| Marla came by at 10:00 to drop off some cleaning supplies and extension cords, she will bring some clothes hangers (the assortment here is rather anemic) tomorrow. As there is 90% chance of rain predicted for this afternoon we decided to get some shopping done. Tutto Casa is jammed full of supplies for the house. We got a knife, some sponges and cheap rags. Then, to a stationary store in search of red chalk. Not able to identify the large, draping bush with yellow blossoms we asked at a Almar plant/pet store. They didn't know the name but said it was plentiful, suggested an identification app to use (it is Chalice Cup Vine, Solandra maxima). All of the shopkeepers we met were pleasant, courteous and helpful. One man from Almar was especially attentive, let us borrow clippers to get a cutting and then advised us where we should buy a house ("go to the west") and then provided some advice on a walk near a beautiful church with views of the islands of Comino and Malta. Jo was assured that the bunnies in the cages were meant as pets, not for eating. Past an old church to Puxulina Fish Shop and Sea Food Gozo where both the customers and the shopkeeper were quite friendly. One customer insisted that we go in front of him, contrary to the Maltese tendency to cut the queue (explained to us as an act of resistance to the British colonial insistence that locals queue like loyal subjects). He gave us a recipe for fish stock from the remnants of the filleted hake we bought for dinner. We also got some anchovies for lunch and some frozen fish soup from their family recipe. |
Walking back to the apartment we found Daniel's Fruit & Vegetables, a small stand with inexpensive and fresh produce. All we need now is to find a good local bakery for fresh bread.
The rain started and we walked to the Il-Ħaġar – Heart of Gozo museum near St George's Basilica only to find signage on the door that it is closed until the 28th so we will have to visit next week. On the way back to the apartment we stopped for a delicious chocolate cake and espresso at the nearby Bunna Café.
The following are mostly under-informed perceptions based upon admittedly very limited exposure to historic resources and casual conversations with locals (case in point: we found out that what we thought was cannonade from the Citadel being fired was just your run of the mill fireworks as the "Maltese celebrate everything with fireworks":
Malta is a postcolonial country, having on recently been given their sovereignty by Her Majesty in 1964, ostensibly as reward for serving the war effort so well in WWII (why it took two decades to decide that the Maltese deserved freedom is another question). The Brits ruled for two centuries after kicking out the Napolean's French Republicans who had kicked out the Knights of St. John who were established in 1530 when Emperor Charles V, as King of Sicily, gave them Malta.
The Great Siege of Malta (1565) was presaged by the Great Disaster of Gozo in 1559 when only those who were worthless as slaves were left behind by the invading Ottoman Turks. It becomes understandable why the law that all Gozitans stay within the walls of the Cittadella at night was passed as slaving raids were common.
Maltese language is from the Ottoman rule of the island, and English is the second language due to the two centuries of British rule. From the Order of St John's reign, the Catholic Church remains a dominant force with the majority of schools run by various orders. We were told that omertà, the code of silence, is very much part of Gozitan culture, perhaps a hangover from the history of Sicilian rule.
As a postcolonial nation that only recently gained its freedom from outside rule, it is to be expected that trust of outsiders isn't automatically given. Recent dramatic changes to the islands would tend to exacerbate that hesitance.
As expected with Gozo's status as the second Island of the nation of Malta, it has less development though more than a few Gozitans have expressed anxiety that the recent building boom, while not as aggressive as Malta's is changing the rural beauty into "another Malta". Malta's housing prices have exploded, making the (at least for now) cheaper costs of Gozo an attractive option for young professionals, especially those who have been enabled to work remotely as result of the pandemic isolation demands. This, in turn, pushes the building boom and an increase of non-native Gozitans to the island which threatens the local and somewhat insular culture. On top of this, recent immigrants have also been attracted to cheaper costs of Gozo, many of whom are from sub-Saharan Africa, raising the specter of racist attitudes mixing in with concerns of losing a beautiful culture by being overwhelmed by sheer numbers of outsiders taking up residence.