You might think that it’s a slow news day when an entire post is devoted to reporting on an errand to a government office, but it was an experience we won’t soon forget!

Since we are in Malta for more than 90 days, we need a residence permit. This will allow us to travel (more or less) freely during our stay, especially during the latter part of the trip when the 90 days has expired.

Because of the hard work of Jennifer Self and a colleague at the university, the students’ residence permits were a snap—they showed up to the university one Wednesday morning in late February, and an official came and processed their applications. It took less than one hour total.

But for us, bring a family, it was not so straightforward. We had to travel to Valletta, walk to the far end of the city, and go to a building which reminded me of the worst DMV I ever visited in New Jersey. After waiting about 3 1/2 hours, never quite sure if we were in the right place, we had our “interview,” and of course, we had been given the wrong forms. Fortunately, we were getting very close to lunch time, and the workers hurried us through the process and didn’t make too big a fuss (this was not for our benefit, but theirs…but that’s ok).

Long story short, we did what we needed to do, and hopefully, those permits will show up in time for us to travel in May!

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