Malta

Today is my second day in Malta and it is a beautiful country. The architecture here fascinates me; there is a mix of British and Arabic influence. Unfortunately I cannot post pictures while in Malta because I do not have wifi on my phone.

After we arrived yesterday we explored the area and accidentally ended up at a historic palace called the San Anton Palace and Gardens. Once we went back to the hotel we had a lecture and watched a very interesting video on Italy's 2010 push-back policy, and then had dinner with 2 JRS (Jesuit Refugee Services) employees, one of which was a refugee from Eritrea. We ate at an Ethiopian restaurant, and it was actually really good, especially the coffee!

Today we went to Sunday mass with a group of Nigerian refugees. The mass was very upbeat and communal. Afterwards was hospitality, which was a lot of fun. They had all of the new visitors stand up and everyone sang a welcoming song while walking around to shake our hands and personally welcome us. Then they "interrogated" us with an ice-breaker where they asked us questions. Everybody was very friendly and it was really amusing. My favorite part was getting to hold the cutest little baby named Emma. She was 6 months old and had super chubby cheeks.

Afterwards we headed back to the university for lunch and free time, which all of us spent by taking a nap. Then we had another lecture before heading to the city of Mdina. Mdina was a fortress built on a hill, and is very pretty. The buildings are very old and view from the hill is incredible. We ate dinner at a restaurant nearby and then headed back to the university. Tomorrow we will start more intensively focusing on the academic aspect of our trip and be doing a lot of site visits relating to refugee services in Malta.