2nd to 9th of August, 2019.
People could not host me for different reasons. But two guys said yes: Peter and Alex. But none of them could come and pick me up in Valletta and they were both over one hour walking from there. I would walk without problems if I had not already done that the whole day. I am exhausted. Plus I am starving. It is night time already so I cannot not hitchhike. The bus cost 2 two Euros. I know I have something over €1,50 and Peter gives me the great idea of asking for a few coins on the bus stop and people would not mind. I do where I am actually, in a Burger King. There is a big group of youths, like teenagers. I check my coins, I just need twenty cents! So I ask them and this young boy gives me the twenty but actually there were a few of them already checking their wallets. Just for the record: kids in Malta are quite nicer than the adults.
But let’s come back a few hours in time. So I had the U.S. Dollars which Nada and Islam gave to me, as a gift, in Egypt, right? I was keeping for an emergency. So I would need to change anyway into Euros now, since I am in Europe. So I decided to go to an Exchange House and exchange anyway, even if I did not need to use. But it was after 5.p.m already so there was nothing opened anymore but I tried to go anyway. I talked with an attendant of Burger King, wonderful person (I am not sure if she was Maltese, though), who said I could go and leave my computer charging that she would keep an eye on it. Remember that I just left after four months in Egypt and a short period in Jordan. It is still very difficult to trust leaving my stuff anywhere… So that is why I had not more coins on me for the bus. And I was still deciding if I would go to one of my CS hosts, but since I could not find a place to camp around Valletta I took Peter’s idea. And here we are with the extra 20 cents I needed!
I decided to go to Peter’s house because Alex would not be at home after 9 p.m., which was almost. Peter warns me though that he and a friend are celebrating and drinking until later night. I know I am very tired but I can just stay with them for a few hours and they would understand when I go to sleep. So I take the coordinates to his house, grabbed the bus and arrive. Safe.
Peter has a girl friend for guest and they are drinking and partying. They both have a very strong British accent. We get along pretty well very soon and I grab a beer. It is the first time I hear Peter talking about this girl, his kind of girlfriend, reason for which why he is drinking so much this night. Apparently, she is out there doing Loki knows what with Loki knows who. Anyway, after a few hours I go to sleep.
Later night, they have some kind of strong fight, which often happens when two people drink as much as they did, and Fey (I am not quite sure how to write her name) yell at him some bad shit before she leaves the apartment.
For the next few days Peter barely drinks. He is at home most of time, watching something at his computer. And catching Pokémon.
Me, by the other hand, start to go to the Yacht Club around Valletta, trying to catch a boat to Sicily. I met a lot of rude people, most of them from Malta. So I start to wonder why people here are so rude and look so upset. Could be just the ones with boats? But on the streets they seems not quite happy too. Talking with different people, we kind of make a theory that in the last two decades Malta became so full of tourists that the local people changed their behavior, became less patient, more capitalist, and now they are how they are. If it is true, I do not know. It is just a theory.
Since I cannot find any dumpster to dive in, I ask to take the fruits and vegetables left overs in a small green grocery nearby Peter’s house. Two of the only nice Maltese people, the owner (which unfortunately I cannot remember the name) and his friend, from The Green Grocer, on Mensija Road, let me take the left overs. It is most of the time tomatoes and onions and some green leaves, but once, the owner gave me a small watermelon and some carrots from inside the shop. Such a wonderful person! I also got some left over breads from a bakery. So I was basically settled for breakfast and lunch, just cooking something for me and Peter at dinner time.
In one of my goings to the Yacht Clubs a French guy, who was leaving in his boat, told me if I needed a place to stay, I could spend some time in his boat. I knew Pet would be busy during the weekend, so I gladly accepted. Unfortunately everything turned upside down for me and for Pet. For him, the weekend that supposed to be a romantic one with his girlfriend it became a nightmare since she broke up with him instead. Bitch! For me, the old guy that at the beginning it was so kind and friendly and very welcome, changed completely after the first and second night, when he realized that I was not up to offer sex or something in exchange of his help. Asshole! I should have follow my instinct and had known that he was a piece of shit from the moment he told me had worked for the UN. So I asked to come back to Pet’s house. I needed a place to stay and he needed some company to help him out of the break up. It sounded like a perfect plan. Unfortunately it was not.
P.S.: During this week, I also walked around Valletta. It is a beautiful city, with many wonderful small streets and its old buildings. There are plenty of museums to see (unfortunately all paid), nice old churches and monuments. And in my opinion it is still super cute even though the tourists.
