Visas

Today I took our 12 students to a government office in Valletta to get their visas that will allow them to be residents of Malta until the end of the term. Americans (and most anyone else in the world) can come to Europe for up to 90 days as tourists. To stay any longer requires permission.

Because of the refugee crisis in Europe -- a situation for which Malta was on the front lines when the main flow of refugees was coming out of North Africa just months ago -- the visa application process has tightened considerably. And the rules change with the wind.

Mary and I had gone through this already, because we arrived a couple weeks ahead of the students. It was stressful for us, and involved more than one trip to Valletta to get it all done. So this venture literally had me laying awake at night and my stomach churning. For the students, on the other hand, it was just another fun trip to Valletta!

We waited at a bus stop at the University. The electric sign first told us that the bus would be 13 minutes late. Then still later. Then it quit mentioning our bus number at all. It was getting late and I feared we would miss our appointment. So we hoofed it a fast quarter mile to another stop where the buses come by more frequently. We waited still longer, but finally caught one. Then we had to walk across Valletta at what the kids called "Nino Speed" to get to the office on time. We barely made it.

They told us the office was closed and they knew nothing of an appointment. My heart sank. But after awhile we were ushered into a waiting room and told that we would be seen. I went in with the first student. I had prepared identical paperwork for all 12, so I knew that if the first one made it through, they all would.

Success! All 12 applications are complete. Now we simply wait 6-8 weeks for notice that we can go back and claim the visas. Whew! I'm exhausted tonight, but a weight has been lifted.

On the way out of Valletta, we stopped at the Church of St. Paul's Shipwreck. Mary and I had visited earlier, but when we tried to take the students there, it had been closed because of the shipwreck festival and carnival activities. Today we got in.

The church is a stunning baroque basilica, and displays two cherished relics: The wrist bone of St. Paul and a piece of the stone on which Paul was beheaded. The history of such relics in Medieval Europe always makes me skeptical of such claims, and I'm not sure why one would pray to the wrist bone of a dead saint in any case, but the displays are intriguing.