was shipwrecked in Malta. The views of the surrounding area from atop this fortress-like city were beautiful.

On board the ferry from Valletta to Sliema

St Paul Shipwreck church in Valletta

Beautiful fountain near entrance to walled city

A street in Valletta

All in all, we are happy to report that all is well with us, though we miss our friends and look forward to hosting visitors. We are also happy to be avoiding the polar vortex, and hope that those of you in the Midwest will get some relief soon!