Mark Foley brought more attention to Gozo than the Ministry of Tourism ever did.  I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not...  I actually live on the same street as the priest, and know him by sight, though I've never spoken to him (I'm selling my story to the highest bidder, so please form an orderly queue).  His brother also taught me at school (he was one of my favourite teachers) - I told you it was a small country.

Well, scoop of the day over, I'm still lugging my laptop around, because we've been told that since our street has just been opened, there's no cable service yet, so we're stuck without TV or internet until they lay down the wires.

At University, I'm still enjoying my lectures, and last Saturday I had the time of my life at Reclaim the World (a day of activities organised by the local left-wing NGOs), where I met lots of like-minded people and took part in some very interesting discussions about the political direction Europe is taking - and that's about all, so I'm rushing off to my next lecture.

I’m now in my second week at the University of Malta (it’s the only University on this rock).  Psychology is a fascinating subject and I like most of my lecturers.  Compared to my high school, this place is like a small city, but I only got lost a couple of times before I got used to where things are.  That’s the boring bit over with, here comes the good stuff…

Last week at University was Freshers’ Week, which basically means that a lot of tents were put up in the quadrangle for student organizations (political, faculty etc) to recruit members, sort of…  I joined every organization that had anything to do with liberalism or human rights (naturally), and spent most of my time wondering how I could possibly ever have said I didn’t want to come to University.  People are a lot more open-minded here, and I’m still getting used to it, after all those years of repression…

I’m living in my own flat (technically, I only own a quarter of it, but I’m the one using it, so it’s MINE ).  Originally, I was going to have two roommates, but a couple of friends got thrown out of the place they were staying in and, since we had a couple of extra beds, they moved in with us.  Pretty much every day’s a party, with the five of us here .

And now for the big news (trumpet fanfare please)…I CAME OUT TO MY BEST FRIEND .  I  told her the second night we stayed here (3rd October – there’s a date for my calendar ), and she was great about it.  FYI, I have been indoctrinating her with liberal politics since we were 9, I think, and she is the only one of my friends who actually listens to all my rants about tolerance and the need to stop discrimination.  She’s been saying all summer she’d like a gay friend (to go shopping with, because according to her they have better dress sense than anybody else).  A friend of ours came out to her (I could have told her months ago, when she introduced him to me, but she has no gaydar, so he actually had to tell her).  So, she’s telling me about him and how it’s great she finally has a gay friend, and I just told her she has more than one, without even thinking about it.  If I’d known it was that easy, I’d have come out years ago.  I have also talked to the representatives of the University LGBT Society, and they’re really great people, so I couldn’t be happier about how things have turned out.

Sorry I can’t read your blogs right now – I can only access the internet between lectures and I have to spend most of that time replying to University emails.  I’ll be back full-time once we get internet at the flat.

I'm typing this hunched over my laptop (which finally arrived yesterday) in the middle of the University quadrangle, which is the only place where I could get a wireless connection ( I don't have internet yet at my flat).  Did I mention it's almost 8 o'clock at night and it's so dark I can't see anything outside the little circle of light around the screen?

Anyway, this is just to let you all know you haven't got rid of me yet .  I'm enjoying University, and I'll be writing a nice, long blog about it as soon as I get a chance to breathe (insert groan here)...

See you all soon

I seize every opportunity to parody James Bond...

This week has been crazy - after a long summer of having absolutely nothing to do, I was definitely not prepared for everything that had to be done these last few days.  I’m having to cross to Malta every couple of days, taking stuff to my flat, and I’ve been breaking my back in the fields, literally. 

I'm part-owner of a couple of fields, where we have some fruit trees and lots of olive trees.  The problem?  The olives are ripe around August, but they have to be picked when there’s a Northern wind, otherwise they rot.  This year, the cooler weather only started about a week ago, and it brought with it a lot of rain.  This resulted in very muddy fields, where I have to go every day to pick the olives, before they all fall off the trees.  Contrary to what you may have seen in commercials, olive picking does not involve shaking a tree while somebody holds a jar under it and catches the olives.  What really happens, at least in our case, is you have to pick the darned things one by one while trying to keep leaves and twigs out of your eyes, dodging any bees and wasps that may have hives in the tree, trying not to sink up to your knees in mud…

That was probably too much information, but I needed to vent off about it - I feel sore and every exposed piece of skin is scratched and bruised.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the first thing I’m asked at University is whether I’m being abused and need to talk to a guidance counsellor.

...goes to my friend wiccaforgood.

I promised him I'd introduce him to some people, so please go over and say hi - he's a great guy.  ***Switches to politician voice*** Working together, I'm sure we can manage to get him a shiny new butterfly emblem .

Thanks!