Swimming :)

Unfortunately no…not in the sea in Malta…but it was great fun nonetheless. It was in the DCU pool. I have been a member of the DCU gym since last October when I moved to Ireland, however I never managed to make it to the pool, even though it was one of the things which I really liked. Monika, a friend who is also on the ATWARM programme has gone twice and said she really liked it, and out plan was to make our way there as soon as the Christmas holidays were over.

DCU pool

Since yesterday was her first day back from her Christmas holidays, we quickly made plans to go in the evening, to have a swim and catch up. We met at 7:30pm and made our way to the pool. And Oh what bliss is was. My sore muscles (from last Saturday’s softball tournament) certainly enjoyed it. We swam and chatted, and also made it to the sauna and steam room. The temperature of the pool was just right (although freezing it seems after going to the sauna and steam room hihi). I really like that it was not too busy and so we could swim and chat to our heart’s content.

Thank you Monika for making me get to the pool, and for your company. Cannot wait to be back 🙂

Life after work and before the rest of your life!

So what have I been up to in my lazing about life? All I can say is that it feels good to have actual holidays…when you know you have very little to do. All I need to do is fix up my masters thesis based on the changes requested, and the rest is all free time. It feels like summer holidays way back when I had no summer job. I have time to read books, watch TV (I am catching up on the latest episodes of everything…whatever I miss in the evening shows I can see in the morning repeats haha) and SWIMMING. The last is true…I do not think I have gone swimming as much in years. Possibly since I was around 16 when we used to go swimming everyday at Wied iz-Zurrieq with friends. Generally at around 1pm me and mum leave to Ghar Lapsi to swim. I have not been to Ghar Lapsi much before, but this place is really beautiful.

Ghar Lapsi

In addition, the weather has been playing up a bit lately, with some windy days and then some rain etc etc. Due to the location of Ghar Lapsi it is rarely (if ever) not fit for swimming. I have got a tan I have not had in years. We just go for 1 hour max but it feels good 😀

The Last Day of my Life as Was!

Yesterday was my last day of work at GSD!…It was a bittersweet thing…although I am happy I am leaving, excited about the new projects etc etc, I know I will be leaving some good friends behind, and I really hope we manage to keep in touch :). So, what did yesterday consist of?…Well at work I admittedly did not do much actual work…although I did some…especially since Anna (the Customer Care Personnel, who falls under our department) is off sick…so I had to take over some of her responsibilites…but Oh Well!…I also went round bearing chocolates…I found these Cadbury Goody Bags, which were really good, as different people take whatever they like 😀

Cadbury Goody Bay

Like this, I could go round the company and talk and thank the people who mattered most during my time at GSD. I also sent special thanks to my first manager at the company, Ruth, and the Operations Manager Peter. I really appreciate all they have done for me and I have learnt a lot from them 😀 . I also got to meet up with the General Manager, and we had a small chat. She seemed very interested in all I will be doing, and has asked me to keep in touch. She also gave me a pen WEEEE!!

After saying my goodbyes, I left to go home, and prepared for yesterday’s evening BBQ. Since Bernard is at Kamp Sajf, he could not come with me to the BBQ. Whilst preparing, I asked mum whether she wanted that we go swimming and then go to the BBQ together…so off we went. It was a great evening…a group of good friends, chatting and having fun and EATING!…As soon as we were ready to leave, Peter called that he is coming over (he told us he is coming late…it was just past midnight I think hihi)…so we waited until he came, and we talked for a bit…he said he wanted to make sure I am leaving and that next week I go to visit the beautiful Danish country!

Then off home and SLEEP till this morning, when I woke up feeling a bit sick…sore throat etc…but nothing too bad I hope.

Comino Photos

Courtesy of Chris 😀

Our tents

Cooking Dinner

The Chapel

Leaving the Campsite with all our Stuff

 

 

Swimming in the Blue Lagoon

Bee on the boat coming back home

Good morning!

Good morning to everyone…have not blogged in some days…it is not because nothing has happened…but nothing seemed to merit a post (especially after someone said that I blog about every little thing :(…I have been on a boat trip with Bernard and a couple friend of ours (Julian and Christine)…it was the first time Bernard took the boat out by himself, without his father…we really enjoyed it and had a good afternoon trip out of it (especially since I got to get off work early)…everything went well..e.xcept that on the way back, one of the screws stopped working…but since it has 2 it was not much of a problem and we managed to arrive back home in time to go for the meal at our aunt’s house (My brother is in Malta to attend a work related course and they invited us over for dinner :D).

Wednesday was an afternoon of lazing about…weeeeeeeeee…some days I really need this…so could not complain much 😀

Yesterday, after work I went to visit my poor, sick, baby. I also got to meet Bernard’s brother’s girlfriend’s parents (I know it complicated but you will get it), who were invited to their house for the first time…As usual…Bee’s brother keeps amazing me further and further and further :D…oh and Bee’s sister came back from a holiday in Slovenia and she bought me 2 really cute T-shirts (need to lose a teeny-weeny bit of weight for them to fit perfectly…but they are OK overall…and they are really nice :D)

Weekend BBQs

Well, it is summer in Malta…so what to do in the weekends? There can only be one answer…swimming and BBQs! This weekend me and Bernard had one every day.

Saturday saw us going swimming early evening (at 6:30pm) at Wied il-Ghajn (Marsascala), where we had been swimming previously. I like swimming here…especially as not too many people are generally there. There we were joined with Julian and Christine. These are two of our friends who are getting married in a year’s time. Julian was at uni with Bernard, and we know both through ZAK…we always plan to meet up, but sometimes not successfully unfortunately :(.

After swimming, we chatted a bit and started cooking…we had Maltese sausage on the BBQ as starter, followed by Caribbean chicken kebabs (prepared lovingly by Bernard) for me and Bee and Marinated chicken for Julian and Christine. However we shared out food so we got to taste everything 😀 Then for dessert mmmmmmmm…Marshmallows on BBQ weeeeee.

Apart from the eating, we really enjoy being in each other’s company…talking about everything and everyone and discussing things…we are now planning to go to Gozo for 2 days sometime in September (11-12 September supposedly :D)…looking forward to that!

Sunday afternoon we had another swim again at Marsascala but this time starting earlier, at around 4pm for me and Bernard, since the others were at the seaside since 10am. This was followed by a BBQ with some other friends from ZAK…Carina, Chris and Bernard (another Bernard hihi)…this was slightly unplanned so all we had were sausages and 1 burger between us both…and the remaining marshmallows from the day before…we were still stuffed 😀 We again enjoyed ourselves…how can you not…and made some plans hopefully for next weekend…but will tell you later if it happens! WEEEEE

PS: some bad news…Pixy the Pixx came swimming with us on both days. Sunday however she started dying…since she is slowly now losing air…however me and Bernard promise we will do our best to keep her alive…We love u Pixy!

Weekend nearly over!

Sunday evening, and another weekend is over! Not much happened. Saturday evening, however I went to an International Evening organised as part of the FIMCAP, Eurocamp 2010 (AMASS), held in Malta, and hosted by ZAK Malta. I was very active in ZAK a couple of years back, and I have fond memories of my time there. Bernard is still active, and hence he was invited (with me in tow) to the International Evening. This evening basically consists of people from the different countries sharing typical foods of their countries, followed by a presentation (play or song) typical of the country. It was a great evening overall. I met a couple of my ZAK friends, many of which are Bernard and my friends away from ZAK too and rekindled nostalgia for my ZAK years. ZAK brings great memories to me…live ins, exchanges, camps etc etc.

Today I went to eat at my aunts’ house for lunch. This week, Zurrieq (my home town) celebrates one of its 2 local feasts, known as Tal-Karmnu (Our Lady of Mount Carmel). I enjoy feasts, but never really go to any. I know is sounds contradictory but it is true. Especially since the number of close friends in Zurrieq is quite low, I tend to skip the Zurrieq feasts. After lunch, I went to Bernard’s house, and after some rest, we went swimming together with his parents, 2 of his aunts, a cousin and PIXY THE PIXX. We went to Fra Ben at Qawra. Reason being that this weekend very strong winds are blowing over Malta (Force 7). This bay is sheltered from these Northwesterly winds and therefore we could enjoy a swim.

Now I am back home, I started packing for my trip to Dublin tomorrow, and soon will be off to sleep. Cannot wait to go! I will be visiting the University I should hopefully start my PhD in next year, meet my supervisor etc etc. I hope everything turns out fine. quite a bit stressed at the moment (Not too stressed. More excited I think).

Good night

Cec

Bed sweet Bed!

Just woke up after another good night’s sleep, and feeling very grateful for that. I think all this swimming is giving out its benefits. I tend to be a bad sleeper. I love to sleep mind you, but I take a long time to go to sleep, wake up frequently and then take a long time to go back to sleep and then just have to get out of bed around 45 mins before my alarm clock, because it would be more tiring to try to go back to sleep. However, these past 2 days, I am managing a very good night’s sleep. Even if I wake up in the middle of the night, within a few minutes I am back in dream land. I believe it is going to swim after work, which is reaping its benefits. Do not know, but hey I am not complaining 😀

ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Pixy goes SWIMMING!

Today, after work I rushed back home changed into my swim suit, went to Bernard’s and off we left to Marsascala. It was Pixy d Pixx’s first time swimming in Malta (yesterday I also went swimming at Ghar Lapsi, whilst Bernard and my cousin were diving, however we did not take Pixy with us). Here is a photo of me and Pixy in the sea.

Pixy and Me at Marsascala

I am finding it to be a great thing to be able to go swimming for an hour or so after work. The weather is such that you do not feel like doing anything. So like this you get to cool off, and then arrive home when the sun has gone down and it is not so hot after all 😀 This is the first time in ever I think that I have gone swimming after work since I finished my degree course. The first summer, Bernard was away for 6 weeks on an internship, last year at this time I was going to Uni nearly every day to work on my master’s analysis. So this year it feels great to be able to relax after work :D. Although I believe that once the PhD starts (or even after next week when I visit Dublin), the work starts again 😀