During the first week of easter, my friend Claire visited for a week. This was really good as not only had I not seen in her since leaving, but as everybody was leaving, I had something to do for the week. Claire was staying in a nearby town called Sliema, which was two short bus trips away. During Claire’s stay we did alot of relaxing, with many visits to the different beaches including Comino as she wanted to make the most of the sun. We also managed to visit the catacombs in Mdina.             I’m not sure if its was the catacombs or the spiders but she was certainly a bit freaked out by the whole thing. As for me, I was too occupied by the handset provided at reception which seemed to know every step I was making, as I learned everytime I went near a dark area: “stay away from the dark areas at all times”. Claire wasn’t exactly impressed with the Maltese buses which were always late and absolutely crammed. We even experienced a bus which broke down. The driver wasn’t exactly polite about the situation, just telling us to get off and wait. Not surprisingly, the most impressive thing about Malta for Claire was the nightlife in Paceville which definitely contrasts that of Northern Ireland. Claire also managed to witness my last football match in Malta. At this stage, the senior teams season had finished, so I played some games with the under 19’s as I was still eligible. This was great as it actually meant winning a game and we got promoted with a 2-1 victory against Pembroke, slightly disappointed about not keeping a clean sheet but sure.

After Claire’s stay, it was time for us to leave Malta for the first time as we ventured off to Sicily with Laura and Mary. We left straight after a massive Easter dinner at the residence in which everybody made food. Matt and I just made spuds. The flight was a mere 45 minutes or so long, but we ended up staying in Sicily airport as we had nowhere to stay the first night. After getting a bus in the morning as far as Trapani, the bus driver left us in the pouring rain and thunder with the knowledge that the second bus we needed was not running today. Thankfully we got a taxi. After a day in Sicily, we were then joined by Allison and Jordan who had flew from Amsterdam with some funny stories to tell. During our stay in Sicily we mainly just relaxed at the beach in the sun and went out a couple of nights. We learned that the Sicilians had very little English, making us appreciate how the English was in Malta even more. We mainly relied on Laura’s ability to speak Spanish to pull us through. I would occasionally fire in the odd French word as well such as “Pourquoi?” Our apartment also had one of the best scenery I have witnessed in my life. Basically, it’s a very big mountain.

                        Every picture seemed to be of this mountain, it was amazing. One day we planned to conquer it and climb up, but then we decided that sunbathing at the beach followed by a football match would be better. The football match was the most competitive game I have played in. The teams were Laura, Jordan and I versus Matthew, Mary and Allison. After going two nil down, we changed our formation, pushing Laura back into nets. We fought back to win 5-2, although this wasn’t without witnessing one of the finest saves I am yet to see, one that I would have been more than proud to make. This was after Matthew managed to get past me for the only time in the game, he shot and was about to skip away in celebration only to have that smile wiped of his face by the outstretched foot of Laura. Amazing. I felt our team totally deserved the victory. Their best asset (Matthew) was totally marked out of the game and Allison was just brutal, leaving Mary as their only outlet.
All in all Sicily was a great trip and I have become very friendly with those who cam. It was good to get away from the residence for a bit, especially as it was empty with everyone going home for Easter. On the other hand, I have never seen four people more excited than we were on the plane home. It was great to be welcomed back by everyone and was brilliant to see everyone after two weeks apart. It just shows how close we have become with everyone after just a couple of months.