Monday, March 14, 2011

The 'George Cross' Bell

THE BELL....

The  bell is situated in the heart of Malta, Valletta. The bell was given by King George after the tragic World War II. It was give to the Maltese people for their bravery act during the WWII and till this very day it holds it stand. There is also a fantastic view from were it is!
    

Sunday, March 6, 2011

St. Paul's Shipwreck

 
Feburary 10th was a Public holiday in Malta, it is dedicted to the Shipwerck of the Apostle Paul. It occured in St. Pauls bay in the year 60 AD.
The Shipwerck
Saint Paul stayed in Malta for three months and performed a number of miracles, like the healing of the father of Publius, the Roman governor. Publius became the first bishop of Malta. Tradition has it, that St. Paul converted the Maltese to christianity, but there is no historical evidence to prove it. The first signs of the existence of a christian community in Malta date back to not earlier than the fourth century. Nevertheless Saint Paul is regarded as the one who brought christianity to Malta; Saint Paul is the patron saint of Malta and the cathedral of Valleta (the capital city) is dedicated to him.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

MINE 2011

My participation in 'THE MINE' project this year....















I made new friends.......















And reunited with old ones....















It was intresting to watch them work under pressure together as it was I who felt the same last year.....














& this time next year, they too will be on an ERASMUS.......

...singing with thier fellow collegues and lectures. Wether it be in Italy, Finland, Czech of Republic, Spain, UK or Malta.

Mentoring In Nursing in Europe!!!
A fascinating experience :)

Friday, January 7, 2011

Casa Rocca Piccola

In the heart Valletta lies the Cassa Rocca Piccola .....
A visit was made on the 5th of Decemeber 2010 by myself Alexis Owusu and Bo Willams....

The Cassa Rocca Piccola, some may say is a palace and now a museum. It was once a home of the noble maltese family, De Prio. Our tour started on the main rich staircase made with marble, as we climbed the stair case was a double door opening leading to the De Prio humble adobe. The first thing seen was the family tree of the De Piro family, it had the likes of Cosimo De Piro, Lorenzo, Jerome and many others who carried the rightous name. As we went around the house we noticed the collection of different items they had collected from all over the world such as chest games from China, carved wood from Africa, Lace from Malta and portable hand fans from France. 

 

The next room was the chaple room which was their
 sancturary, they worshiped there and said their prayers.
 Inside was a hand carved wooded protable chaple
 which in those times their servents carried where ever
they needed it to go. The De Piro family had a priest in their family who was also the society priest. He led the family in worship, founded a charity and went around Malta and Gozo preaching teh word of God and healing the sick. He provided shelter and feed the poor. To him, everybody was the same, he did not discriminate, he used real clean silver equiptment on those who needed procedures done i.e. needles, surgical equipements etc. In the mansion was a table in 'the morden' room which had some of the equipment used. 

In one of the rooms were a childrens room and in it was dolls, hair brushes, a walker, a dressing mirror and a childrens cot bed as well as a single bed draped in hand stiched lace.The next room was 'the prophyry room' it had a beautiful wardrope, a shiny chandlier and portrates of the De Piro family. There was one perticular painting of the Giovanni De Piro, he was the first to travel in that line of family therefore his portrate repesented it as it had mountains in the back. He was also appointed ambassador represent ing the grand matser, as time went on he gained trust and married into a wealthy family. Indeed, Gio De Piro earned a well desevered good name for him self. On his tavels he wrote to his family back home and in the next room was an archive/libary where books were kept and letters written from these varies journeys were kept. They were in different categories from family gossip, medicine, food, to language and tavel. Also, in that room were gifts recieved from friends such as Queen Elizabeth II.



The De Piro family had two dinning rooms, a winter dinning room used in winnter which had dark furniture and the summer dinning room used in summer with a bighter atmosphere and a view of the garden.


In the Garden were oranges trees, sunshine
 and a stair case that lead somewhere....................

The stair case led to the bomb shelters......
This was built during world war II and here is a picture of the daily graphic informing the public oof the coming war. There were three parts the these shelters, there was the big, the small and the family bomb shelter. Up too one hundred pople cramed the big bomb shelter, up to thirty people in the small bomb shelter and the family bomb shelter belonged to the honourable De piro family. It was the first bomb shelter.  
 
In the mansion were also a resturant, an art gallery and a book shop. Untill this day the family members of the De Piro remain in the mansion.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

World AIDS Day

Happy world AIDS day today.

AIDS is a growing disease and the are so far 90,000 people in the UK suffer with it.
Its important that we spread the word inorder to raise awareness and help to stop the spread.
As a soon to be nurse, it is improtant that I understand the problems we encounter with such viruses and know how to deal with it when I come across individuals with the virus.

http://www.worldaidsday.org/

Having AIDS must be hard to deal and imagine how hard it must be for children who have it but thanks to advanced medicine, people with HIV/AIDS have normal and longer life expectancies however the side effects are tremedous and the stigma behind it remins an issue.
Please pledge, make a donation and spread the word.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/8171077/World-Aids-Day-millions-of-children-still-orphaned-by-the-disease.html

Satistics of AIDS rate in Malta::

http://www.indexmundi.com/malta/hiv_aids_adult_prevalence_rate.html

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Food: Rabbit Dinner

My first Maltese Dinner:

I was quite nervous when asked join a dinner, it was to eat rabbit and were I come from (UK) its a pet not a dish however, in malta Rabbit is a popular dish which I must add taste great.
It is one of the most well known Maltese dishes and one of the few served in restaurants. It is usually served with chips and salad.
For starters I had the rabbit stew which is served on spaghetti, the meal based on spaghetti with rabbit and rabbit stew is called "Fenkata" (from fenek-rabbit). This was experience was new and very cultural; glad to have particpated and I can now at least say I have tatsed a maltese dish :-)