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Tangentially, I think Malta is a fascinating place. It’s the only country in the EU, AFAIK, with a Semitic language. it’s unique culture, the history with Hospi

by Jun8 3y ago

Tangentially, I think Malta is a fascinating place. It’s the only country in the EU, AFAIK, with a Semitic language. it’s unique culture, the history with Hospitaller knights, ancient buildings, the fact that it’s and island … all are very interesting. I’d love to visit in this lifetime. HN’ers of Maltese origin: what are some interesting aspects of your country?

mmahemoff 3y ago
Also interesting that English is one of their official languages, the other being Maltese, making Ireland and Malta the only EU countries with that status now. There's a big scene of English schools and young Europeans going there to learn English in summer, which translates to a lot of partying. I definitely recommend visiting if you get a chance. It packs so much in for a small country.
arbuge 3y ago
For a long time we were pretty sure that we had the oldest free-standing structures (i.e. buildings) in the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalithic_Temples_of_Malta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalithic_Temples_of_Malta Apparently there's an even older contender in Turkey now, but, anyway you slice it, this stuff is old. The most recent of them (2500 BC) roughly equate in age to the oldest pyramids of Egypt.
gamex79 3y ago
Any Americans here retired to Malta? It came up on some lists of best places in the world to retire. Would love to hear your experience.
- maltesegirl 3y ago
  You might want to check on /r/malta or Facebook groups. There's honestly probably thousands of American citizens in Malta. Especially if you count Maltese ex-diaspora who returned back for retirement or their children or grandchildren.
chx 3y ago
I am not of Maltese origin but I am a resident now. How much Malta fucked up transit and transportation is really interesting. It's as bad as the United States despite unlike the US the distances are short and the population density is high (the whole thing is 17 mi x 9 mi, the density of the entire country compares to Bellevue, WA and the towns themselves are ten times more dense). Malta is #10 country in the world in cars owned per people leading to constant congestion https://i.redd.it/fnrrri2k1n8b1.png https://i.redd.it/fnrrri2k1n8b1.png, some sections of the roads are impossible to walk, some transit connections are near impossible to make because of the lack of crossings and sidewalks. Buses are infrequent and notoriously unreliable. And buses are all there are, not even a trolley bus much less a tram or something. And they are not fixing this, I tried to do public transit to the nearest Lidl and the road was freshly rebuilt (not even fully complete yet) and they didn't add a sidewalk. The public transit mobile app is useless. This is not just me grumbling check https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/people-use-bus-reliable-service-consumers-say.1008627 https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/people-use-bus-reliab... for more.
- CHB0403085482 3y ago
  Bahamas is like that too ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdz6FeQLuHQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdz6FeQLuHQ
purrcat259 3y ago
Hi, Maltese here, always lived here since birth, my family is Maltese going back generations. Off the top of my head: 1. The country is constantly polarised. Politics and football especially. Voting based on your family's political legacy is very common. 2. The idea of being constantly ruled by someone else used to be s convenient excuse to steal from the colonists. The downside is that this attitude never left with the british, so tax evasion is rampant as if you're sticking it to the man by doing so... But in reality you're stealing from yourself. 3. While similar to Ireland in the sense that the economy grew very fast very quickly, it has the opposite problem when it comes to housing: massive supply is not managing to sate the massive demand, so housing prices are persistently astronomically high. Happy to answer more questions.
- throwaway2037 3y ago
  You are an EU citizen. Why do you stay? You could move to Germany or Netherlands and have a better life without all that nonsense.
  - purrcat259 3y ago
    1. Language: I'd be moving somewhere where the primary language is unknown to me (although I studied german for a while in school). 2. Convenience and support structure: I have young children and their grandparents live 5-15 minutes away. 3. I have a vote here and therefore a sliver of a say. If I go elsewhere, all I'll have is my voice, which will be the voice of a foreigner. My wife and I have resolved to leave, but not before our parents pass away. Its our one and likely only major blocker. In fact I shifted to working fully remotely during the pandemic to make this eventuality smoother.
- sumedh 3y ago
  I know an older gentleman who moved out of Malta 40 years back. Is there any Maltese phrase I can tell him which will make him scratch his head wondering how do I know that.
  - purrcat259 3y ago
holoduke 3y ago
Ancient cart tracks. Nobody knows exactly why they are there. And they are everywhere. Sometimes going from cliff into the sea.
- fuzztester 3y ago
  The Maltese equivalent of the pirate practice of walking the plank? maybe in this case for entire families, hence a cart. off with their heads! oops, that was the guillotine, in the French revolution. or was it Alice in Wonderland? :)

by Jun8 3y ago

mmahemoff 3y ago

Also interesting that English is one of their official languages, the other being Maltese, making Ireland and Malta the only EU countries with that status now. There's a big scene of English schools and young Europeans going there to learn English in summer, which translates to a lot of partying. I definitely recommend visiting if you get a chance. It packs so much in for a small country.

arbuge 3y ago

For a long time we were pretty sure that we had the oldest free-standing structures (i.e. buildings) in the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalithic_Temples_of_Malta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalithic_Temples_of_Malta Apparently there's an even older contender in Turkey now, but, anyway you slice it, this stuff is old. The most recent of them (2500 BC) roughly equate in age to the oldest pyramids of Egypt.

gamex79 3y ago

Any Americans here retired to Malta? It came up on some lists of best places in the world to retire. Would love to hear your experience.

maltesegirl 3y ago
You might want to check on /r/malta or Facebook groups. There's honestly probably thousands of American citizens in Malta. Especially if you count Maltese ex-diaspora who returned back for retirement or their children or grandchildren.

chx 3y ago

I am not of Maltese origin but I am a resident now. How much Malta fucked up transit and transportation is really interesting. It's as bad as the United States despite unlike the US the distances are short and the population density is high (the whole thing is 17 mi x 9 mi, the density of the entire country compares to Bellevue, WA and the towns themselves are ten times more dense). Malta is #10 country in the world in cars owned per people leading to constant congestion https://i.redd.it/fnrrri2k1n8b1.png https://i.redd.it/fnrrri2k1n8b1.png, some sections of the roads are impossible to walk, some transit connections are near impossible to make because of the lack of crossings and sidewalks. Buses are infrequent and notoriously unreliable. And buses are all there are, not even a trolley bus much less a tram or something. And they are not fixing this, I tried to do public transit to the nearest Lidl and the road was freshly rebuilt (not even fully complete yet) and they didn't add a sidewalk. The public transit mobile app is useless. This is not just me grumbling check https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/people-use-bus-reliable-service-consumers-say.1008627 https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/people-use-bus-reliab... for more.

CHB0403085482 3y ago
Bahamas is like that too ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdz6FeQLuHQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdz6FeQLuHQ

purrcat259 3y ago

Hi, Maltese here, always lived here since birth, my family is Maltese going back generations. Off the top of my head: 1. The country is constantly polarised. Politics and football especially. Voting based on your family's political legacy is very common. 2. The idea of being constantly ruled by someone else used to be s convenient excuse to steal from the colonists. The downside is that this attitude never left with the british, so tax evasion is rampant as if you're sticking it to the man by doing so... But in reality you're stealing from yourself. 3. While similar to Ireland in the sense that the economy grew very fast very quickly, it has the opposite problem when it comes to housing: massive supply is not managing to sate the massive demand, so housing prices are persistently astronomically high. Happy to answer more questions.

throwaway2037 3y ago
You are an EU citizen. Why do you stay? You could move to Germany or Netherlands and have a better life without all that nonsense.
- purrcat259 3y ago
  1. Language: I'd be moving somewhere where the primary language is unknown to me (although I studied german for a while in school). 2. Convenience and support structure: I have young children and their grandparents live 5-15 minutes away. 3. I have a vote here and therefore a sliver of a say. If I go elsewhere, all I'll have is my voice, which will be the voice of a foreigner. My wife and I have resolved to leave, but not before our parents pass away. Its our one and likely only major blocker. In fact I shifted to working fully remotely during the pandemic to make this eventuality smoother.
sumedh 3y ago
I know an older gentleman who moved out of Malta 40 years back. Is there any Maltese phrase I can tell him which will make him scratch his head wondering how do I know that.
- purrcat259 3y ago

holoduke 3y ago

Ancient cart tracks. Nobody knows exactly why they are there. And they are everywhere. Sometimes going from cliff into the sea.

fuzztester 3y ago
The Maltese equivalent of the pirate practice of walking the plank? maybe in this case for entire families, hence a cart. off with their heads! oops, that was the guillotine, in the French revolution. or was it Alice in Wonderland? :)