Thanks Anne for the great recipe book!

Made the peanut chicken noodles tonight - yum yum! See pic below!

I also made the curried rice - took a pic - and the pic has disappeared! But it was yum!

Thank you thank you!

Nearly 1 month ...

Hi All 

PS: Don't feel you need to read the whole e-mail or reply about the whole e-mail ... I won't take it personally if you don't reply ... (although I do LOVE reply's and love hearing about you! :) ... I think I write these mails more as 'reminders' to myself and the kids in later years .. and of course, for whoever really wants to read them :)  ... and they will get shorter over time  ... 

Well ... in 2 days time .. it will be 1 month in Malta! I still can't believe that we are in Malta!  ... To sum it up, it's been a month of 'The good, the bad and the ugly' 

(Please remember - that these are my first insights in Maltese life as an ex-pat ... insights may certainly change in a few days/months) 

The Good: 

I am really enjoying my time with Azi (most of the time) ... She is a real little character and has become quite the drama queen and storyteller, with cheeky little sayings and an attitude! She definitely keeps Phil, ZaZ and I on our toes with her up and down mood swings ... But, at least she keeps things exciting! ... We have found a GREAT 'Sydney style' park (although no shade cloth) in walking distance from our flat. It has a variety of slides and tunnels and round-about etc and it's on the water - so really great! We have also met a nice little group of friends and are doing music classes (when the bus gets us there or Azi doesn't fall asleep), swimming lessons and a little playgroup. 

ZaZ seems to be settling at school. She has made a few friends and is doing great after school activities, drama and  musical theatre ... and then on Saturdays a musical theatre 'school' - an hour of dance, hour of drama and hour of singing - all related to the play for that semester (this semester it is RATS) ... She has also been inspired by the her schools high-impact PE teacher and decided to practise skipping at home .. From not knowing how to skip - a few days later she is skipping backwards and on 1 foot etc etc ... She is learning Spanish at school .. and we have to figure out someway of keeping up her Hebrew! There are 13 kids in her class  - some from Sweden, Turkey, Italy, UK etc 

Me - after visiting tons of little health shops - a few days ago they opened a nice size health shop just up the road from Zaria's school .. and they have my toxic free baking paper (SO exciting!) ... I have met some nice moms, some more interesting humans of Malta (everyone has a story of how they arrived on this Rock) .. I'm enjoying exploring the little shops, chatting and getting into 'some sort of routine' ... I have a ton of recipes that I need to try out ... And I really want to try get to a yoga class this week - apparently there is this incredible yoga teacher ... 

The Winter has been GOOD! Besides for 1 cold day (which I got scared of and rushed out and bought a warm jacket for Azi, socks, beanies, scarves etc) ... Most days have been sunny and about 19 degrees celsius. 

We have discovered that instead of leaving the house at 8am and doing a 30 mins brisk walk to school, we can sleep 'later' and leave the house at 8:20, be on the bus at 8:25ish and at school by 8:30ish - and the bell rings at 8:45! (The bad of that means no early morning exercise!) 

The Bad:

The food! ... enough said. Can't wait to eat at Sydney's Cafes! 

The buses! I have decided not to drive for now ...  (for various reasons which will be highlighted in 'the ugly') ... But the buses have NO schedule!! And unfortunately the 1 place that I need to go for this great music class with awesome 'organic' people, has 1 bus going there once every hour and nobody knows what time it goes in the hour and there is no set time! I feel that this week Azi and I have either spent our time waiting for a bus or on a bus! (Thankfully twice she fell asleep on the bus) .. The bus drivers are CRAZY and are not helpful! 

Azi had a big fall the other day, which resulted in her sitting in the pram in total shock for 2 hours and refusing to speak, as she had this huge lip - a trip to the very nice paediatric dentist who checked her tooth for 2 second, spoke to me for 2 mins and charged us Euro40 - and a roll - and she was all better! 

My sleep! Seriously, its week 4! First week - Jet-lag, second week - exhaustion, third week - whatever, week 4 - WTF? Still - sleep all over the place! I either pass out with kids @ 8pm OR have insomnia! (The good part of insomnia is that I'm reading a book for the first time in years! "The Pact" by Jodi Picoult! Gripping!) 

And of course  ... The bad is not having the fam and friends here to share our daily lives with! (The Good - FaceTime!!) 

The Ugly: 

Not sure if 'Ugly' is the right word  ... maybe just more 'I can't believe it' ... 

The driving!!!! OMG!!! I'm not sure what the Maltese do when they get to Australia - but they must end up getting a million fines! (Fact: More Maltese people live in Australia than in Malta) ... People drive while holding their telephones to their ears, I have seen TONS of kids not strapped up and standing in between the seats, babies sitting on their moms laps, tons of kids in 1 car and all of them not buckled up .. (You could imagine how my blood BOILS ... I just want to scream, 'You are the ADULT, Buckle UP your kids) .. and indicating is optional and generally nobody indicates! For now ... I'm going to stick to the bus! (Even though its like a rollercoaster ride sometimes) ... and I'll rely on feet (and eyes ... as stopping at a pedestrian crossing is also optional) ... 

SMOKING .. I knew this before coming to Europe ... But smelling it daily, constantly and seeing people smoking over their kids and in the car with kids ... Blood boil! Hold tongue! 

Dog shit - everywhere ... 

BUT ... I really do want to end with a GOOD!!! I really am thankful that we have had a great, smooth month, TG. The kids are happy, Phil and I are happy. We are making yummy meals at home, we have met some great people, the Rebbetzin here is AMAZING and I hope to learn lots from her, I am loving the 'chill' of being with the kids. 

Happy February! 

Sisterly love

Stylish chic off to school!

What a day!

Buses for 2 hours, sleeping for 2 hours on bus, getting a yummy yummy brownie from mommys cafe 'friend' - a real homemade treat with real chocolate! Great great park play! And then the tooth incidence!!!! An email to follow! Thankfully everyone is in bed, sleeping and healthy!

Thanks everyone!

Will all your help and advice - after another 30 mins or so (thankfully Azi was sleeping) - I finally chose the sunglasses below!

I was very proud that I put them on a rope thing - so that they can't fall off and I step on them (like the previous pair) or fall out of my bag and I drive over them (like the pair before that) ...

BUT - when I fetched Zaz from school, she said the rope is unacceptable! I didn't listen!

When I showed Phil the glasses (of which he much preferred the white frames ones) ... He said the rope must go and the glasses case must be with me at all times! ... Another thing to be present about!

So here's to this pair lasting at long as my 'car drove over' glasses! 4 years!!!

Regulars on the bus!

Chatting to everyone!

Today Azi was on the bus - and as we passed something she shouted, 'that's our park/that's our building/that's where we walk - WOW! That's amazing!!!' ... Funny child!

Just hanging and playing at home!

Happy tu B'shevat

What a great Sunday afternoon baking up a storm (olive bread spiral things, apple crumble, fruit salad) with all the kids at Mushkas house!

Ps: please note Azi eating out all the 'little pickles' out of the bread!

Not sure why we have a 3 bedroom apartment!

Our new park - Sydney style!

Right on water!

I still can't believe we live here!

5:30 at night - trying to find jeans for Phil and sunglasses for me!

Sunday morning ritual!

Champion dad!

Love love zarias hair!

Springies for BeeeeJJJ

Week 3 in Sydney

Hello Blog (and friends and fam) 

I thought I would write the blog on my computer and then send the pics from phone (I usually do all blog posts from phone - and should be doing them nightly - as I forget so much ... But most nights I fall asleep with Azi and ZaZ ..and during the day - Azi does not let me do anything but be with her. 

Friday night we went to our first Shabbat dinner at the Rabbi and Rebbetzin. A really dynamic couple. The have just moved into their new house, four kids and she is pregnant. A gorgeous old Maltese house, with beautiful tiled floors and high high ceilings. She made the most delicious meal - about 5 different salads (which I thought was the meal - so ate a lot) ... This delicious spicy bringal/eggplant salad, celeriac salad, crunchy greek salad ... THEN came out baked salmon in a chilli sauce ... THEN chicken soup, THEN chicken, different baked vegetable dishes THEN yummy coconut biscuits and chocolate chip biscuits ... EVERYTHING was homemade and everything kosher they have to import from Europe. We all chatted and had a great, warm, comfortable evening! (Complete with Azi collapsing asleep on Phils shoulder). Their kids all do an online homeschool programme where they enter into a virtual school with kids from Chabbad from all over the world and a real 'live' teacher -amazing 

Saturday we hired a car, spent our Saturday morning trying to find the shops (the GPS takes you all over the show here - and no 2 roads are parallel) ... then we dashed home to tidy and clean the house, as we were having our first guests over. A mom that I became friends with on FB in Sydney and helped me a lot, and Zaria and her daughter in Grade 1 have 'clicked' and are spending most of second break/lunch break playing together (there are positives and negatives to that - I suppose) ... They came over for dinner, we made cashew chicken, chicken legs in a puttanesca sauce, salad etc ... The kids played so nicely, Azi felt like one of the gang and loved playing 'picturique' and 'dobble' (thanks linds for the game) with them!!! ... And they bought Toblerone icrecream cake for dessert! Everyone CRASHED after that! 

Sunday - we went to our first 'Chaddah' class. I really admire the Rebbetzin, Mushka. She has about 3 - 5 different levels of kids, most Israeli kids. I stayed with Azi, she had booklets and songs and games, crafts - all related to the letter being learnt. ZaZ did a booklet ... I'm looking into ways to keep her Hebrew and Jewish Studies level up-to Emanuels level .. 

Then we had Phil's work colleague and his girlfriend over for a nice, long, lazy Sunday lunch .. Sunday night was lunches etc etc 

Monday was FREEEZINGGG!!! Seriously!!! My Australian jackets, boots etc - were not doing the job! PLUS - Azi refuses to wear Winter clothes! Which results in a 45 minute struggle every morning ... and her going put in her black metallic dress (Zarias old dress) and a Beanie!!! Seriously? Its 9 degrees outside? 

Anyway - we went to meet a person I had met in a health shop - we met them at 1 of the 4 healthy eating places! Had a great chat and raw juice (and a very average wrap - but did meet a nice Australian/Sydney girl working there - who totally understood when I said, "It's hard to find Sydney food here' ) ... 

Then my 'new' friend dropped us at Azi's first swimming lesson (which she was SOOO excited about - and was the way I got her dressed that morning) - But Az had fallen asleep in the car! 

So I went shopping for sunglasses - as I had stepped on mine the week before :( 

ZaZ started after school extra murals on Monday - she did Drama class - which was really nice, As we left school - it started POURING with rain - there we were all cuddled together under the bus stop and the rain lashing in! 

Tuesday was BEAUTIFUL and SUNNY again ... As we all set off for school in the morning (We have now ditched the walking to school - too cold in the mornings to wake up early ... and house is dark dark - and we have discovered that if we leave the house at 8:20 and take the bus which hopefully arrives at 8:30 - we are at school by 8:35 - and school starts at 8:45 - HUGE bonus) 

Azi and I met this amazing 'friend' - who I met through another FB friend .. (FB is amazing) ... She is Japanese, has lived in America, Italy and France - married an Italian guy, and last year spent the year sailing around the Med with her husband and 4 year old son (who speaks English, Italian, French and Japanese!! ... They make their money by selling those 'calorie free' konjac noodles - but the dehydrated ones, not the ones in the water, We chatted and coffee'ed and Azi chatted. 

Then Az and I went in search of WARM clothes for her, There are Massive 50% and more percent discounts on ALL Winter stuff! (Sales in the middle of Winter), Azi got long socks (As she likes to pull them up and pretend she is Pippi Longstocking - THANKS Din's and Ash)  and a WARM beanie ... I got a great warm, waterproof pair of boots from Geox. Bus, get ZaZ from afternoon activity - this time was a musical theatre class, and they learning a dance routine to 'it's a hard knock life' ... (Cards - brings back so many memories from our childhood!!! Especially that year at Betar camp when we sang the songs from Annie day and night - but as I said to ZAZ, we didn't have karaoke on the computer to teach us the words - so I'm sure half our words were wrong - creative licence :) 

My BEST time of day is when we get home, the sun os streaming in our flat - the kids (and me) have 30 mins screen time (me- FB time, Azi - loves watching Barbie on the 'BIG iPad' and then surfs and finds those stupid videos of kids playing toys .. and after her telling me tonight, 'You are wrecking my vibe' - Barbie and Youtube are being removed from her big iPad' ... and ZaZ plays on the little iPad etc ... BUT My BEST time is when the screens are switched off and ZaZ and Azi do dances, or make up songs, or pretend they are ice skating around the house in their socks, or we all play hide-and-seek and Azi giggles hysterically ... This week we made Banana bread and crunchy seed things ... (I don't know if I was more proud about making the Banana bread or the fact that after going to about 5 different Health stores in 5 different locations - I managed to source all the ingredients any a good price) ... 

Wednesday saw Azi and I going to a kids class and Azi falling asleep on me on the bus (BLISSS!!!) ... We did wait for the bus for an hour to arrive before the sleep on bus ... 

Wednesday night I went to a BEAUTIFUL Rosh Chodesh group at the Rebbetzins house (I miss my beautiful Rosh Chodesh Women in CT - especially Nic and Karen!!!) ... Mushka had baked up a storm ... THREE different types of bread (one spiral thing on a skewer with olives in between - I took home for the kids, they loved it) ... These little fruit salad and creams, biscuits, veggies and dips. All the other 7/8 women were Isreali (Plus a 3 week old baby ... Karen - your kids attended RC at 3 weeks) .. So there was a lot of chatting in Hebrew ,, but Mushka did a great 2 hour workshop on T'shabuv and the prayers ... She had everything perfectly organised, the craft activity, the practising of the prayers, discussion ... really wonderful! 

Thursday Azi and I were treated to breakfast at the Hilton hotel - by Phil ... Azi's eyes grew as she was allowed to eat waffles and choc sauce .. The breakfast reminded me so much of the Sun city buffet! ... The we spent the day chilling ... Took Azi on a long bus ride (thinking she would sleep) - she didn't ... Landed up in Valetta (the 'old city') with Azi DETERMINED to get a new dress!!! With the Marks and Spencers sales on ... she got a skirt and WARM jacket (to wear over her Summer clothes) - marked from E70 - E20!!! Bargain!!! 

I got a 'raw' mintcake from my this new tiny tiny place in Valetta - not as good as Earth to Table - but yum! 

Dashed on bus to get Zaz (we always dash on bus - As the buses have no fixed schedule - so it's a worry if we get to school on time) 

Friday - Az and I had a coffee date with a friend ... Found Mejoodle dates (so exciting) ... played in the park, played ... Invited another South African (who has been here for 12 years ... but the last 5 years he got married, 2 kids and pregnant wife in job and he sounds 2 weeks here and 2 weeks in job) for Shabbat dinner - but he told us his vegetarian ... So quick dash to shop, quick dash home to tidy house ... Had a beautiful Friday night dinner and lots of chat ... and lots of mentioning of missing Woolworths packaged lettuce!!! (he did bring ghost pops, peppermint crisps and chomp!) 

Saturday - ZaZ went to her first musical theatre camp - an hour of dance, hour of singing, hour of drama ... She did not know anyone and was quite nervous to go  and came home in a great mood as she LOVED it! Made friends and they are working on the Musical 'Rats' (Never heard of it before - but great songs - and based around story of Pied Piper) ... 

Phil, I and Azi dashed to the big Supermarket (as much as I love the small little supermarkets on 4 different levels - there is nothing better than a huge Hypermarket / Coles supermarket shop) .. Then a dash to find the Butcher and question them about their 'grass fed grass finished meat' ... Fetch ZaZ, home for lunch ... Met my new Japanese friend and hubby and son at a new park (which happens to be walking distance to our apartment) and has a BIGGG Sydney style Jungle Gymn )(Like Queens park one but 4 times bigger) ... ZaZ and Azi had a ball ... 

BUT we had to dash off - as the shops don't open on a Sunday .. and Phil desperately needed Jeans (as he left his in Sydney  ... that is what happens when you spend 5 minutes the night before leaving, packing) ... and I needed sunglasses (after stepping on mine the first week here) ... So we schlepped the kids to a million and 1 shops - while Phil tried on jeans - eventually getting from Marks and Spencer ... And I went to 2 sunglasses shops ... and have not chosen a pair yet ... 

Please let me know if you are open to me sending you pics and helping me decide! 

Home at 7pm .. supped, bath, bed ... Midnight now! Must go to bed! Will send pics related to blog post tomorrow! 

Hope you enjoyed reading ALL this details (which I blog more for myself ... So don't feel bad if you don't read every word) - I probably will only read this in 30 years PG 

Miss you all 

G 

Our first Shabbat at home!

Having Raphael over!!

Thanks Sarahan for our extra special challah cover! We are constantly thinking of you during your tough time.

Thanks bobi and Zelda

The jacket from you - is keeping me warm in Malta!

2 funny bus incidences!

1. While waiting for the bus for an hour - I met 'Elvis' ... He is on holiday here! But for 18 years he has traveled the world (Germany, Vegas etc) performing as Elvis!

2. Long story short, on a very full bus today - this guy is talking to this women from yuzbekiatein (spelling? ) - they are talking across me and Azi and he keeps asking where her husband is from, she keeps replying 'Nazareth, Palestine' and that he is a very popular man, loved by many ... He is confused and keeps asking ..: eventually after the 4/5th time, I was just about to shove me and the pram through the crowds to get off the bus - I said, 'it's Jesus' ... He couldn't believe it!

The world is definitely filled with all sorts of characters!

I'm feeling happy!

After numerous trips to numerous different health shops (as they all stock different things) ... I finally got all my seeds and flours and other things (although coconut sugar is so expensive here - and there is no 'if you care' baking paper)

I got my glass containers and the cupboard is starting to feel like home! Hopefully (Cas) I can keep it neat!

And I made a from jhd-ct-Sydney-Malta Gia salad!

And banana bread! And gluten free crunches (oh yes, and mejoodle dates are way too expensive - so o have settled for the dried ones- they work)

Just a regular Tuesday!

Bus to school!

Spontaneous meeting up with super funky and super nice Japanese mom that I met through a face book friend (she has lived in Japan, America, Italy, France and last year spent the year sailing through the med)

After a play and coffee, juice for me - we went to the Asian 'supermarket' (tiny, tiny shop) ... But filled with goodies!

Then Azi and I stocked up on warm beanie, socks and peppa pig rain boots at the mother care 50 percent sale!

Home for lunch!

Fetch Zaz from after school dance, drama!

Leave school - it starts pouring! Tuck in under bus stop! (Pic)

Get home! No rain! Dad home! Making yummy homemade meatballs - which Zaz turned into bunless burgers!

Monday!!!

Brrrrrrr!!!! First really really cold morning!!!

Phil drove Zaz to school before returning the rental car! (Zaz told me later, this was the highlight of her day)

Azi and I - after a lot of bribery - she wore winter clothes and we headed down to meet a person that I met in a health shop - met her at this new little health cafe - the grassy hopper!

Had an ok green juice, yummy sugar induced banana bread, and an ok wrap! .. And a great chat to this pretty crazy but funky Maltese lady!

She drove us to swimming lesson (after she parked on the opposite side of the road in the wrong direction)

By the time we got to swimming, Azi was sleeping! So she had to miss her much awaited swimming lesson!!! (She even woke up and asked, 'when am I going to swimming?)

I used her sleeping time to go to the super fancy shopping centre to look for new sunglasses (after stepping on mine - and they will take 8 weeks for new lenses)

Fetched Zaz from after school musical theatre, bused home, kids played soooo nicely! I love it when Zaz is imaginative and involves Azi in the games - this game was going to day care - complete with play dough and dancing!

All in bed and all sleeping (including me) by 8pm!