Malta Residential, 14-21 February 2006 - Page 3

Costumed interpreters re-enact two military incidents at St Elmo's fort in Valletta each month. 'In Guardia' represents a skirmish in the time of the Knights of St John during the 16th century. 'Alarme!' tells the story of the landing and invasion by Napoleonic French forces in 1798, opposed at first by a small Maltese militia which was overwhelmed. The French took control and Napoleon introduced many measures from the French Republic in law and government. However, they also looted the Roman Catholic churches and exectured opponents, including clergy.

The Maltese invited the British under Lord Nelson to drive out the French, which they did. From 1800 Malta was effectively, and later legally, part of the British Empire. Independence was gained in 1964 though the country was one of the first to be self-governing in internal matters, from 1921. The British military garrisons left in 1979, many personnel returning frequently as holidaymakers. We met and talked to one ex-soldier, Ron, who was wounded at Monte Casino in Italy in the 1940s. He and his late wife regularly came back to their 'second home' - Malta.

After the lootings and executions the Maltese rose up against Napoleon's soldiers and the British laid seige. In the pictures above, British soldiers are attacking the French, who surrender, sign an agreement, and are allowed to withdraw with their arms and colours.

THE LAST EVENING - THE QUIZ AT THE BUGIBBA HOLIDAY COMPLEX

Trevor Zahra hosted a general knowledge quiz in which the prize was five nights at the Bay Point Radisson Hotel in St Julians, a five-star establishment that we toured with last year's group. The winners, (Becca, Kim, Jane and Amy)with 69% of the questions correct, were over the moon when the result was announced. They plan to travel a little later this year.

Karaoke songs enlivened the atmosphere of Jack's Bar in the later part of the social. While it ended in the early hours the group was still packed and on the coach with Raymond "The Legend" driver at 5:00am, ready for the 7:05 flight out of Luqa. By 11:30 we were all back to the cold, damp reality of Leeds, full of new experiences to recount and draw upon in course work.

STUDENT EVALUATIONS

We always ask students to complete an evaluation of the residential visit. This year they were invited to add some comments - if they wished - about Malta and the trip specifically for this web page. Here is what they said, unedited. In other sections of the evaluation form they made other comments, which were sometimes a little more critical, though all but one scored responses were above 5 out of 10 (10 being the maximimum possible).

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"I didn't know what to expect when arriving in Malta, and I found out that I was going to look forward to the trip. It was a good idea and brought the course closer together".

"Overall good trip; managed to gain all relevant research information. Nice place".

"I had a really good time in Malta, found it really interesting and it definitely brought the course closer together".

"The best aspect for me was that we all got to know each other better and had an opportunity to collect primary research independently, based on what we had chosen personally for our assignments".

"Overall the trip was excellent. Malta was a really nice place to visit".

"Trip was organised very well".

"Really enjoyed the trip to Malta, all in all locals and tourists were friendly, as they made efforts to engage in conversations with you".

"Excellent time, great group bonding. Tour guide awful for Gozo".

"Trip was great but need a new coach next year. got more scared of it every day! [Editor's note:it had a slipping clutch problem] Apart from that had a fantastic time".

"The whole experience was well worth it. I learnt a lot about a country I had never been to before, and also got to know course mates I didn't previously know. Overall I would recommend highly taking the trip".