Monday...Monday...

Hello family!! Well the countdown has begun...12 days until Christmas break! Yeah!! But of course I can't get excited until my papers are finished, but hopefully soon. For those who haven't heard...my Christmas travels are quite extensive. I'm flying to Venice, because it's only 20 euro round trip!! Then, take the train to Switzerland, and stay there for a night. From there I will go to Graz, Austria and spend Christmas with my friend Maria, who I met here in the residence. I'll leave Austria after about a week, and head to Amsterdam where I will meet up with Zack, a friend from home studying there, and three other friends from home. I'll also be meeting two friends from Malta there. After the New Year on the 3 of January I'll fly to Athens and stay with my friend Fotis, who is Greek but he goes to OU, and explore Greece for a week. After Greece I'll take the ferry to Bari, Italy...then work my way North: Rome, Bologna, and finally fly home from Venice on the 12....I'm so excited!!

Thanksgiving!

Well....Thanksgiving was a success. We had about 28 people, 9 pies, two 20lb. turkeys, and a partridge and a pear tree. Me and two other American girls cooked all the food with lots of help from our housemates of course. In the true meaning of Thanksgiving we made entirely too much food, nonetheless everyone was stuffed. I made Grandma Anne's cheesy potato casserole, which was delicious, and Grandma Betty's homemade rolls and pecan pie. All my dishes were very popular, not quite as good as when Grandma makes them, but still well-liked. I also made deviled eggs, a plum pie, which I have only made once before, and I attempted to make a chocolate meringue pie...but since it's very difficult to make meringue without an electrical appliance, it turned out just being a chocolate pie. It was an all day event of eating, drinking, and enjoying each others company. Since most of our guests had never been to a Thanksgiving feast before we told them of "the first Thanksgiving" and why we celebrate and give thanks. So after a weekend of nonstop cooking and preparation, I enjoyed my day of rest on Monday, to say the least. Gobble Gobble!

Trip to Camino

Camino is a tiny island in between Malta and Gozo. It's totally unspoiled, and home to the Blue Lagoon, where the most beautiful water is in Malta. This tiny chunk of limestone is 2.5km by 1.5km. The only people on it are sun-bathers, and staff of the only hotel on the island. Camino was known to be the hide-out of pirates and smugglers in the past. There are lots of caves on the island, and some of the best places to scuba dive in the world! The fort looking structure in the above pictures is where "The Count of Monte Cristo" was filmed.

It's Almost Thanksgiving!!

I'm in the process of getting ready for Thanksgiving! One of my roommates is making Thanksgiving dinner (stuffing, turkey, mashed potatoes, 4 pumpkin pies, etc.), and anyone else who wants to help. I'm going to make 2 pecan pies, cheesy potato casserole, rolls, and maybe a plum pie...mmmmm. It won't be the same without all my family, but at least we'll have a celebration. I'm also in the process of making a turkey pinata (any celebration would not be complete without a pinata)!! We will also make Thanksgiving decorations such as hand turkeys, pilgrim and native american hats, pumpkins, etc.

Mexican-American International Food Night

Every week my flat has an International Food Night, when it was my turn I decided to make Mexican (-American) food since I eat it so regularly. I made my mom's famous Mexican chicken casserole (everyone loves it!) I make it so often I almost have the recipe memorized.
I also made homemade refried beans, queso, and salsa for the first time. The beans took the longest to prepare. I really had no idea how they would turn out, or what they would taste like. Throughout the preparation, dinner time kept being extended. It was first supposed to be ready at 8 o'clock, then somehow we ended up eating around 9:15pm. In turn, I endured some whining : D I also cooked too many beans since it doesn't look like there are that many when the beans are dry. The trash can had a lovely feast.
We ate all of the queso, it was a hit; the recipe I found online was very delicious. It has spinach in it (i love spinach)! Jessa's intention was to eat the huge bowl of cheese due to her immense starvation from the four hour cooking ordeal. I also made cooked vegetables with taco seasoning, and other Mexican herbs for those who don't eat meat. It's so nice that all twelve of us eat together each week. It makes me feel more comfortable and at home to have "family dinners."

Halloween in Malta!

Halloween in Malta! The girl with face paint is my good friend named Jessa; she is from Northern California (she loves to face paint too!). The guy on my right is also from Germany, and his name is Martin (he is dressed like the main character from the movie "A Clockwork Orange." The blonde girls are from Germany, named Tina and Madeleine, and they live in my flat and are helping me improve my German. The girls dressed as cats are Maya and Yu from Japan. All the Japanese girls dressed like cats, and they were very cute.
This year I carved my very first pumpkin (without my dad). It worked out okay, however I could have used a smaller knife...but I worked with what I had. All the foreign people really enjoyed the jack-o-lantern since they don't celebrate Halloween like in the U.S. and some haven't even seen a pumpkin! (Grandma Betty) I made a homemade pumpkin pie, with real pumpkin! I had to guess the measurements since I don't know grams or milliliters. The pie tasted good but needed some sugar. I had to have a pumpkin pie though! I love Halloween : )

Pictures of Valletta