M.Mortimer Girls' Junior Lyceum. MALTA

Figolli (Easter Characters) and Pastizzi

2006-03-22T08:44:00.001+01:00

Maltese gastronomy is a fascinating blend of influences that reflects Malta's location and history. Primarily Italian in character, Maltese cuisine also borrows extensively from the kitchens of North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. Over the centuries, all of these distinct components have been integrated into a uniquely wholesome and flavourful melange.

Figolli are almond pastries cut out to represent symbolic figures. They come into their own at Easter time. It is wisest to buy then from a reputable confectioner. Some charities make and sell them too, but beware of the quality, no matter how deserving the charity. You will need the metal cutters. If you cannot obtain these, you can make your own templates, like gingerbread men, out of cardboard. The traditional shapes are men, Women, fish and baskets, the last perhaps being fertility symbols. More recently, new shapes have begun to emerge, such as butterflies, lambs and cars. A shop window filled with these figolli is a colourful sight. The human shapes are easily identifiable by the old-fashioned oleograph faces stuck on to the icing. An Easter egg wrapped in coloured paper is an essential part of the decoration.

Make the pastry by mixing the sugar with the flour, then rubbing in the butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add the grated lemon rind and the yolks, mixed with a little water to make a pliable dough. Leave to chill. Add the sugar, orange flower water and lemon rind to the ground almonds, and bind with the egg whites. Roll out the pastry and cut out your shapes. Make two of each figure as they will be sandwiched with almond paste. Lay the first shape on a greased and floured baking tray, spread with almond paste, leaving a small margin. Lay the second shape over the top and press the edges together. It helps if you wet the edges with a pastry brush to ensure adhesion- Bake at 200'C/400'F/gas 6 for 5 minutes, then at 180'C/350'F/gas 4, for about 20 minutes, until pale golden. Cool on the tray.

When cold, coat with glacé icing, then decorate with royal icing in a different colour, but nothing too gaudy. While the icing is soft, press a small, foil-wrapped Easter egg in the middle of each shape. As children we used to be intrigued by the egg right in the middle of the man or woman's tummy. Ground almonds are very expensive and full-size figolli are enormous. You might like to consider making the quantity of this recipe and making the figolli half the size, using tiny sugar-coated eggs. Less traditional but still good.elange.

Another traditional food is Pastizzi. Pastizzi are a very delicious snack which a lot of Maltese people like to eat. here's how to do it. Try it. You'll enjoy eating it!

PASTIZZI (Ricotta cheesecakes) Pastry:

14 oz flour
Water
A pinch of salt
2 oz soft shortening
2 oz margarine
Filling:
14 oz ricotta
4 eggs
A pinch of salt
Pepper

Method:
Put the flour in a mixing bowl, add enough water to make a stiff dough.
Beat (in electric mixer) on medium speed until smooth. If the pastry is
at all sticky add more flour.
Roll the pastry out 1/8" thick on a floured board, spread the shorteneing
over the whole surface, using the hands. Roll up as for Swiss roll.
Now roll the pastry out again - spread it this time with margarine. When
ready for use roll it out for the third time.
Make the filling. Mash the ricotta with a fork, add the salt and the
unbeaten eggs.
The pastizzi may now be made into little tartlets in round tartlet cases
or they may be cut in the same way as ravioli.
Bake in a hot oven (400 degrees) for 20-25 minutes or until risen and
golden brown.
N.B. The most popular pastizzi are made with ricotta, but there are also
two other varieties; one made with peas and onions and the other with
anchovy.

We hope you have enjoyed reading this post. We also hope that you try these recipies.

By:

Andrea & Amanda

Maltese Ftira

2006-03-22T08:43:00.004+01:00

Posted by:Celine,Ritianne,Josianne,Valentina

Maltese Ftira

Ingredients: Maltese bread ftira, olives, Tomato juice, Capers, onions, cheeselet, basil,olive oil, ancoves,letuce.

Method:
1)Cut the Ftira in half.
2)Spread the tomato juice all over the ftira.
3)Pour some olive oil.
4)Put the rest of the ingredients in the ftira.

Enjoy the Ftira!!!

Memories:The smell of basil and onions reminds us of the summer in Malta and many Maltese people having fun in the sun shine.The sight of the Maltese lovley sunset seen by the sea.The ftira spreads some joy,love and fun to Maltese people.

LAMPUKI IN A CREAM AND SWEET CORN SAUCE

2006-03-22T08:43:00.003+01:00

Ingredients:

50g butter
2 white onion, chopped
1 glass dry white wine
500g lampuki fillets
175g sweet corn
180ml fresh cream
white pepper and salt
finely chopped parsley

Method:

Melt the butter and add the chopped onions. Cook till softened and translucent. Add the white wine and then the fish fillets. Season to taste. Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes.

Add the sweet corn and cream and simmer uncovered for further 2 minutes. Add the parsley and serve at once.

Serves - 4

Oven temperature - /

Cooking Time - 8 minutes

Posted by - Darlene Abdilla

- Rebecca Craus => This plate reminds me of when my granny used to prepare this plate to grandad which has now passed away and this was his favourite plate.

- Deborah Flores => This plate is my favourite one becuse it reminds me of september when I used to go to school and after I have lampuki for dinner in that heavy rain!

- Abigail Sultana

Honey Rings

2006-03-22T08:43:00.002+01:00

HONEY RINGS

Ingredients:

Pastry:

·300g flour;
·1 cup of honey
·50g nargerine
·1 cup sugar
·50g semolina
·11/2 cups semolina
·50g lard(vegetable)
·1 cup of water
·Water to bind

Filling:
· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
· 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

· ½ teaspoon bicarbonate

· juice and rind of 1 orange

· ½ tablespoon margerine

· 2 tablespoons anisette

· 1 tablespoon orange flower water

Method:

Rub the margerine and lard into the flour and semolina, and add enough sugar to make soft pliable dough. Let it rest for an hour. Prepare the filling be heating the water in a saucepan, adding the semolina and stirring all the time to avoid lumps. Remove for the fire and add all the other ingredients, continuing to stir. Let the mixture stand for a few hours or preferibly overnight.

Roll out the pastry thinnly and cut into lenghts 24 x 10 cm. Form the filling into sausage shapes, slightly shorter that the pastry strips, place on the center of the pastry, fold the pastry around the fillingand bring the ends together to form rings. A little water will help the ends to stick together.

Place the rings, folded edge down, on buttered baking sheets. With a sharp knife, make five or six slashes on the surface of each pastry ring, so that the filling shows. Bake in a moderatley hot oven until the pastry is light gold colour.

Memories:

Honey rings remind us in Christmas because they are traditionally baked for Christmas, although this can be bought throughout the year. It reminds us too, when our relatives live abroad and come to Malta for Christmas holidays they like to taste them! They are very delicious and smell of baking honey rings.

Posted by Vanessa, Yanika and Adriana

Figolli

2006-03-22T08:43:00.001+01:00

Posted by: Bernice, Nolene and M'Lourdes

Like many other countries all over the world, Malta too has special dishes for special occasions. Easter time calls for “Figolli” made from this recipe.

Ingredients:
Vanilla essence
½ lb. margarine
1 lb. self raising flour
3 eggs
½ lb . sugar
milk
juice and grated rind of ½ lemon

Method:
Work the fat well into the flour. Beat the eggs well and mix with sugar, then add the fat and flour. Add other ingredients and work into a dough.
Roll out the pastry to a thickness of ½ inch and cut to various shapes and figures. The most commonly used shapes and figures are horses, boats, baskets, fish, men, women, mermaids and a host of others to suit as many tastes as possible. You will need two identical shapes for each figolla.

What ‘figolli’ means to us
The ‘figolli’ reminds us of Easter and especially of Ash Wednesday, that we have to sacrifice a bit from not eating the delicious ‘figolli’ made by our mum. So we have to sacrifice and eat them after Ash Wednesday.

It also reminds us that now God is alive.

Another thing is that when we receive a lot of ‘figolli’ from our families, we do a competition between ourselves that is who eat the ‘figolla’ first wins!

Traditional Easter Food : Kwarezimal (Lenten Almond Cakes)

2006-03-22T08:43:00.000+01:00

Kwarezimal is a traditional food made during Lent and it is not considered as sweets. Therefore those who adher to the Lenten fast are able to have a desert as well. The word kwarezimal refers to quaresima, literally the quadragesima, the forty days of Lent.

Here is the traditional Maltese recipe for Kwarezimal:

Ingredients:

§ 200 grams blanched almonds
§ 200 grams plain flour, sifted
§ 250 grams caster or golden caster sugar
§ 1 scant tsp cinnamon
§ Orange flower water
§ Grated rind of 1 lemon, 1 orange and 1 tangerine
§ Malta honey and pistachio nuts or additional almonds

Method:

Lightly toast or roast the almonds. Grind coarsely.
Mix with the flour, sugar, cinnamon, rinds and a little orange-flower water.
Add just enough water to make a stiff dough.
Knead lightly until well amalgamated and shape into ovals, approximately 17.5 cm long, 5 cm wide and 2 cm thick.
Place on greased and floured baking trays and bake at 190'C/375'F/gas 5 for about 20 minutes.
While still hot, spread with Malta honey and press on chopped, unsalted pistachio nuts or chopped roasted almonds.

Meanings attached to this recipe............
to be added soon

Posted by: Vanessa, Orlanda, Mirka

Lampuki on a cooked spinach salad

2006-03-22T08:42:00.000+01:00

Ingredients

3kg fresh spinach
1.2kg fillet of lampuki
Juice of one lemon
1 glass dry white wine
2 firm tomatoes, diced
Grated rind of 1/2 lemon
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Mint and basil, chop
1 teaspoon pepper, chopped
Salt and pepper

Method

Wash the spinach very well and drain lightly. Cook in a covered pot with just the water that clings to the spinach leaves and a pinch of salt till done (approx 5 minutes). Drain well and when cool press to remove all the extra moisture.

Place the fish fillet into an oven-proof dish and cover with the lemon juice and wine. Season and leave to marinate for 1 hour.

Chop the spinach and mix with all the other ingredients.

Cook the fish, covered, in a preheated oven at mk 8/220 degrees / 428F for about 15 minutes or microwave on full power for 6 minutes.

Serve the fish fillet on a bed of spinach salad with lemon wedges.

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Oven Temp: gas mk8 or 220 degrees/ 428F

Serves: 6

(When lampuki and spinach are not in season you may use any other fish and frozen spinach instead)

Posted by - Darlene Abdilla -> Reminds me of when all my family is joined all together which rarely happens because of our busy lives. Although once I was going to choke still it is one of my favourite plates!

-Rebecca Craus

- Deborah Flores

- Abigail Sultana -> Reminds me of my birthday and of my mum taking all the torns out of the fish all else I finish to choke.

2006-02-08T09:42:00.000+01:00

Winter Food and Recipes

In winter most of the Maltese people like to eat a lot of soups like vegetable soup, tomato soup, pork and vegetable soup, fish and garlic soup and widow’s soup.

Vegetable Soup-In spite of the similarity of name, this soup is unlike
the Italian minestrone, in that it is thicker, richer and
much more filling.

Pork and Vegetable Soup- This soup (almost a stew) is made in the
same way as the vegetable soup, but with
the addition of a large piece of pork meat.

Fish and Garlic Soup- Although this is a fish soup, it takes its name
from the Italian ‘aglio’ (garlic) which is its second
main ingredient. It is a must for garlic lovers and
one of the best soups on the Maltese menu.

More winter foods which this time are not soups are: stewed meat, kusksu, stuffed artichokes, broad bean casserole and bigilla.

Kusksu- It is a variety of pasta (looks rather like small beads) and the
reason for its name which is probably derived from couscous, is
that the pasta resembles a very coarse couscous but that is
where the resemblance ends.

Bigilla- ‘Bigilla’ is a typical country dish. This ‘Bigilla’ seller is a familiar
comforting figure in village streets on cold winter nights.

‘Bigilla’ Recipe

Ingredients
14 oz dried broad beans
Salt and Pepper
1 whole head of garlic
1 chilli pepper
1 tablespoon of mixed herbs(marjoram and mint)

Serves 4

Method
Soak the beans overnight in water. When ready to start cooking replace the water. Bring to the boil with salt to taste. If the beans look very dry it is advisable to add a tiny pinch of bicarbonate of soda. Allow to simmer until beans are tender and the water has evaporated. The time will depend on the age of beans. Have some boiling water handy to add, if necessary. Mash the beans roughly and turn into a serving dish. Pour a tablespoon or 2 of oil on top. The other ingredients are added to taste. The garlic should be crushed and the pepper and herbs finely chopped. A little felfel is a good addition.

Winter Festivals

On the 4th of February there is going to be the Malta Song for Europe which is the great event or show in Malta were most of the Maltese population look forward to watch it. Every year loads of singers participate in this Eurovision. The Maltese people have to vote by the televoting forwhich song they prefer. The winner will represent Malta in that place where the last country won the Eurovision. Until now Malta has never won the Eurovision, but we have achieved great results by placing twice second and third.

Carnival is another festival that the Maltese people especially teenagers and children like. The dancers and those who design the carnival wagons prepare for months before the Carnival begins. Lots of young children dress up like their favorite cartoon character eg Spiderman, Mickey Mouse, batman, Zorro etc. On the other hand the teenagers will dress up in a different way like babies, punks, angels, schoolgirls/boys, boys dressing up like women’s etc. We have also Carnival sweets like the sugared – almonds and the pine nut gateau.

Winter Activities

During the winter most of the teenagers, on the weekends like to go out to the cinema to watch their favorite movie instead of going outside. Others like to watch a DVD at home and spending the time watching the DVD with their family or friends, especially when it is raining. On Sundays most of the family will go for a hike and spend their time relaxing, playing together, eating, go for a walk in the countryside. Most of the couples will either go with their family or on their own for dinner in most of the Maltese restaurants.

2006-02-08T09:35:00.000+01:00

Winter Food

Winter is the coldest season and sometimes it can be a very wet one too.I guess to keep warm you need to eat soups or food that keeps you warm. One of the favourite soup with Maltese peole is the ‘Chestnut soup’,in Maltese we call it ‘Imbuljuta’. I think you can have it as a soup or as a snack. Before it was more popular with Maltese people for there weren't any heaters so to keep warm they used to have more soups than today.

What you need for this soup
500g of peeled chestnuts
rind of orange
rind of lemon
rind of tangerine
pinch of nut meg
3 heaped tablespoons of fine chocolate powder
4 heaped tablespoons brown sugar
2 or 3 cloves
pinch of spice
pinch of cinnamon
if you like you can put a tot of brandy

Method:
Soak the peeled chestnuts overnight
The throw the water away
Place the chestnuts in a pot,
cover them with water,
add all the ingredients,
when it reaches boiling point simmer until chestnuts are soft and tender
Before serving remove the rinds and the cloves

It is quite filling, delicious and keeps you warm. It used to be like a special snack around Christmas time when Maltese people used to come from the midnight mass and have a bowl of the chestnut soup (Imbuljuta).

Winter Festivals

In Winter we have the Malta song festival which occurs in February. There will be about twenty songs, sung by maltese singers written and composed by maltese composers.The best song and performance will participate in the Eurovision song contest overseas. Compare there will be about twenty or more countries, last year we placed second, so I hope this year we will win it.

One of the traditions in the Maltese islands is the celebration of Carnival. These are 3 days of merriment dating back from the time of the knights. Traditionally also at this time of the year the Maltese delight in eating a cake called "Prinjolata" which as the name implies is made from pine nuts amongst the many ingredients. These can be bought in various sizes from leading confectioners or better still you can make your own.

There’ll be a defile, King Carnival will lead the way. There’s the Maltese ‘Kukkanja’ which was created by the Knights of Malta. The ‘Kukkanja’ is a pole that has a flag on the top and who takes off the flag will receive a price. The main event of this festival is held in Valletta though there’ll be villages that celebrate Carnival too. Even in Gozo, the most popular Carnival is in Nadur, where people dress macabre costumes.

Maltese people like Carnival for sometimes you’ll see little children even babies wearing costumes like Minnie mouse,Tweety,Dalmations or any characters from the cartoons.

2006-02-08T09:28:00.000+01:00

Winter Festivals

When February comes we have the Eurovision song for Europe which is going to be held next Saturday 4th February. We also have the carnival that comes in winter and a lot of people like it especially kids. Parents at the moment are preparing costumes for their kids but as teens we also like this feast. Usually we go to Valletta, the capital of Malta, where all the carnival activities are held to see the carnival float which is always very colourful.

Winter activities

In winter we organize various activities. We either go for a long walk near the beach and after we go to eat something. On Saturday night nearly everyone hangs out with his friends and the most popular places to go are Marsacala and Paceville. Usually, on Sunday, we go to each other's home to watch a DVD.

Winter food
Maltese people like to keep themselves warm during winter so they like to cook food that ca keep you warm like “minestra” which is a mixture of various vegetables and also “brodu”. Another typical food is “s-soppa ta l-armla”. My favourite of these dishes is the minestra.

winterpost:VanessaGauci

2006-02-01T09:08:00.000+01:00

Winter Activities

During the winter we organise various activities. My friends and I for Saturday Evening we like to go to cinema. We enjoy the company of each other on Sundays, when we organise a hike in various parts of Malta. Sometimes we organise also a pic-nic with our families. During such pic-nic’s we like to share our experiences which we go through during the week.

Winter Food

In winter, to keep warn we like to eat warm food ideal for winter seasons. We like to cook the ‘minestra’ which is very famous among the Maltese traditional women. Personally, I mostly like to eat ‘kusksu’ in the winter season. And there is also the ‘soppa tal-armla’.

Winter Festivals
One of the most famous festivals in Malta is Malta song for Europe Festival. In this festival, a song is chosen to participate in the Eurovision song contest in May. Many Maltese people like to watch the show on TV, while others like to go and see it at ‘Dar il-Meditteran’. This year it is going to be held on 4th February.

Winterpost:Josianne Zahra

2006-02-01T09:05:00.000+01:00

Winter Festivals

In this season, in winter, we celebrate the Carnival. Many persons wear Carnival costumes for this occasion. We organize this festival at Valletta, our capital city. We make very different and colourful Carnival floats with many personalities from ‘cartoons’ etc. We also make one of the King of Carnival, which will be the most colourful and original Carnival floats. Obviously, these take a lot of time to be manufactured, about 10 months, because they are normally one or two storey high and about six metres as a width. Many persons enjoy this particular festival, but as usual there are those persons who don’t like it. As a winter festival we also have the Eurovision Song Contest. In Malta this festival plays an important part for Maltese citizens. Many Maltese singers take part in the Malta Song for Europe song festival, but only one singer must represent us in an other country. Although we are a small island, we had always done our best to have a good result as we usually have. The Eurovision Song Contest is a very important festival as it gives a great opportunity to the Maltese singer who represents us.

Winter Activities

At Sunday afternoons, usually a lot of families like to go for a walk by the countryside or by the sea-side. But when it rains, families usually stay at home watching television or a DVD. There are also some families who like to play board games when it rains. Teens and youths usually like to go out on Saturdays and go to Paceville (a village where there are a lot of pubs, discotheques and shops) or go to Marsascala to have a drink for there are a lot of pubs or to have a promenade by the sea side. When it rains, youths usually like to watch television or a DVD with their friends and have a good time with each other. I personally don’t like to go out at the week-ends, because I think that at week-ends I have to relax a bit. I don’t go out with my friends because I don’t have fun with them; I prefer to go out with more mature friends or with a boy friend.

Winter food

Green beans soup

Ingredients:

A spoon of margarine
Some garlic
300g fresh green beans
2 cups (500 ml) warm vegetable putty
A cup (250 ml) pasteurized skimmed milk
50g grated cheese
Some pepper
Some chopped fresh parsley

Method:

In a 3 litre pot mix the margarine, the garlic and beans together for about 3 minutes. Don’t cover the pot.
Add the vegetable putty and pepper, cover the pot and leave it for 15 minutes
Then as the pot begins to loose heat, add the milk and cheese.

Finally plate, and put parsley at the side of the plate.

WinterPosts: Mirka Abela

2006-02-01T09:04:00.000+01:00

under construction ...

Winterposts:Nolene Psaila

2006-02-01T08:53:00.000+01:00

Winter food

Winter is the coldest season and sometimes it can be a very wet one too.I guess to keep warm you need to eat soups or that food that keeps you warm.One of the favourite soup with Maltese peole is the ‘Chestnut soup’,in Maltese we call it ‘Imbuljuta’,I think you can have it as a soup or as a snack.Before it was more popular with Maltese people for there wasn’t any heaters so to keep warm they used to have more soups than today.

What you need for this soup
500g of peeled chestnuts
rind of orange
rind of lemon
rind of tangerine
pinch of nut meg
3 heaped tablespoons of fine chocolate powder
4 heaped tablespoons brown sugar
2 or 3 cloves
pinch of spice
pinch of cinnamon
if you like you can put a tot of brandy

Method:
Soak the peeled chestnuts overnight
The throw the water away
Place the chestnuts in a pot,
cover them with water,
add all the ingredients,
when it reaches boiling point simmer until chestnuts are soft and tender
Before serving remove the rinds and the cloves

It is quite filling,delicious and keeps you warm.It used to be like a special snack around Christmas time when Maltese people used to come from the midnight mass and have a bowl of the chestnut soup (Imbuljuta).

Winter festivals

In Winter we have the Malta song festival which occurs in February.There will be about twenty songs, sung by maltese singers written and composed by maltese composers.The best song and performance will participate in the Eurovision song contest overseas. Compare there will be about twenty or more countries, last year we placed second, so I hope this year we will win it.

One of the traditions in the Maltese islands is the celebration of Carnival. These are 3 days of merriment dating back from the time of the knights. Traditionally also at this time of the year the Maltese delight in eating a cake called "Prinjolata" which as the name implies is made from pine nuts amongst the many ingredients. These can be bought in various sizes from leading confectioners or better still you can make your own.

There’ll be a defile, King Carnival will lead the way. There’s the Maltese ‘Kukkanja’ which was created by the Knights of Malta. The ‘Kukkanja’ is a pole that has a flag on the top and who takes off the flag will receive a price. The main event of this festival is held in Valletta though there’ll be villages that celebrate Carnival too. Even in Gozo, the most popular Carnival is in Nadur, where people dress in macabre costumes.

Maltese people like Carnival for sometimes you’ll see little children even babies wearing costumes like Minnie mouse, Tweety, Dalmations or any characters from the cartoons.

Winter activities

In Winter most Maltese families stay at home when it is very cold and wet either they watch a dvd or a good program on television. There are others who play cards, scrabble or other indoor games. Another activity is if there is a good film they go to the cinema or a good play at the Manoel theatre. The other contrast if it is a beautiful day, Maltese people go for a pic-nic in the countryside. You’ll find youngsters go on a hike in the beautiful countryside. I guess the best place for hikes is Girgenti, Salib Ta’ l-Gholja limits of Siggiewi and the most lovely place is Chadwick lakes limits of Rabat.

Winterpost:YanikaGatt

2006-02-01T08:47:00.000+01:00

Winter Activities

In winter my friends and I organises various activities during the weekends. We either go to see an interesting film at Valletta or organises a picnic in countryside to enjoy the perfect view of the country. When it is a rainy day I go out with my family and we enjoy going to eat in a restaurant.

Winter foods

In winter my favourite food is ‘minestra’. It is filled with delicious vegetables. It is popular in winter because it keeps us warm. Another popular food in Malta is ‘brodu’. But my favourite dish is ‘kusksu’ it is very delicious!

Festivals

One of the most popular festivals is the Malta Song for Europe. My family and I go to watch it in Bugibba on a big screen and there are many songs to listen. It is going to be held on 4th February and who wins is going to represent Malta in Greece. It is held in ‘Dar il-Mediterran’. It is a very good show!

WinterPosts: Antonella Gauci

2006-02-01T08:40:00.000+01:00

to be added later!!

WinterPosts: Adriana Galea

2006-02-01T08:37:00.001+01:00

In Malta we have a winter that is not so harsh. Some days are shiny, but not all of them. In winter we have different festivalsl. We are preparing for the Eurovision Song Contest of 2006. It will be held on the 4th February to chose the onethe represent us.

Our carnival is very typical, we have a presentation of the carnival in floats on one of the four days. For this occassion we don't have school, so it's a school holiday. Many children dress in costumes. It's a preperation to Ashes day before the Easter.

WinterPost:ValentinaMaggi

2006-02-01T08:37:00.000+01:00

Winter in Malta

As the most part of the Maltese population, Malta we have a moderate climate winter. So it is neither too cold or too hot. It is just the perfect weather to live in.

Since we have this climate the Maltese often go around and have some fun with friends who like drinking a cup of coffee together in a cafeteria. Teenagers like us usually go to the movies or in someplace where you could have some fun with your friends. Or when it’s is raining or bad weather they are usually at home either watching a DVD or on the internet chatting with their friends. Obviously because of exams and studying most teenagers don’t actually go out that much often. But as they say “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”.

Winter Activities in Malta

Carnival In Malta

Maltese people in particularly are looking forward to the traditional Maltese carnival that comes every year. This comes in February and of course the Maltese prepare very well for it. Those who are obsessed with this fun and fools day make traditional statues that we call them “karrijiet” which are big colorful floats that correspond to a theme. Usually on these floats there is a group of people dancing wearing colourful costumes according to the theme. There is more than onefloat and they all take part in a competition. The “Perlini” and the “Prinjolata” are Maltese traditional sweets that we eat during these short days. In these days anyone has the right to have fun and behave like a fool.

Many Maltese for them the carnival represents the last days of sweet eating because soon after the carnival is over begins the time of sacrifices as we prepare for lent and Easter.

Winter Food

As it is chilly and cold in the winter people search for methods to warm their selves off. Many Maltese people use types of special food that at times of cold you can warm your self up.

An example of this is the 'Soppa ta' l-armla' or widow's soup. Many say that it is called the widow's soup because once there was a widow and when her husband died she had financial problems and didn't have enough food to feed her family. Her neighbours saw her in that state and gave her some vegetables they grew up in their fields. Since they had a variety of it the widow decided to make a soup mixed with all kinds of vegetables they gave to her. From those days on this soup became popular and all Maltese adore a nice hot bowl of widow soup in winter.

winterpost:vanessa seguna

2006-02-01T08:36:00.003+01:00

Winters are mild with only rare occurrences of cold weather brought by north and northeast winds from central Europe. In fact, daytime winter temperatures almost never fall below 10ºC (50ºF), while night-time winter temperatures never fall below 0ºC (32ºF). Hence, snow never falls in Malta. Sometimes it gets rather windy for up to 3 days with strong gale force winds blowing either from the northwest (Malta's most common wind) or from the northeast bringing days of miserable stormy weather. Most of Malta's rainfall falls during autumn and winter, mostly from thunderstorms which make up most of the rainfall from September to December. It is usually mild in Malta during the winter, with plenty of sunshine, too, with daytime temperatures usually 15ºC (59ºF) or above and sometimes also around 20ºC (68ºF).

WinterPosts: Orlanda Grech

2006-02-01T08:36:00.002+01:00

Works in Progress!!!

WinterPosts: Sultana Abigail

2006-02-01T08:36:00.001+01:00

Winter although we have rain and it’s cold we still have winter traditions.Oviously it’s different from the other seasons.

In winter,because the temperature is colder we used to eat hot dishes.Even for the breakfast we see the difference because if in summer we tahe a glass of milk in winter we take hot chocolate and a toast.Most of the traditional foods are ‘minestra’,’brodu’and pasta.We eat other hot plates but not as much as we like to eat these.We do not consider salads and cold foods in the menu of winter foods.

As winter activities we have plenty to choose from.We celebrate Christmas in winter so everyone use to stay inside with all the family and relatives for dinner.Regarding new year’s eve we go for dinner in a restaurant and them in a bar to have a drink and for the countdowm.We mostly go to paceville.In week days practically at the evening we like to stay inside and go out at the weekend.The oldies and our parents prefer to go for a ride on a Sunday afternoon.For us teens in winter the teen groups will start to perform again,although this time is the most difficult at school because of our exams.Regarding media by this time on the television festivals and shows are the most popular.Threw the whole winter we have festivals but the most popular are the battle of the bands and the eurovision.

Winterposts:M'Lourdes

2006-02-01T08:36:00.000+01:00

WINTER FOOD & RECIPES

For the present season; winter, the Maltese cuisine offers an immense range of food and recipes. Some of these traditional dishes are the:

Þ “Kawlata” a type of soup with vegetables and meat
Þ “Minestra” a thick vegetable soup
Þ “Aljotta” a traditional fish soup
Þ “Kosksu bil-ful” – kosksu with broad beans
Þ “Fenek moqli” – fried rabbit

I would like to give you the easy and simple recipes of 2 of the recipes mentioned above. I am sure you’re going to like them if you try them so here we go:

Minestra

Ingredients:
84g cauliflower84g carrots84g pumpkin56g white onions28g celery stick21g tomato paste56g rice1250ml water

Method:
1. Slice and wash all the vegetables.
2. Fry the onions, till tender.
3. Add all vegetables except the rice.
4. Add the water, bring to the boil, and simmer till vegetables are cooked.
5. Add the washed rice. Soup must be very thick.

Kosksu Bil-Ful

Ingredients:
10 oz. Kosksu1 onion5 oz. peeled broad beans3 oz. peeled tomatoes2 oz. tomato pastegarlicmixed herbs2 pt. water

Method:
1. Chop the onion and garlic.
2. Fry in a little olive oil till golden brown.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste.
4. Add some mixed herbs, and the water.
5. Bring to the boil, add the kosksu, and simmer till cooked.
6. Add the broad beans 10 mins before removing from the cooker

WINTER FESTIVALS

In Malta, during this season, certain festivals take place. One of these festivals is the carnival. In this festival, held in the middle of February, many Maltese citizens gather in our capital city, Valletta. During these few days many funny decorated trucks. Some of these trucks have also sarcastic messages painted on them. The Maltese people that assist the festive celebrations held in Valletta, wear special costumes of clowns, animals, punks etc. It’s a very hectic festival and will surely entertain all the tourists that be part of it!

Another festival held in winter is the Malta Song for Europe. Each year, several Maltese artists participate in this festival that in the end gives them the chance to represent our country in the Eurovision Song Contest (a song contest between many European countries). Last year, our representative was Chiara which performed brilliantly with her angelic voice the song “Angel”. It was so performed well that in fact we placed second in this prestigious festival. There were more than twenty countries participating and of course we are very proud of Chiara!

WINTER ACTIVITIES

Because of the cold and chilly temperatures that often occur in Malta during this season, many teenagers like me often find themselves going to cinemas in the weekends. However on a Sunday afternoon, many people choose to go and spend some time in the countryside. A very nice place where people can appreciate nature is Buskett. This place is located near Rabat in the middle of Malta. Even hikes are very popular in this site.

WinterPosts Vanessa Vassallo

2006-02-01T08:35:00.001+01:00

WINTER FOODS

In Malta we have many different types of dishes for winter. The main dish that Maltese people really like is ‘minestra’. This dish consists of many types of vegetables. It is ideal for balanced diet and vegetarian people. Also there are many types of soups. For example tomatoes soup, chicken soups and pea soups ecc. Another winter dish is ‘soppa ta l –armla.’ This is like a soup but it’s not. This consist of potatoes, ‘gbejniet’, carrots, boiled eggs and a lot of gravy.

WINTER ACTIVITIES

During winter we did a lot of different activities. We teenagers organized a lot of activities such as hikes. We normally go near trees and fields were we can play volleyball, football and other types of games. Another popular activity we organizes is that on Saturday night we’ll go to the cinema to watch a film. Many teenagers like to go to the cinema. Also we like to go to a plsy bowling. That’s also one of the favorites. Many friends decides to rent 2 DVDs and watch them maybe at their friend’s house instead of going out.

WINTER FESTIVALS

In winter the main festival that we have is the Malta Song For Europe. All Maltese people wait for the moment to watch it. That’s the most main program that we all love top watch every year. Apart from that, in this season we celebrate the Maltese Carnival. The Carnival always takes place at the capital city Valetta. Most of the Maltese people really enjoy watch it and also young children like to wear a particular costume. Many groups prepare a special moves so they can dance in front of all the people with their particular costume that it was made by special paper and not bought from shops. And obviously the main thing is the king of carnival. It is a huge wagon. I hope you liked reading our winter food, activities and festivals.

WinterPosts : Andrea Cacciatore

2006-02-01T08:35:00.000+01:00

Winter Food

Here in Malta, we eat a big variety of food such as Pasta, chicken and meat. But these aren't typically Maltese. The typical Maltesewinter dish is a nice warm soup. Soups aren't like in the likings of many youths, but you can still taste some of this delicious dish in restaurants. The most famous soup is the 'Soppa ta' l-Armla', which is vegetable based. Personally I don't like much soups, mainly because I don't like vegetables. But whenever at home my grandmother cooks it, there's always an inviting smell.

Winter Activities

In Malta, we organise a lot of activities during Winter. For example, next weekend (the 4th of February), will be held the annual 'Malta Song for Europe', where different singers will show up their songs and leave it the Maltese hands to vote for the best song. This song will be then showed up during the 'Eurovision Song Contest'.

WinterPosts: Ritianne Pace

2006-02-01T08:34:00.001+01:00

Winter Food

In our Maltese culture we have our traditional winter food. One of our winter food is called Minestra. The Minestra how we called it in maltese is made up of pasta, carrots and other green vegetables. Another typical winter food is called '' brodu'' in Maltese. It is made up of pieces of chicken or beef meat, pasta and green vegetables.

Winter Festivals

It is in our traditional culture to make winter festivals. There are several winter festivals, but the main one and the one that is very much expected from the maltese people is the Malta Song for Europe Festival.

NovemberPosts: M'Lourdes Borg

2005-11-23T09:49:00.000+01:00

SCHOOL LIFE AT THE MOMENT

In our school, many activities take place. A few weeks ago, our school organised an ‘Active Week’. This week consisted of activities held everyday by different Forms. Each Form and mainly each student had to participate in a way. The motto of this ‘Active Week’ was “Active bodies, healthy minds”. It was rather a suitable motto because the aim of this so called ‘Active Week’ was mainly to promote the benefits of exercising regularly in order for us to stay healthy in each and every way.

At the moment, every class is busy preparing for the “Christmas Concert”; a concert organised by our school where every single class has to make a performance (drama, dance, singing). Our class is preparing to the full for this concert so like last year, our performance will be a great success. The headmistress has given us the permission to stay in class rehearsing during the mid-day break.

AUTUMN WEATHER IN MALTA

Autumn weather in Malta isn’t that cold. Late in the evening there tends to be a fresh breeze blowing along our roads but during the day it is still hot. In fact during this time of the year, you rarely see people wearing thick woollen shirts and definitely you don’t have a chance to see a person wearing a coat because it isn’t that chilly and frosty out there.

EVENTS IN NOVEMBER

In Malta, the month of November is dedicated to the souls. Special prayers are made to souls during masses and prayer meetings. In fact, the first day of this month is dedicated to all the Saints while the second day is a day dedicated to all souls. To emphasize on the importance of these two days, the 1st and 2nd November are always holidays.

PREPARATION FOR CHRISTMAS

For many people, Christmas is a very special feast. The Maltese begin preparing for Christmas very early. In fact some shops are already offering a vast collection of Christmas decorations. Even in Valletta (the capital city of Malta), they have just begin decorating the main streets with lucrative and colourful lights.

NovemberPost: Valentina Maggi

2005-11-23T09:41:00.000+01:00

School life at the moment.
At the moment our school life is different from our very first days at school.This is because at first, our head was not present. But now she’s present and there for us. Now we’re more conscious of what is happening at our school. At the moment, we’re doing our tests which are called the November tests.It’s a bit boring of having them after three days of holidays because of the all saints day.But the tests are there and we have to do them.The weather is changing too. Infact at school we’re preparing to change uniform from summer to winter.

Autumn weather in Malta.
In Malta by this time our weather should be more cold and some rain is expected. In the last few weeks it has started to be cold in the evenings but it’s still sunny throughout the day.The autumn weather makes us feel more the Christmas time.The autumn weather makes changes in what people wear to go out. Infact by this time we're supposed to wear winter clothes but we’re still wearing summer clothes or spring clothes.

Events in November.
In November we have the ALL SAINTS FEAST. It’s remembrance of all the dead people. It is celebrated in three days which are the first ,second and third of November. We go to the cemetery and put flowers and candles as sympathy.There we say a prayer for them too.

Preparation for Christmas.
As I said before we’re preparing for Christmas time. Most of the people are buying Christmas stuff.For example another new Christmas father or another Christmas tree accessories. Apart from this we’re buying the Christmas cards and last but not least we’re buying presents which in my opinion is the most important thing. Our mothers are preparing to start doing the house cleaning that touches every corner of the house. By the 2nd week of December we start preparing by decorating with the Christmas decorations.

Andrea Cacciatore

2005-11-23T09:38:00.000+01:00

About Myself

Name: Andrea Cacciatore
Age: 14
Date of Birth: 6/12/1991
Height: 1.53m
Weight: 52 KG
Eye colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Brown
Favourite Actor: Male: Christian De Sica
Female: Keira Knightley
Favourite Movie: Hackers
Favourite Singer/Band: Band: Greenday
Singer: Gigi d’Alessio
Favourite Song: ‘Il Primo Amore Non Si Scorda Mai’ Gigi d’Alessio
Favourite Colour: Red
Favourite Food: Seafood
Favourite animal: Dogs – Alaskan malamute
Hobbies: Babysitting four year old brother, playing volleyball and table-tennis and drawing cartoon characters

About my Family

Members: 4
Father: Luigi, 43 years old
Mother: Miriam, 36 years old
Sisters: (One) Astrid, 12 years old
Brothers: (One) Nicolo’, 4 years old
Domestic Pets: (Seven) Nita, Meike, Raenda, Asco, Arwen, DJ Junior, Denethor

About my City

I come from Senglea, which is found in the South East of Malta. Senglea is one of the oldest cities in Malta. In fact it was built in 1553.

Senglea has a very rich history. It underwent all sorts of wars; From the Great Siege to the Second World War. Senglea was almost destroyed, but fortunately everything came back to normal.

Senglea isn’t one of those places with many interesting sites, but the few places we have are both of great importance and interesting. There is the Haven’s Garden, which has a fantastic view of the Grand harbour, Valletta, Birgu and Floriana

There is a Building with the name of ‘Sede Azzjoni Kattolika’, where we organise a lot of plays, dinner dances, and other nice events. Since Christmas is coming we are busy organising plays for children and adults. We have already finished three plays: ‘Marcellinu Hobs u Nbid’, ‘Il-Kunjata Invizibbli’ and the Christmas story.

NovemberPosts: Nolene Psaila

2005-11-23T09:33:00.000+01:00

School life at the moment

In this moment,at school we had the ‘Activity week’ in October.In this activity,every form had its own activity,like dancing,aerobics,and some sports.In November we had a couple of holidays for it was mid-term.This month,we have the November tests, so that the teachers more or less know if we made any improvements and besides we have a parents’ day in December.

Autumn weather in Malta

Autumn weather in Malta is so unpredictable for either you have heavy rainfall or it is like Summer.This year,the autumn weather I guess,was kind for up to a fortnight ago it was like Summer and I went swimming with temperature of 25C and it was lovely.Now, it seems it’s getting colder and soon we have to go for warmer clothing.

Events in November

The main event in November is that most Maltese people remember the dear ones who passed away by going to the cemetery and visit their loved ones and put flowers and candles on the tombs and pray.We also have rememberance Day, the higher authorities put wreaths of flowers at the Memorial monument in Valletta. It commemorates the soldiers who died in the Second World War,that’s why we have poppy day. As autumn starts, we have events like stage drama, musicals and cinema starts getting more audience.

Preparation for Christmas

I think by now everybody starts preparing for Christmas like hanging heavier curtains and lay carpets on the floor, besides the Christmas cake you have to prepare in advance.
Christmas decorations have to be prepared like Christmas tree and Baby Jesus and decorative lights.
Everybody prepares a christmas dinner or get together party where relatives meet and most people buy new outfits to wear on Christmas Day or new Year’s Day.

NovemberPosts: Adriana Galea

2005-11-23T09:31:00.000+01:00

During this November in our school, we have November tests all round the school, in all classes and of all the subjects. Some exceptions may occur when our teachers decide to give us a test early for example in October or later like in December instead of November.

A Maltese tradition is that of celebrating the feast of San Martin during November. It is loved by the most little ones and usually they receive an assorted bag of nuts, and orange, an apple and a mandarin.

We had the active week in which all forms exercised on a particular day during the week. The fourth formers had some games like tug of war, penalty shootout, handball, and basketball.

This month we had three school holidays, the1st, 2nd, and 3rd November. We have them every year except when they fall on a weekend.

NovemberPosts: Vanessa Gauci

2005-11-23T09:27:00.000+01:00

School life at the moment

At this time, I’m very busy compared to other years, since next year, I am going to sit for the Matsec Examinations, which are very important!

Autumn Weather in Malta

Little by little, in Malta, the weather is getting a little colder. But we cannot grumble because most of the days we have clear blue sky. In the morning, when I go to school its a little bit cold, but till noon, it gets warmer.

Events in November at school

In this time, at our school, the students have the November Tests. For every subject we have a November Test. This helps the teachers to get a brief idea if we had understood the school subjects or not, up till now.

Preparation for Christmas

In Malta, every one start decorating his house with Christmas tree, cribs, etc. Even main roads in towns and villages are decorated. Republic Street in Valletta is very well decorated. Some mothers prepare ingredients for their Christmas cake.

NovemberPosts: Josianne Zahra

2005-11-16T16:04:00.000+01:00

School life at the moment

At this moment we are doing the November tests. We do these tests to test ourselves in a particular subject. We study thirteen subjects at school. At this moment we are still wearing the summer uniform. A large amount of students want to wear the winter uniform, because, when we are on the way to school early in the morning, it’s always a little bit cold outside. I hope that the head mistress will soon give us the permission to wear the winter uniform!

Autumn weather in Malta

In autumn the weather starts to be a little bit cold. At this moment we usually wear thin long sleeved tops. Some students, who don’t feel too much cold, go to swim in the sea. I personally don’t go because I feel a lot of cold especially in autumn and winter. In this season it’s starts raining and thunder storms begin. When it is a fine day the weather will be magnificent. The sky will be blue with no clouds or only few. A fine day like this encourages you to get out with your friends and go for a walk by the sea side or in the country side.

Events in November

At the very beginning of November we always have three holidays one after the other. In the first we celebrate the All Saints ’ Day, in the second we celebrate the All Souls’ Day and in the third November we always have a mid-term holiday. At the beginning of November we had an activity week. It was full of activities. We had a lot of sports activities in that week. We are also having the November tests at this moment.

Preparation for Christmas

In this month we are preparing for Christmas. The school administration is organizing a lot of activities for Christmas. They are preparing for outings such as: to watch a pantomime, to watch a film, places of interest and more. At this very end of November we will start decorating our classes and prepare for the school Christmas party. I really like the month of December because it is full of activities. I really enjoy it to the full.

NovemberPosts: Bernice Yeomans

2005-11-16T15:57:00.000+01:00

School Life At The Moment

Ttwo weeks ago we had a whole week about health activities. We, the fourth formers, had handball shootout. I liked most the form 5 activity which was dancing in front of the school. The head of school came back to school because before we think she was not well. This month we have to study a lot because we have November tests where each teacher gives us a test of the topic already done in class.

Autumn Weather in Malta

The weather in Malta becomes very cold and windy too. Usually rain occurs but we don’t have snow. Many people usually get sick because the weather changes from time to time. I like autumn weather in Malta because I like to be cozy at home in front of the fireplace watching TV. Autumn is the occasion where the family gets together more because of the weather e.g. raining occurs. I like it very much!

Events in November

Every year in November, the first two days of the month will not have school. 1st November is the feast of all Saints’ Holiday and 2nd November is the feast of All Souls’ Day. These holidays I spent them by doing my home works, studying, visiting our loved ones who went before us to see God because this month is dedicated for them. I went to Buskett where usually Maltese people go there to do a picnic where children enjoy themselves playing. There is a nice view because the place is surrounded with lots of trees. This month the Queen of England is going to visit Malta for the Commonwealth meeting.

Preparation for Christmas

Our school organizes a Social work by each class go to visit the old people in the nursing – home. On Christmas our school organizes a Christmas concert where each class has to decide what to like drama, singing, or dancing. The school organizes a Christmas party where each class decides together how the party is going to be organized like food, various games etc. Maltese people love to decorate their home with lots of Christmas decorations. Children like to go to Christmas parties for having presents and to enjoy themselves.

NovemberPosts: Abigail Sultana

2005-11-16T15:55:00.000+01:00

School life at the moment

November for sure isn’t the month that students at our school prefer most because we do the first tests from the beginning of the school year. We haven’t much to study as school began about one and a half month ago but everyone does a bit of a fuss to study me included.

Finally the headmistress is back so everything is back to normal and no one knows how to get order at school better than her.

Usually in November we change in our winter uniform which isn’t exactly my favourite because I have to get up earlier to get ready and as we don’t have trousers I have to wear a skirt everyday.

Autumn weather in Malta

Although we’re in autumn the weather here in Malta is still beautiful with hot, sunny days almost everyday. If you wanted to, you could go swimming because the sea isn’t that cold either.

Events in November

Some days ago we had three days of mid-term holiday in which I had a lot of stuff to do. First I studied for tests, did the bulk of homework I had and a project which is due to next month. Although I worked a lot I found some free time to relax and do some shopping.

Preparation for Christmas

This year every class at school is organising something for Christmas and my class has decided to act and in the same time dance and sing. I’m actually one of the main actresses. I’m going to play the part of a wife who is married to a man which likes to spend his time and money in bars to drink and play cards and two lovely daughters.

Vanessa Vassallo

2005-11-16T15:20:00.000+01:00

Myself
My name is Vanessa Vassallo. I’m 14 years old. I’m tall, I have brown eyes. Fair long curly hair. My hobbies are singing in choir, playing games on the computer, nail art on my own nails, go out with my friends, hear music and play volleyball. I like to make new friends from everywhere. My favourite subject at school is Computer Studies and the worse is religion. Social studies and Business Studies.

Family
In our family we are 4 members in all. Me, my father, my mother, and my younger sister. We don’t have a big house. In all we have 6 rooms and plus the 2 yards. I sleep with my sister in the same room. In the yard we have a room full of aquariums because my father likes to keep tropical fish as a hobby. All the days are the same. Every morning when we all wake up, there’s always a lot of confusion. Everybody needs to go to the bathromm but we have only two. While we are preparing for school, my mother goes to buy us the bread for lunch. After that she blesses us and off we go to wait for the private. Then after the school we arrive home, we eat something like a bowl of cereal and we begin the h.w.
Then at about 7.30 we have dinner. And I go to my bedroom to study a bit or play some games on the computer. And about 10 I and my sister go to sleep.

Locality
My locality were I live is called Fgura. This is a modern village. We don’t have historical areas like tarxien. But we have areas were you can go to have fun. For example we have a small mall. Here you can go shopping, go and have a snack at the pizza Hut, play games at the games room and the best one is that you can go to see a film. In Fgura you can find a lot of DVD rentals shops; you can find hairdressers and also cloths shoes shops. Some events are the Holy Communion in June, the Christmas mass at 12.00 but the special event is our feast. The best part is when we sing during the mass on Sunday the day when the statue of our (patruna).

My School
The name of the school were I attend is Margaret Mortimer Girls Junior Lyceum. Now I’m in form 4. The school is 8 years old now. It is very huge and it is built on a small hill. There are over 1,000 students from different villages. It has 6 staffrooms for all the teachers. We have 2 uniforms. One for summer and the other one for winter. We have a lot of rules:

¶If we have a P.E lesson, we need to bring the P.E kit a change at school in the changing room.
¶No jawing gums are allowed at school
¶No make-up and jewelry
¶Respect the teacher and do the hw given.

Ms Antonella Gauci

2005-11-15T10:36:00.000+01:00

Hi,
My name is Antonella and I am the teacher of this class 4A. I am very happy to see this blog shaping up. Already I have had some positive comments on the contents which makes me real proud of this class's work and effort. I was asked to put in some information about me so here goes:
I live in a village called Zurrieq which means 'light blue'. I have always lived here and feel proud of this village and its people. These past years I have seen many improvements happening especially in restoring important historical sites and embellishing small gardens and children's playing fields. The best thing about my village is that it's so quiet and calm most of the year. It's not busy like a town yet it buzzing with activities all year round organised by the two band clubs. Another great thing about this village is that it's close to the sea. I have travelled to many countries but I haven't seen a sea more beautiful than the one in Wied iz-Zurrieq. Its crystal clear deep blue waters just make you want to jump in and swim even if it's winter.

I am passionate about my origins and local history. However I am also interested in learning about other cultures which may seem primitive to us westernised countries. I enjoy reading about American Indian tribes, Mexican Maya and Aztec tribes, the Aborigines of Australia, the Maori of New Zealand and also the primitive tribes of the Amazon forest. If I won a million pounds I would travel the whole world to visit these places and stay to learn more what ancient knowledge these people have.

Apart from this I enjoy cooking and in fact I collect recipes which I do not always try but do enjoy looking at the pictures!! Joking apart, all my guests usually enjoy my cooking and always ask for the recipe. My best cooking success has been Lemon Chicken and also Seafood Chowder. My brother just adores my Apple and Coconut Cake. People who adore cooking usually love eating and I do.

I am a cheerful person who loves to be in company of people and friends. I have more to tell about myself but I guess this blog won't be enough to fit in everything.

Ritianne Pace

2005-11-15T09:23:00.000+01:00

Myself

My name is Ritianne Pace and I'm 15 years old. I am one of the students who attend the Mararet Mortimer Girls Junior Lyceum St. Lucia. I am medium height and have fair skin. My eyes are greena and my hair is dark brown. I'm neither thin and neither fat.. I'm medium size.

Family Life - House

My family is made up of three members: my father, my mother and I. I like my family so much. My family is extremely strict about some things. All of us would have to participate in the housework, not all of the work has to be done by my mother. Our house is neither big nor tiny. It welcomes you especially in winter because it is so cosy.

Locality.

I live in Zabbar, the loveliest locality which is in Malta, in my opinion. Zabbar is famous for it patron saint Our Layd of Grace. The feast of Our Lady of Grace is celebrated on the second Sunday of September. Two of the most interesting places in Zabbar are the Parish Church and the Sanctuary Museum. Zabbar also has an interesting tragic story. 30 years ago an Aircraft called Vulcan crashed in Zabbar. It crashed at 1:10pm; ten minutes after the school children went in their classes after midday break. It crashed in Sanctuary Street and one of the wings fell on the Zabbar primary school. It was a big tragedy. Zabbar was protected by Our Lady of Grace, because no one died in this accident. The people of Zabbar always thank Our Lady and adore her the whole year.

School.

My school is a large building, but although it is so large building it is clean. Every school has its own rules and so does ours. Every student has to go out in the yard in lunch break and midday break if it isn't raining. It it is raining every student can stay in the corridors but not in classes. On the whole our teachers are nice and we generally look forward to their lessons.

Abigail Sultana

2005-11-05T07:31:00.000+01:00

My name is Abigail Sultana. I’m 15 years old. I’m Maltese and my Locality is Fgura. I like to watch TV, listen to music and chat instead of practising sport. I dislike to be alone.

I have no brothers or sisters. At home we’re only 3. My parents and me. Our house is neither big nor small, normal size. It consists of 8 rooms. Obviously one of them is my room which I use only for sleeping, dressing and doing hair and make up. It’s airy and colourful. We have stairs to go up. There one can find the washroom. The place where mum used to wash clothes. From it we can go on the roof. It’s used mostly in Summer because there is no rain. Mum uses it for drying clothes, Dad uses it for doing barbecues and I use it to relax.

As I said before, my locality is Fgura. Fgura compared to other localities is different. In Fgura we have many shops. Those of basic need and those in which you can have fun. We also have a complex which is called ‘Gallarija’. It consists of shops, Gamesroom, supermarket and cinemas. What we have in common is that we have the most popular and delicious bakery called the Maypole. There is a church too and in front of it there is a square where old people like to spend most of their time. We have only one feast and it’s held in July. In Christmas the local council like to adorn the trees with lights.

I really hate school. It’s because I have to wake up everyday from Monday to Friday at 6.00 am. We have to wear a uniform. It’s not a mixed school, we’re only girls and it’s a bit boring. I have to see the positive at school and one event I like is Christmas time and the holidays. At Christmas time we do loads of activities like going to cinemas, party, karaoke and so on. The summer holidays are my favourite as we have 3 whole months off. Other holidays are Christmas, Easter and some National holidays.

Nathalie Cassar

2005-10-26T20:38:00.000+02:00

Hello,

My name is Nathalie and my surname is Cassar. I am 15 years old and I am Maltese so I live in Malta. I have brown hair which is medium length and blue eyes. I am not very tall I have an average height and I like to dress smart, casual, fashionable, catchy and trendy as well. My character is friendly, kind, nice, generous, optimistic, cheerful, relaxed and easy going and the most important thing is that I am very honest. I am a type of girl that if I feel something I tell it to you in your face and not playing with the words. And I like to hang out with my friends a lot of parties etc..

At home we are three persons me mum and dad and we have a Chihuahua dog named Buddy. He is a very friendly dog. In my house in all we have 7 rooms which are quiet good for 3 persons I think. With my parents I have a quiet good relationship because they let me do the things that I want not every thing but the most they let me do it even if the thing I do is wrong they let me do it to learn my errors that I do alone and they tell me ideas too. In my house I have a room for myself let me describe it to you. It is big it has a white color and one part of the wall is painted with spots of different color. I have a double bed because I often bring friends to sleep with me a lot because I like to do also pajama parties a lot. My favorite thing in my room is the big red bean bag that I have in the corner of my room.

I live at Fgura which is a small village. Although it is small it has all kind of needs you want example grocer, pharmacies, hairdressers etc… In Fgura young teenagers meet in a places called ‘gallarija’ , ‘pjażża’ and also the ‘youth center’.

I go to school of Santa Luċia and the name of the school is ‘Margaret Mortimer Girls Junior Lyceum’. The school is a big building. We have a lot of rules to obey example no piercings, no jewelry and no make-up. We are not mixed with boys we are girls only and we have to wear a uniform too.

Josianne Zahra

2005-10-26T20:35:00.000+02:00

Myself

My name is Josianne Zahra. I’m 14 years old. I live in Zurrieq. I’m tall and slim. I also have brown eyes and curly brown hair. My friend tells me that I have a perfect character. I like to go out with my friends and to laugh. I’m very shy, friendly, honest, sensitive and always punctual. My favorite food is pasta and pizza. I also like to play netball and to surf the internet. I dislike insects and snakes. I also dislike eating soups.

Family life

My family consists of 4 members; my sister, my parents and me. I have an elder sister. She’s 17 years old. Her name is Catherine. My mother’s name is Maria Dolores, she gets angry quickly. My father’s name is Joseph. He is very calm and has a lot of patience. I live in a big house with flat roof. In Malta we build our houses with stones not with bricks.

Locality
I live in Zurrieq. It is found in the south of Malta. Zurrieq is a very interesting old village. At Zurrieq, we have a lot of windmills. One of them is very popular around Malta. Its name is the “Xarolla” windmill. In Zurrieq we celebrate two great feasts, which are the Saint Catherine of Alexandria, the patron of Zurrieq and that of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. We have several old chapels and a magnificent parish church dedicated to Saint Catherine.

School
The school has been built about eight years ago. It is situated in a small village named Santa Lucia in the South-east of Malta. The students are girls only and have to wear uniform. We, the students, have several rules. Some of them are: not to wear make-up, not to wear jewellery except earrings and a watch, not to get any mobile phones and so on. Our rules are very strict.

Celine Costa

2005-10-26T20:29:00.001+02:00

My name is Celine Costa and I’m 14 years old. I live in Luqa. I have brown eyes, black hair and I’m of medium height. I consider myself to be calm, friendly and easy going. My hobbies are watching TV, listening to music and going out with friends. My favorite food is pizza and burgers. I have a sister and a brother.

My house has two floors and a basement lying underneath the whole house. In my house, we also have a roof, were we sometimes organize a barbeque for family and friends.

Luqa Feast

In my village, we celebrate the feast of Saint Andrew (who is our patron saint) in July. We have a big celebration with fireworks. Here in Luqa we have two band clubs called “ta’ l-Ajkla” and “ta l-istilla”. We celebrate several different events and feasts. We also celebrate Good Friday and we have a procession were a lot of people take part wearing traditional costumes related to the life and death of Jesus Christ.

The school where I attend is located at Santa Lucia. This school is one of the newest schools in Malta and it’s a girls’ school. My school is equipped with various laboratories. Amongst these one can find chemistry lab, physics lab, and computer lab. We also have special rooms for language lessons like French room and Italian room. We have a small library in which one can find many interesting books that you can lend.

Valentina Maggi

2005-10-26T20:29:00.000+02:00

I am Valentina Maggi and I am 14 years old. I live at Paola Malta. I like to surf the net to find interesting people. I love sports particularly netball because my family is associated to this sports by different ways. I love meet new people because that helps me to learn more about different cultures and traditions. I hate when I am under pressure because it makes me do the work quickly and sometimes wrong. I am neither tall nor short and I am a chubby girl. My eyes' color is brown in green and my hair’s color is brownish. I love connecting with eye contact because it helps me focus more on the person.

I live with my mother only because she is a single parent. I lost my father 6years ago and he has left me with lots of courage to go on with my life. I have a sister who is 28 and who got married a year ago. So at home my mother and I are the only ones left. We help each other in different ways and in different situations. Love keeps us together always. We live in a quite a large and spacious house. It’s full of furniture: some new and some are related to our old family.

I live at Paola in Malta. I am quite proud with my village because it has precious values that other villages don’t have.
Our town is one of the least in Malta that has two feasts. One of Kristu Re and the other is Madonna ta` Lourdes. The last one is quite a small feast but people unite together to celebrate this wonderful feast. We have the hypogeum which has a part of Malta’s history. In the square we have a lot of shops like fashion shops, shoe shops, book shops, discount shops and many more. In Christmas the streets are all decorated to the occasion. People go to the midnight mass and than go and have some coffee and put baby Jesus in his manger.

I attend the Margaret Mortimer Girl junior lyceum. I am in form 4a and I am very happy to be in this class because we are like a big family. We are very happy with some of the teachers because they teach us and in any problem they are there for rescue. We are not a mixed school and that is the fact that I hate about this school. The Head always improves to make us feel more comfortable and to help us learn more. We have quite uncomfortable rules like if we have a short skirt we are immediately reported and if you have a tiny amount of the makeup you forgot to take off the other they you have to get rid of it before someone of high authority sees you.

Adriana Galea

2005-10-26T20:27:00.000+02:00

My name is Adriana Galea and I am 14 years old. I am tall 1.64 m and I am well built.
I have long curly brown hair, thin eyebrows, thin and long eyelashes, hazelnut eyes, a medium nose, and thin lips. I am hard working, I like going to school, and my favourite subjects are Italian and Computer studies. I have a strong character and I laugh easily. My favourite TV series are Detective Monk, Missing, and Charmed. My favourite group are Maroon 5 and my favourite song is She will be loved. I like listening to music,collect stamps (First day covers), go out with my friends, I play the guitar, and I like to read especially the Harry Potter books.

I live in Paola, a beautiful city in Malta. My house is a maisonette, first floor with a flat roof because in Malta snow does not fall because of our climate. My house consists of five rooms, two yards, and a small corridor. First there is my room, then the small internal yard, the bathroom, my parents bedroom, the living room, the kitchen, and the big yard; all in one floor. My family is made up of three members, my mother, my father and I. My father works as a driver with the director of the civil aviation. My mother is a housewife and I go to school from 8:30 until 2:45.

Paola is a big city, there are many shops, and I can say you can find anything you need without the need of moving to other cities. In Paola, the main themes are the church, the Hypogeum (a Neolithic Temple). The church is the biggest church that you find in Malta and there is mass every hour. About the Hypogeum, it was built underground shelter for the primitive man. Every year, our city gives the village feast. In this celebration there are processions with the statue of Jesus is King through the whole week, the village bands play marches, and many vendors come and sell toys, food and a table with a Maltese sweet called Nougat.

I attend the school Margaret Mortimer, situated in Santa Lucia; some things about the school are strange even to me. The school was built eight years ago and school rules have been developing since than. I study Maths, English, Maltese, Italian, Physics, Physical Education, Religion, Social Studies, History, Personal and Social Development, Business Studies, Computer Studies and Geography. In our school, we have to wear a uniform and we are only girls. At school we also have a tuckshop.

Leonora Casingena

2005-10-26T20:21:00.000+02:00

Dear everyone,
Hi there! I am Leonora Casingena and I live in Fgura which is at the south of Malta. I am going to be 15 on the 11th December. My hobbies are playing with small children, gymnastics, teaching some kind of gymnastics to my brother (but he really does break-dance instead), joking, hanging out with friend, help others, chatting and playing computer and play station 2 games.

I live in a maisonette in the outskirts of Fgura. We are 6 persons in all living in there mum and dad, my two brothers, granny and I. My brothers’ ages are 20 and 6 – Christian and Kyle respectively. The most room I prefer to stay is my room it has all I want TV, computer, stereo, air conditioner, double bed, big wardrobe, and a balcony that I actually don’t use.

At my village which is Fgura we don’t have any historical temples or any museum of history but for us teens we have a big square in which there will be many people of different ages and the grounds and we have a big shopping mall and is a good place for young teens of ages10 to 12. Infact every weekend it’s always filled up because there is a big games room and there is a cinema floor which will have all films shown in that period.

I attend Margaret Mortimer girls’ junior lyceum which is the second newest school in Malta this is situated in Santa Lucia which is a neighbor of Fgura. We go to school by our local coaches. We can’t go from school on foot if we aren’t from Santa Lucia and that is one of our rules. Another rule is that we must go to school in uniform. If it is not a rainy day we have to stay in the yard. We can’t put on make up and so on. It seems like every day the administration will go and create another rule. But all in all this is the most wonderful school I have ever visited although it is still under construction.

I am a student and I wish that all I am doing right now will be a good base for my future.
Hope to listen from you,
Leonora

Mirka Abela

2005-10-24T20:14:00.000+02:00

My name is Mirka and I am 14 years old. Personally I am tall and quite thin, I was born with A Caucasian colour and so I am with a golden tan. I have an oval face and high cheek-bones. My eyes are large and dark brown and my hair is long straight and dark brown as well, I also have a fringe which it is cut horizontally across my forehead. I’m an active person and never want to stay in, in contrary I’m very outgoing, lively and extroverted and I like going out with my friends. I’m very ambitious assertive and cautious. I care a lot for my friends and those that I love, generous, true friend, faithful and loyal because whenever my friends need a shoulder to cry on I’m always there to listen to their problems. I’m a little creative because I like to do simple nail arts. I adore chatting and surfing the internet. I like to sing and I am a singer in the choir of my parish, I am very ambitious so that when I grow up I’ll compete in the Eurovision Song Contest. In Malta I also took parts in festivals, put I never tried for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. I like also dancing especially the dirty dancing and hip-hop. I like to hear all types of music, my favourites singers are Fabrizio Faniello and Olivia Lewis as regards to Maltese singers, I like also Eminem, Sean Paul, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera. My favourite song right now is “We Be Burnin” of Sean Paul”. I adore watching movies as well; my favourite movies are “You’ve Got Served”, “The Phantom of the Opera”, “Save the Last Dance” and “The Notebook”.

Family Life-house
I am the only daughter in the family. My mother and father care a lot for me and I am the main and most important in their life maybe this is because I do not have any brothers or sisters. I am good as I am maybe because I get all the things I want all for myself but I wish a lot that I had an older brother and a younger sister, life is very empty without brothers or sisters I think. But I have a cuddly cat, he is called Tigger, I love him a lot especially when he purrs. Then, my father works as a carpenter with his brothers at the village of Hal Qormi and my mother is a housewife. We like to gather around the table for dinner and talk about that day. It’s worth it to live with my caring parents. I love them so much. Our house is not very large but all the rooms are very spacious, in the house we have the kitchen, washroom, box room, two bathrooms, the sitting room and two bedrooms, one for my parents and the other room for my own. It is my favourite room because I spent the most time in it to do my home work and use the computer. We have also a yard which contains many trees and plants. It is very relaxing there reading a book in the breeze, the smell of the flowers and the whispering of the birds.

Locality
My locality is Fgura; on the surface it appears to be a new town. But its outward appearance believes ancient origins. The town has prehistoric roots there are several tombs in the area and there is evidence to suggest it was a settlement in Phoenician times. Fgura, lying inland from the Three Cities, was influenced by the growth of the dockyards. Its northern fringes are bordered by the Cottonera Lines of fortifications while it merges with Zabbar to the south and Tarxien to the West. Today, Fgura is the residential area with perhaps the highest density population in the country. Our parish is dedicated to the “Mother of Mount Carmel” and the feast is celebrated in the second Sunday of July. There are two squares were the teenagers of Fgura meet, there is also a large playground and The Gallaria shopping Complex in this complex there are also a large cinema and a games room. Those are some of the interesting areas in Fgura.

School
The school that I attend is Margaret Mortimer Girls’ Junior Lyceum. It’s a large school and it’s the most new girls’ school in Malta. It has a very large playground and another court to play the different types of sports which are being taught by our teachers, such as volleyball, football, handball and more. We have the tuck-shop, the changing rooms, the library, many spacious classes, computer labs, biology, chemistry and physics labs, language rooms like French room, Italian room and more, PSD rooms, media room, two large home economics rooms, six staffrooms, the silent room and many other convenient rooms. But we don’t have the hall and a gymnasium the most important. Our school organizes many activities especially in Christmas and during the recreations there are regularly activities like the Drama Club, English Club, Dancing Club and the school choir. There are also many rules, we cant wear any make up or costume jewelry, we cant wear the tracksuit from home when we have the Physical Education but we have to take the PE kit and change it at school, the skirts have to be under the knees but no one obeys this rule maybe only the form one students, the shoes have to be black and flat and there are more of these rules. I wish I was in a mixed school, not girls only and do not wear a uniform, but there is nothing to do. L

Nolene Psaila

2005-10-24T20:10:00.000+02:00

My name is Nolene Psaila, I live at Fgura and I attend “Margaret Mortimer Girls’ Junior Lyceum” and I’m in form 4.I’am of normal height, my completion is fair, my hair is hazel brown and my eyes are brown. My hobbies are swimming, listen to all types of music and love to chat on my computer. My favourite food is pizza and I have a sweet tooth for delicious cakes.

My family consists of two persons.My mother and me.Mum is great fun,she is my best friend to me.We share jokes and we go out together to many places.I have several friends too,which sometimes I go out with them to see a film or have a pizza.Although I have no brothers or sisters,I guess my life is a happy one.
I live in Fgura which Fgura is in the south of Malta.It is a modern place and it’s like a town for it is a bit big.In Fgura,an interesting area is Gallerija.Gallerija is like a big shopping centre where there you find a supermarket (a big shop full of food),boutiques,car park where one can park his car there,cinema,games room and many different types of shops.A event that we have in Fgura is the “Fgura fest” where you entertain yourself by different singers who sing many types of songs.There will be food and drinks too.

My school is at Santa Lucia not far from Fgura.It is called “Margaret Mortimer Girls’ Junior Lyceum”.It was built 8 years ago,and built in a modern style.It is situated not far from the Luqa International Airport.There is a wonderful view though in Winter it gets very cold at school!

Bernice Yeomans

2005-10-24T20:04:00.000+02:00

1. Myself

My name is Bernice Yeomans and I am fifteen years old. My height is 1.58m which is medium height. I’m a slim girl, my hair is straight with layers and its color is brown and evens my eyes. I am a talkative girl and like to laugh especially with my friends. I am a generous person and ambitious too. I like to make new friends and a little bit nervous. My hobbies are singing, dancing, chatting, playing on the computer, watching TV especially MTV and listening to music. I’m scared of cockroaches and rats.

2. Family Life

My family consists of four persons: my dad (Godwin), my mum (Doris), my brother (Alan) and me. Alan is twenty years old and all the time teases me because I am the youngest. We live in a flat that is enough to suit us all because it has eight rooms: the kitchen, the living room, spare toilet, the bathroom, double bedroom, my room, my brother’s room and a box room. The whole family gets together at dinner. Every morning everyone is in a hurry because my brother and my father go working and I go to school.

3. Locality

I live in Fgura which is a modern village and big enough. Some interesting areas that we have in our village is “ Gallarija ”. It is actually like a small plaza because there are boutiques, a cinema theatre, games room, supermarket etc. A special event that we have in our village is the “ Fgura Fest ” where Maltese singers will entertain the audience. It finishes probably at 11.30pm. On Christmas Eve those people who their family lives in Australia can express there Christmas message on the radio so the Australian people will hear their message. There will be also a mass to celebrate the Christmas. Maltese people decorates their houses with Christmas lights and most of the families puts the crib in the window. On July we will have our feast dedicated to our patron. There will be also the band and some fireworks as well.

4. School
I attend the school of Margaret Mortimer Girl’s Junior Lyceum at St. Lucija. It is a modern school and big too. Our school has five grades from form one till form five. I’m at grade form 4 A. various students come from different localities. One of the disadvantages that we have is that we aren’t mixed but girls only. In Malta most of the schools are not mixed. School begins at half past eight but I have to wake up at half past six because our private comes for us at 7.20am. We have a summer uniform and a winter uniform. The summer uniform consists of a white shirt, a white checked skirt and a pair of green socks. The winter uniform is made up of a blue skirt, grey shirt, a blue bow, a green cardigan, a blue skirt, a blue blazer, a blue pair of tights and a pair of blue socks. We have a winter and a summer tracksuit but we have to change it there. On Monday and on Wednesday we have eight lessons which will be short while on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday we will have seven lessons which will be longer. Our school end at 2.40pm.

Our school organizes a lot of activities where as this year we had the seminars where we had to dress casual and there will be boys with us and talk about P.S.D. We used to have the fun run where we have to walk or run around the block of our school and after some popular Maltese singers will be invited and sing for us. On the 24th October we have a whole week of activities such as fun walk, dancing, various games and aerobics. When the students are at form five our school organizes a weekend break for the fifth formers and some of the teachers come too! Each room has to be shared by five students. They will take them to a disco, organize them a hike, go to kart racing etc.

M'Lourdes Borg

2005-10-24T20:00:00.000+02:00

MYSELF

Name: M’Lourdes

Surname: Borg

Age: 14 years old

Date of birth: 4 January 1991

Village: Zurrieq

Hair colour: light brown

Eye colour: brown

Tall: 1.6m

Hobbies: playing the guitar
going for long walks
collecting stamps
making new friends

Favourite singer: Avril Lavinge

Favourite film: The Sound of Music (1965)

Favourite food: chicken & chips

My favourite quote: “It takes years to build up trust
but only a few seconds to
destroy it.”

FAMILY

Family: 4 members

Father: Emanuel (45 years old), mechanic

Mother: Catherine (46 years old), housewife

Sister: Josette (17 years old), studying to become a nurse in the future and a piano teacher

HISTORY OF ZURRIEQ

The village of Zurrieq is surely not lacking in history, and this can be witnessed by the numerous ruins and remaining structures that indicate the flow of the village through time. These indicate the various settlements of peoples that inhabited the village area, from the Phoenicians to the Carathaginians, Greeks to the Romans. The remains found indicate these peoples as ancestors to the village, yet without excluding the possibility of other peoples, this village is rich in ruins and remains which in future may shed new light on its ancestors. Proof of this may be seen namely in remains such as the Punic Tower, Xarolla Catacombs, Cart Ruts at 'Tal-Bakkari', 'Tal-Hlantun Tower' and many others.

Here is some information about a few of these historical remainings found in Zurrieq:

“L-Armerija” – a palace built in the late 1600s where French General Napoleon slept for 3 nights during his visit in Zurrieq

“Togores Palace” – another palace built in 1715. Now it is used by the Benedictines

“Mattia Preti’s warehouse” – the house where Mattia Preti lived when he was in Malta. Now it is used as an office by the Zurrieq Local Council

“Tal-Baqqari” – a few remainings (cart ruts) from a church built in Roman Times

“Punic Tower” – built before 1575. Its remains form part of the parish priest’s home

“Tal-Qaret Windmill” – built in 1674. It is not used but it’s still in good condition

“Ta’ Marmara” – another windmill built in 1724

“Tas-Salib” – a windmill which was built a few years after 1724

“Il-mithna tax-Xarolla” – a windmill built in 1724 which is the only windmill in Malta that still works in its original form

“The Parish Church” - The Parish Church dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria, knows its roots to a chapel built on the same site in 1436

“St. Mary’s Church” - Another church found in the village is that dedicated to the Holy Mary in the area known as Bubaqra. This was built to replace two chapels dedicated to St. Rocco and St. Sebastian, in 1676.

“Two chapels at Hal Millieri” – In the peripheral area of Zurrieq known as Hal Millieri, one can also find two other chapels. One is dedicated to Our Lady of the Annunciation, which is a medieval chapel dating before 1500. One should mention that in this chapel we find frescos (paintings painted directly on the wall) of the XIV century, which are unique to the island. In front of this chapel we find the chapel dedicated to St. John the Evangelist dating back to the 1575.

“Xarolla Catacombs” – These catacombs were excavated between 1996 and 1998. In these catacombs they found pottery which was of the third and fourth century after Christ. There were found some other ruins of the Bizantines between the sixth and seventh century.

EVENTS IN ZURRIEQ

At Zurrieq many different events are held every single year. Some of these events include; educational events, shows, bazaars, exhibitions and some are held for religious purposes.

Eventually this year, many events were held. One of the events that I clearly remember was the re-enactment of when the Grandmaster Hompesh came to Zurrieq. It was very illustrious and radiant to see those well-made costumes, a taste of the rich Maltese folklore, horses and any type of things in connection with Grandmasters. It was quite a bright and splendid idea because apart from the face it was amusing to see, it was educational too.

SCHOOL

Margaret Mortimer Girls’ Junior Lyceum is an 8 year old school in which many students including me regularly attend. This school is situated in Santa Lucia, a little village in the south of Malta. It is built in a form of a horseshoe. It consists of 3 storeys; basement (where you find classes, the media room, and physics labs), ground floor (consisting of classes, administration offices and other labs) and the top floor (mainly consists of classes, computer labs). In the middle of the school, there is the playground where we spend our recreation time. Not very far away from the playground, one can find the tennis court.

The school is very fond of providing to its students education of high quality. Its trained staff is always making its best to educate us in best ways. In every scholastic year, there are many extra-curricular activities like seminars, bazaars, Italian Day, French Day, German Day and the Christmas Concert. Till now, I have spent 3 years in this school and I cannot believe how time flies because I can clearly remember the first day when we entered this school. These 3 years were amazing for me because I have learned very important things and I have built my character as well.

Yankia Gatt

2005-10-24T19:59:00.000+02:00

1) My name is Yanika Gatt and I live at Tarxien. I am 14 years old. I like to listen to music and hang out with my friends. I dislike people who torment animals. I enjoy dancing very much. I am very out-going and friendly.

2) My family consists of four persons. They are my mother, my father, my brother and I. I am the youngest one. My brother is 21 years old and he enjoys playing football very much! In my house there is 6 rooms and a roof. My house is quite big.

3) In Christmas we decorate our house and streets. In Tarxien there is a historical building. It is the Neolitic Temples. It is a very old building. In the feast of Tarxien there will be many colourful fireworks and statues of Saints in the window. In Tarxien, there is a large church filled with many beautiful statues of Holy Mary and arts.

4) In our school we are girls only. There are many rules to obey. We have to go to school with uniform. Its colour is green. In my shcool there are many activities like fun run, seminars, and interesting outings such as watch a play or go to a place and we learn more about it.

Vanessa Gauci

2005-10-24T19:58:00.000+02:00

My name is Vanessa Gauci and I live at Fgura. I am 14 years. I like to listen to music and watch T.V. I enjoy to go out with my friends. I am very out-going and good-humored. I like animals but I do not have any animals at home.

My family consists of four persons. I am the youngest one in my family. I have an older brother which is 18. My mum is 52 years old, while my Dad is 9 months younger than my Mum. Our house is neither big nor small. We live in the heart of Fgura.

The town which I live in is Fgura. It’s very ideal for doing your shopping, because in the main road one can find various shops. In the centre there’s the modern church, which is very different from the other churches that are found in Malta. Its style is very original because it’s in a triangular form. In Christmas some windows of the houses in Fgura are decorated with the cribs.

I attend Margaret Mortimer Girls Junior Lyceum, found in Santa Lucija. We’re only girls at school. Our summer uniform is in green, while the winter uniform is blue. In my opinion it’s very nice. Our school is very modern, since it has been built not so long time ago. We have many rules to obey!

Orlanda Grech

2005-10-24T19:51:00.000+02:00

My name is Orlanda and I am 14 years old. My birthday is on the last day of the first month of the year which is the 31st January. I live in the southern side of Malta, in a small town called Mqabba. I like to read books written by good authors such as Charles Dickens, Roald Dahl, J.K.Rowling (Harry Potter Series), Jean Ure. My favourite genre at the moment is Teen/Drama/Love/Romance. I love the book ‘The Notebook’ by Nicholas Sparks which has been made into a film last year. I also love to watch movies and tv shows in English or Italian and I like listening to music mostly pop, hip-hop, R&B songs and I also love the Spanish rhythm in songs. I like using the computer and surfing the internet. I also like sport such as volleyball, basketball and netball although I do not practice any particular one. My favourite quote is “The most and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, nor touched, but are felt in the heart” and the beautiful things that are very close to my heart are the friendships I have built through these years because I have been always learning something new from the different experiences I’ve been through with my friends.

Family Life

In my family we are four: my mother and father, my brother and I. We live in a terraced house having 2 floors and twelve rooms. These consist of three spare bedrooms, one main bedroom, a living room, a sitting room, the kitchen, two study rooms, two bathrooms and a wash room. The roof is on the second floor joining the wash room. I have my own bedroom and although I have two beds, my brother has his own bedroom too. I also have my own study room which is the room I spend most of the day when I’m at home - where I have a computer area, a homework area and a sofa area. The room where the whole family meets most is the kitchen especially at dinner time.

Locality
Mqabba is situated at the southern part of Malta and is at the heart of a soft limestone area. In fact the town is renowned for the construction industry. The motto of Mqabba reads 'Non Nisi Per Ardua' which translates into 'Only with Ability', reflecting the strong character of the inhabitants. With around 2,800 residents, Mqabba still carries the characteristics of a typical Maltese village. Mqabba was built around the Parish Church which is the most important building in the village. The Parish Church is dedicated to St. Mary, the feast of which is held on the 15th August. This is the major of the two feasts being celebrated in the village during summer. In fact, the village is very popular for its major village feast dedicated to St. Mary and the majority of the Maltese population, including a good number of tourists come on the feast’s eve to watch the amazing and immensely popular Pyro-Musical show organised by the St. Mary Fireworks Group - Mqabba.

School

The school was named after Margaret Mortimer who is a well-known figure in our educational history. She was a director of education and was also honoured by the government for her vast contributions as regards the great development in national education policy. Our school is a large building consisting of 3 floors: the basement, the ground floor and the top floor which consist of classrooms, special rooms, computer labs and a library; and a large school ground which is made of rubber and a netball court.

The students attending the school which are over one thousand are all girls, not mixed and they spend five years in this school – from the age of eleven till the age of sixteen, from Form 1 till Form 5. In our school we are not allowed to come in our own casual clothes, instead we all wear the same uniform. The catchment area of our school is made up of the southeast sector of Malta which includes the localities of Fgura, Mqabba, Qrendi, Kirkop, Luqa, Paola, Gudja, Ghaxaq, Santa Lucija, Safi, Tarxien and Zurrieq. At the end of the second scholastic year, we have the opportunity to choose two options from a variety of subjects including sciences, languages, art, business studies and history among others.

The school organizes quite a number of extra-curricular activities especially during Christmas time where each class decorates its own classroom and organizes a Christmas play and party. Some other activities held during the year are Animal Awareness Day, European Day of Languages, Healthy Eating Day and Physically Active Week (which is part of the Comenius school project being held at school). Throughout the year we also have the Italian day, French day and German day in which students can take the opportunity to increase their know ledge about each respective country and taste each of the country’s well-known food. Other activities which are held during the breaks are the Drama Club, English Club and Volleyball and Handball training. Well, us students have a lot of activities where to involve ourselves and spend our recreation time !

Darlene Abdilla

2005-10-22T19:56:00.000+02:00

My name is Darlene Abdilla and I’m fourteen years old. I’ve got brown hair and green eyes. I’m medium height and a fair complexion. I’m neither fat nor thin.

In my free time I like to read a lot and to watch DVDs or chat and go out with friends or even better go shopping. In summer I go to swim almost everyday when I’m not busy with basketball practise which takes most of my free time the whole year round.

I like to eat chocolate muffins a lot, well to tell it all my mum is an expert in doing sweet stuff so it’s like out of the question that I’m not crazy about sweets. I like to spend a lot of money on clothes to look good in front of people but mostly I like to know what’s going on in the world so I read a lot of newspapers and magazines.

The most things that disgust me are crawling insects and selfish people who don’t care of anyone except for themselves. Unlike most people I hate being at the centre of attention with all those people staring at me.

I live at Paola with my parents because I haven’t got any siblings. We live in a small but comfortable house. My parents are always there for me and always try to give me what I want. We’re really close and usually during traditional feasts like Christmas, first we decorate our house and then we go somewhere to celebrate.

In our village we’ve got a historical place called the Hypogeum Temples. They were built many years ago and now to visit them you have to book first. I went once with my school and they are really fascinating to see.

There aren’t many teenagers in my village so almost all my friends live in different villages but Malta is a small place so it doesn’t take much time to go from a place to another.

I attend the Margaret Mortimer Girls` Junior Lyceum at Santa Lucija. We haven’t got mixed schools here and in a way it’s better like that, we even have uniforms which means you don’t have to decide what to wear everyday. I’ve been attending this school for the past four years and although I had some annoying teachers, I’ve got wonderful memories of my friends and me that I will never forget.

If you like sunny and warm days this is the place for you because here it hardly rains and it’s never freezing point.

Deborah Flores

2005-10-22T19:51:00.000+02:00

Hi! My name is Deborah Flores. I am 14 years old and I’m from Tarxien, a village from the south of Malta. My hobbies are dancing, making gymnastics, listening to music and I like to chat. I actually dance!

I have 2 sisters; one of them is 16 years old and the other is 9 years old. I live in a flat that has one plan only, but my roof is flat because our houses in Malta have flat roofs. I have a balcony over-looking the street and in Christmas I decorate it with colorful lights.

I live at Tarxien a we have a historical place called “ the neolitihic temples”. Every tourist comes to Malta for this historical place. Every summer we have an event called “Tarxien fest”. In Christmas every family decorates their house with Christmas trees and in every window you will see a crib with white lights.

Our school’s name is Margaret Mortimer Girl’s Junior Lyceum. we have rules examples we go in uniform and we are not mixed (boys and girls) but girls only. This school is 10 years old only because the school is the new one from all the other school’s in Malta. Every Christmas each and every class sings , dances or acts for all the school like a Christmas concert.