And now, another appearance by the Buttigieg family. Julia, age 6, celebrated her first communion earlier in May. And today we were invited to a party to mark that milestone. The venue was Sunshine Pony Farm, which was in a lovely location, just north of the “Top of the World” overlook we visited last month. The kids got to ride the ponies, either directly on a saddle or in the back of a little pony-drawn chariot. Then they had a special lunch while watching part of a movie, then they... Read The Rest →

Malta is not the easiest place in the world to get to, which makes it all the more special when family and friends come to visit. Many of our students’ families have made the trek, and it’s been fun to listen to the students talk about what it feels like to be a tour guide in this wonderful place. So now we’ve had our chance to do that as well, first with Jennifer’s parents, and now with my brother. My oldest brother, Sean, visited with his wife, Kim, and daughter,... Read The Rest →

For the final day of our getaway, we joined our friends, the Buttigieg family, for an excursion to Comino, the third of Malta’s inhabited islands and the only one we hadn’t visited. Emanuel and Ritianne (parents) hadn’t been to Comino in years, and their kids had never been, so it was a true adventure for all of us. We arrived early in the day, before the crowds and the hot sun. The kids immediately wanted to go swimming in the Blue Lagoon, which I didn’t think would be too appealing,... Read The Rest →

OK, I know many of you have been thinking to yourself, “this blog is great, but does this adventure really count as work?” It’s true, a big part of the experience is exploring places, visiting amazing sites, and of course, with kids in tow, a lot of time is spent finding fun things to do with them. But leading a study abroad program is challenging and can involve some pretty difficult work. We’ve been blessed with a truly drama-free student group, for which we’re grateful. But still, we haven’t been... Read The Rest →

This week’s post is the first (and probably the only at this point) that doesn’t feature the whole Joyce/Self family. Instead, I’ll share a few pictures and experiences on our final group travel adventure to Spain. Because of the itinerary, travel times and other reasons, we decided I would take this trip with the students, and Jennifer and the boys would stay in Malta. We began by flying to Malaga, early on Friday morning. Our main goal on Friday was to get to our hostel, rest, and have a nice... Read The Rest →

Today was a big day for us–we finally received our residence permits! Well, the students did, at least…our family has to wait a bit longer. But this was great news and a big relief, as we are planning to travel next weekend. After visiting the immigration office in Valletta, we headed to Zebbiegh and Mgarr, two small villages on the west end of Malta, where we visited two ancient temple sites, Skorba and Ta’ Hagrat. These are smaller and less impressive than some of the more famous megalithic sites in... Read The Rest →

Today was an exciting day at Holy Trinity in Sliema—there was no priest available to conduct the service, so the church decided to do a “Songs of Praise” service, consisting of readings and hymns. Our contribution was in the form of “Deep River”: Jennifer and the boys read the words, and then I played a favorite arrangement of the spiritual on the organ. Later in the day, we decided to take advantage of the lovely day and do another outing to a new spot. This time, it was the city... Read The Rest →

To help us cope with the sadness of saying goodbye to Nana and Papa yesterday, we decided to go on an outing to a new place that had been mentioned to us weeks ago. In the little village of Gharghur, not far from Sliema, is a place called “Top of the World.” Gharghur sits on the edge of the Great Fault, a rift that slices across the middle of Malta and which is marked by a series of walls built by the British, called the Victoria Lines. After a mercifully... Read The Rest →

Today was our last outing with Nana and Papa, who head back to Virginia on Tuesday. Today, we headed to Valletta via taxi, and rather than go to our normal viewing area of the Grand Harbor, we went to the Lower Barrakka gardens, which were equally as lovely. We then headed across the harbor to Birgu, where we wandered a little and then had a late afternoon snack by the water. Coming back to Valletta, we got to ride on a huge elevator, which was pretty cool.

This week was the first time that our family was separated for any length of time. Brooke took a short research trip to the UK, visiting Norwich and London, while the rest of the family stayed in Malta and enjoyed a trip to the beach. Nana and Papa are here for one more week, and we are sure enjoying spending time with them! It will be a sad goodbye when they head home.