Grape Harvesting

One of the things which I like most in Summer is grape harvesting.  Altghough it is quite tiring, I find it so much of a nice experience, almost magical, and I'm so happy that in the few days here at home I had the opportunity to do it again. 

My father and I wake up early in the morning, much before sunrise.  We do this, because as you can imagine, as the sun rises the temperature rises too, and it becomes almost impossible to work in the scorching sun.  When we arrive in the field it is no longer dark, even though the sun hasn't risen yet.  The atmosphere at this moment is so nice.  There is silence, the silence you can't hear when you're in a city, yet you can also hear all sorts of noises.  The rustling of the leaves of a tree, produced by a gentle blow of wind, and the birds whistling or the crowing of a rooster.   

As the sun slowly rises, we start picking the grapes.  Here you occasionally meet some surprises like a nest of bees or a spider like I did this time. 

The spider on its web

After picking the grapes, we select them and press them to produce wine.  Mind you we do this on a small scale, and the wine we produce is only for our family consumption.  Overall I find the whole process relaxing, and enjoyable and I do suggest you to try your hand at one such experience.

Gozo

When visiting Malta, one can't leave out a small trip to Gozo the second island in size of the Maltese Archipelago.  The island is quiter than the main one, and many Maltese go to this island to relax, and that's what I did.  I only spent a few hours on the island, so I didn't go to the nicest places like Dwejra or Ramla l-hamra (a beach with reddish sand).  Yet here are some of the photos of my short trip.

St. George's Basilica, Rabat, Gozo

Pastizzi and Qassatat - Breakfast in front of the Basilica

The road to the beach

Mgarr ix-Xini Bay, Gozo

Target in Mqabba, Malta

Look I found a Target in Malta too, :P  This one though specializes in Wines and Spirits it seems, and is not as big as the target I came across in Chicago. 

For those of you who read this blog, and are not familiar with the American Target, this is a big American retailing company with shopping centers all over the US.  In the Target shopping centres you can buy anything from groceries to furniture, books to electronic equipment and also clothing.  

Mind you I'm not marketing Target.  Personally, I tend to hate shopping in such shopping centers.  Their hugeness overwhelms me, maybe because I come from a very small country.  I feel tired and confused in such places, that's why I prefer this Maltese Target. :)

I’ll see you in September, Chicago

After about seven months in Chicago, it was time for me to head home for some real summer.  So here I am in Malta, in the sweltering heat, writing my blog in a dark room to avoid being hit by any direct sunlight.

Truly, although the temperature is very hot here, I wouldn’t have missed being here for anything.  I love Maltese summers.  I love being surrounded by the Mediterranean sea.  I love eating all this fresh fruits and sea food, and relaxing by the sea.  I love the fact that I have plenty of scenic beaches to choose from, and most of them are less than a 15 minute drive away.   My favourites are the rocky ones, where the deep water is so clear that you can see the seabed below even if this is metres underwater.  It is also good to see that the water is not as polluted as yet, and that life underwater is still abundant in most of these areas. 

Wied iz-Zurrieq, a deep water creek 5 minutes away from my house

So although this blog is about my experience in Chicago, in the coming days, I will be posting some photos, to share with you, my experience here in Malta too. 

I’ll be back in Chicago in a few weeks, and although I’m enjoying my time here in Malta, I’m also looking forward to all the new things I’ll be doing when I go back.  Until then I hope that you enjoy some of the Maltese scenes I will be posting here.

Taliesin, Wisconsin

Frank Lloyd Wright is not my favorite architect, perhaps because I have the feeling that he wasn't the nicest of persons.  Anyway his works are still very interesting and inspiring.  

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin.  Frank Lloyd Wright lived here after he left Chicago.  This complex of buildings served as his house, his office and also an architecture school.  To this day the building still houses the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.  

To this day people live in the complex, in what seems to be a self-sustainable community, with the residents growing their own food in the fields surrounding the property.  The views here are awesome, and there is a sense of calm and peacefulness.  The actual house is very nice and very homey.  It has been kept almost as it was when its owner lived in it, with the exception of some changes which were made by the late Mrs. Wright.

It is interesting to note that this house had a twin: Taliesin West in Arizona.  The whole household/school would move there in the winter months, because its warmer in Arizona.  Apparently it can get very cold here in Wisconsin in winter.  I will have to visit Taliesin West.

This is my favorite part of the house.  The u-shaped house is built to the side of the top of the hill.  This makes this garden feel like an enclosed courtyard, surrounded by the house on three sides and the top of the hill on the other side.  The garden as the house is decorated with sculpture and other interesting features.  The water trickling down from the various pool, adds to the serenity of the garden.  

On the Mississippi

Before I came to the US, the only river I knew of in the US was the Mississippi.  I remember it from Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer's adventures.  Since the Mississippi is a very long river and flows through a good number of American states (about 10), it wasn't that difficult to come across it.  It also happens to form part of the boundary between the state of Illinois and Iowa.  

On the Mississippi

So on my first trip out of Illinois, I crossed over this river.  I didn't meet Tom Sawyer here, but I came across Buffallo Bill.  He was an american soldier who became famous by organizing shows with a cowboy theme.  I visited his museum on the river, which also houses a steam boat, the kind you see in those period American films.  I've also been to Buffallo's Bill's homestead, where I saw a buffalo for the first time.  The atmosphere here is very bucolic. 

Buffalo Bill's homestead

I've enjoyed my stay at the Quad-cities.  These are four cities, as the name implies, two on each side of the Mississippi river.  Davenport and Bettendorf are in Iowa, whilst Rock Island and Moline are in Illinois.  Compared to Chicago there's not much here, although there's an Art Museum designed by David Chipperfield and a number of Casino's.  

The Figgie Art Museum

One of the nicest structures I've seen in Davenport is a newly constructed pedestrian bridge which just takes people to a casino.  Apparently the city earns so much from the Casino business that it built this bridge out of public funds.

I've also been to John Deere's headquarters.  According to wikipedia this is the leading manufacturer of agricultural machinery in the world.  Some of the machines here are monstrous.  If my father came to the US, this place should feature on top of the list of sights to see, as agricultural machinery is one of his passions.  Anyway here's a photo for you to get an idea of the scale.  Some of the machines would do some of the work we used to do in a day in our field in 15 minutes.

I'm back

Those of you who have been following my blog regularly, might have been worried, for my absence of more than a month.  I’m so sorry.  I will try to catch up in the coming days, by posting a number of posts updating you with what I've been up to.

Indeed the last weeks were very busy for me, busier than ever.  I did some travelling (more on this to follow), but the most important thing was an intensive class on Global Economy & Justice.  I had daily classes, and lots of readings and assignments to do.  This class drained me of all my energies but it was very interesting.  My first interest in Social justice is owed to the topic tackled in this class.  

I learnt a lot and I must admit that now I can see things in a different light.  Before I was exposed to just one side of the coin, but now I can also see the other side.  Perhaps its a coin which has more than two sides....  It was interesting to learn more about Free trade, international markets and institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank and the World trade organization.  It was also interesting to understand better the financial crisis in the light of a historical context.  

I keep realizing the need to learn more on the ways in which we can develop our world in a just and sustainable manner.