This is a little guideline for all the people who want to spend their Erasmus semester in Malta at the Institute of Agriculture.

First of all I want to stress that it was a great time I spent in Malta and I am giving you the tip to make the step and enjoy the time. You learn a lot for your life.

International Office:

At the beginning of your planning it’s important to contact the International Office of the University of Malta. They will give you useful information and tell you what to do to fix your foreign semester. They have a homepage where you can find out about the possible courses, accommodation, contact persons of your faculties, holidays and examination weeks. The people also help you during your stay and you have to go there as soon as the university year starts.

Travel guide:

First of all it’s good to inform yourself about the island to know which preparations you have to make. Therefore buy a travel guide. I had a good one, it was a little bit more expensive, but it contained good information:

Malta&Gozo&Comino; Michael Bussmann; Michael Müller Verlag

Malta:

To give you an idea of the island, here are a few facts. Malta has an area of 246 km². It is 27 km long and 14,5 km broad. The shore is 137 km long. 355 000 Maltese people live on the island. It’s a member of the EU since 2004.

Language:

Official languages in Malta are English and Maltese. When you are able to speak English or Italian, you can communicate with most Maltese people. They also have their own language: Maltese. This language is a mixture of Arabic, Italian and English and very hard to learn. But it´s worth to attend the Maltese language course at the beginning of the semester. There you have the chance to get in contact with other international students, learn about the Maltese culture and mentality and you can try to do your best in learning a very foreign language. The Maltese appreciate it, when you show, that you are interested in their culture and language. Furthermore the teacher organizes guided sight seeing tours. Some countries pay for attending the 4-weeks-course. To improve your English you can attend classes in language schools (www.esemalta.com, www.inlinguamalta.com) and “Sprachcafes” (www.sprachcaffe.com). It costs you about 60€ a week, but inform yourself about the differences first. They provide a programm matching your skills.

University:

The university is located near Msida and you can reach it by bus 667 from GardenView or by walking ½ an hour. For that you go from Garden View to Cornershop and then you turn left and after following the road  and crossing 2 crossings straight ahead you reach a garden centre, where you pass a door on your left hand side and in front of you you can see the university.

At the beginning it´s important for you to know where the international office in the administration building with Anna Callus and her team is and to look for the Institute of Agriculture, which is situated outside the mainentrance in a small stonehouse. In the Institute contact the secretary and Dr. George Attard.

On the campus you can find a canteen where you can eat relatively cheap, a book shop, cash mashines, a bank, a library (You need your library card or your passport to borrow a book. For reading you can just enter. There are several agricultural dictionaries in different languages.), phoneboxes, a computer centre, copy shops and several markets. You can find cheap books in second hand shops, one is on the way you walk to the university.

Weather:

The weather in Malta is very hot in general, therefore don´t forget bikini, sun crème and sun glasses, but especially from November till February it is rainy and cold. The air is very damp, therefore you feel colder than it is, so don´t forget warm clothes and an umbrella. Especially in the evening the temperatures fall down, therefore take a warm pyjama with you.

October: >30°C

November: 20-25°C

December: 10-15°C

Journey:

The fastest and cheapest is to take a direct flight to Valetta. If you want to bring your car to Malta you can also go by ferry from Italy.

From and to the airport in Malta you can take a taxi or the cheaper bus number 8 to Valetta and then you have to change to number 64, which stops in front of Garden View Holiday Complex or another bus to another destination. On the first day it’s more convenient to go by taxi. So you have time to get to know the area. At the airport you can get a free map of the island.

Buses:

At the beginning the bus system seems strange, because there are no accurate timetables, the fare depends on the amount of buses you take, the drivers prefer the correct amount of money (15c or 40c), the busses don´t give information where you have to go out, you have to guess the right side of the road to get into the right direction. It is a big advantage when you ask a driver for the bus map. On the front page you can find a map of Malta and the map of the central bus station in Valetta, on the other side you find the destinations of the different numbers, the average departure in Valetta and the costs. Some of the bus drivers are quite willing to help when you don´t know which bus to take. In Valetta there is an information centre where you can receive detailed information about the depature times. And don´t forget to get and keep the ticket in case an inspector wants to see it.

Money:

The currency in Malta is Lm (Maltese Lira) till 2007. 1Lm = 2,3 - 2,4€ , 1Lm = 100c

The Maltese people also call it Pound. When you receive a grant in your country you also get it for the time you spend abroad. In addition you receive a grant from the Erasmus office of your country when you fulfill the requirements.

For getting money you can go to nearly every cashmashine. Take care of the limits! Normally they charge you 4€ for every transaction from Austria. If you want you can also bring cash money with you and change it at the airport. There you only pay a 4€ fee no matter how much you change. But they don’t take coins. In the several exchange offices they charge you an extra percentage of the exchanged amount of money in addition to the changing fee.

Accomodation:

On the homepage of the University of Malta you can find different choices of accommodation most foreign students use. Most Maltese students live in their parents’ house. I lived in Garden View Holiday Complex, a hotel, and I was satisfied. It´s cheaper (50 Lm to 118 Lm per month) than the University Residence which is also ok. (Paying the rent in cash is cheaper.) There are swimming pools in both places. In Garden View you can use the fitness centre for a fee. In Garden View every apartment has got TV with Euronews, BBC Prime, CNN, Travel channel, MTV in German, mbc2 (an Arabic but English speaking Movie channel with lots of good films and series), two Maltese channels and many other channels in Spain, French, and Italien. You can book a single apartment, single room and share the apartment or share the room as well, which is cheapest. Every apartment has it´s own bath room and a kitchen. In the University Residence up to eight people use one kitchen and bathroom. You have your own room, but the rooms are smaller and you can imagine the noise with so many people in one place. In Garden View you also have the opportunity to go into the Internet for a fee or connect your laptop to the internet. The same system works for the laundry. Another advantage of Garden View is the possibility of moving out earlier than you told them first; in the Residence you have to stay, although you want to move into a flat (about 100 Lm per person) or to a host family. You can check the market during your stay in Malta, that’s more convenient than from at home. Garden View is also situated better, 10 minutes to Paceville, the place to go out, 10 minutes to the busses 667 to university, 62 and 68 to Msida (10 minutes to go to university), the 64 stops in front of garden View. The bus from the Residence to the university is free. Don´t forget to bring your own towel, alarmclock, and a radio. Bed linen is provided. Dishes are in the kitchen, cleaning liquids you have to buy yourself.

Registration (Inskription):

It is best is to only enrole for the lectures you need and you want to get credits for after passing the exams. Other lectures you just want to join for interest you can join without registration as in every other university. On the first day the Erasmus-coordinator Anna Callus will explain what you have to do to registrate all the subjects you want. For that you need your learning agreement, you filled in with your headmaster at home. You need the signatures of the head of the Institute for every subject you join. You have some time to change the subjects. Registration in general is very complicated and you have to wait in front of the International Office a lot. But if you study at the Institute of Agriculture I can promise you, it´s easier, because there are fewer peple.

Shopping:

The best and most convenient place to buy food is to buy it in the farms or the small corner shops. There are also shopping centres, but they are further away from the accommodation. Clothes can be bought in the shopping centres in Valetta, Sliema and Paceville. But I want to stress, that clothes are very expensive in Malta. If you want to spend the money I can assure you, that the clothes are very modern. It’s the same with the hairdressers; they cut modern but are expensive. It’s always better to look for a small shop outside the centre, where it is cheaper. Spirits are very expensive. There are special shops and you can buy it cheap in the supermarkets. For presents and small things it´s best to visit one of several markets situated all over the island. There is a market each day somewhere. There is also one outside Valetta on Sunday morning. The thing is, that they also sell lots of low quality stuff. Cosmetics you better take with you from at home. They are too expensive in Malta.

Phone:

If you stay longer on the island it’s good to buy a Maltese mobile. Within Garden View you can call without fee. For phoning home I suggest to buy an International Phone Card. There are several different companies; the cheapest depends on the country you want to reach. For most International Cards you need a local phonebox card to dial the connection number. After 8 o´clock in the evening phoning is cheaper.

Water:

You better avoid drinking the water from the tap. It´s not as clean as we are used to it and it´s not worth to get infected with a dangerous illness. It´s best to buy mineral water in the shop for drinking and using the tap water for cooking and washing. In general the quality from the cold kitchen tap is better than in the bathroom.

For washing your clothes there are several laundries all over the country. There is also one in Garden View, but it charges you 5€ for using it, so it´s better to go to official ones. Use a smelling washing powder to avoid a strange smell of the clothes after washing. The water is very aggressive and colour can be washed out easily. You can dry your clothes in the dryer for a fee or by using a line on the balcony. But take care that the wind can´t blow away the washing.

Going out:

There are many possibilities for going out. In Paceville, a 10 minutes  walk from Garden View, there are lots of clubs, bars and discos. Nearly every disco has it´s special offers on special days. A few examples: There are free salsa lessons in Fuego every Monday till Wednesday. In Footloose there are often parties for international students organised by a Maltese student organization. Often they have special drink offers. On Thursdays they have a student offer with a free cinema movie and cheaper pizza in Pitcher´s, the Pub belonging to Garden View. There is also a very convenient cocktail bar called 7-rooms. On Wednesday the casino offers international food for 1 Lm. There are lots more opportunities. You can go out every day except in deep winter when all tourists are away. There are very few places with an entrance fee. There is a big cinema with the newest movies. Most time they are smarter than in Austria. But be sure, that you book your tickets early enough. On weekends the cinema and restaurants of Paceville are very crowded, because the local people go out. It´s better not to go for dinner on a Sunday evening.

Post:

There are post offices in a few towns (e.g. Valetta, Sliema, St.Juliens ...). They only open in the morning. If you need stamps you can try to buy them from shops where they have postcards. You pay 16c to Europe no matter if you send a letter or a card. The postboxes are red and big. Sometimes it takes quite a long time for the letters to arrive at their destination. It’s faster and more up to date to write an e-mail. You can pay for Internet access in Garden View, which is most convenient and cheapest with your own notebook or you use the free access (8h/week) at university (CSC = computer service centre).

International Student Card:

Try to organize this card in your country. You get many things cheaper and you have a valid passport.

Visiting farms:

If you want to see something of the Maltese agriculture I suggest first to look at Goverment farm. Ask George Attard for details. Then you can also visit farms in the rural areas of Malta (Gozo, around Mdina, in the northwest of the island ...). It’s very interesting. It’s different from our farming, although the theory is nearly the same.

Sports:

If you are interested in diving, there are diving courses and clubs. For sports like football or rugby you can join Maltese clubs as well. If you want to ride your bike best take it with you (about 90€ to transport it in the plane). Walking is no problem. If you like swimming you have lots of possibilities in the sea till mid November or the national pool, close to university. You can also go there during winter. It´s heated. You pay a fee for a month, semester or year. You can also try to find indoor pools in other hotels. In Garden View there is a outdoor pool. The beaches are full on weekends, it´s better to go there during the week. In the evening, when the sun goes down, it can become quite cold. There are nice beaches like Paradies Bay, Georges Bay, Golden Bay, Mellitha, ...

Gozo, Comino:

Don´t miss to visit Gozo and Comino. You can reach it from Paradies Bay with the ferry, Comino with a boat (Blue Lagune). Rent a car and visit the island or rent a farmhouse for a weekend to get to know the relatively green island!

I hope I was able to give you a few ideas and help you for a good start for your Erasmus-experience!

Enzenhofer Maria, Austria