Maltese

The nation of Malta consists of just three small islands, Malta, Comino and Gozo. The longer diameter of each island is 20 km for Malta, 3 km for Comino and 10 km for Gozo. The distance between each island is less than 2km, and there is a ferry connection between Malta and Gozo. Malta was independent of the British Federation in 1964. Coincidentally, Malta is the same age to me.

The people speak English fluently. They also know some Italian because it's easy for touching to Italian media for the location. However of course, their mother tongue is Maltese. Actually I had no problem at all with speaking English. So I took advantage of the situation. I should have learned some Maltese during my stay. Arabic, Latin, Greece ... which language is the closest to Maltese. I'm so shameful to imagine the face of dog when I hear the word "Maltese"

The reason why I chose Malta for the destination is the location. It's so interesting and attractive. Malta is in the almost middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and surrounded by Italy, Tunisia and Libya. Actually, Malta had been an important point of trading in the Mediterranean Sea for long time. It's washed by both culture of Rome and Arab. In another meanings, Malta had been always threaten by invasion of the enemy. It's easy to understand why the capital city Valletta is a fortress city surrounded by walls.

The Maltese is catholic. Bus drivers put the portraits of Saint Mary on the dashboard. There are a lot of churches all over the island. But on the other hand, the face of the Maltese has some resemblance to the one of the Arabic. And I saw a lot of city names seems to have the Islamic origin, like Mosta or Rabat.
After I visited the town called Mdina, I looked back. What I saw there was silhouette of "Medina(city)" of the Islamic world.

Continuity of culture