Well, beside Sitara's now rewarding practice with the camera (a totally candid shot here), there has been a lot happening in the past week.
 The most unfortunate (because I like to end on good news), is being chained to the bathroom (ie. toilet) sick for two days this week. All I have to say is that I am blessed it was only two days. From other travelers I knew it would come eventually, but it still caught me off-guard living in a European country. The EU has agricultural standards comparable to that in the States, though when nearly all produce and fish is caught and raised locally (locally includes Italy as well  in my discussion of produce, though much is grown in Malta), I can see some regulation going lax. Luckily these are some of the cleanest waters of the Mediterranean, so poisoned fish is less likely (though any migratory fish may be fishy. Excuse the pun). Anyhow whether it was food poisoning, or my body finally deciding to throw a tantrum regarding some unknown difference in the food (I eat just as much pasta and pizza back home), I was sick. And painfully sick at that--yet it is just an expected symptom of long-term travel.
 Yet I object to calling this long-term travel. We are just at our half-way mark through this Maltese adventure of ours, and it feels like we are just settling in. Probably because we are. There are many parts of me, and Sitara as well, that wish we could stay much longer. Yes, of course we miss all those back home, but getting settled here makes it feel like a second home here as well. Getting used to the culture, the people, and even the language in some ways. While I don't have the time to spend learning the language on this trip, it has become easier on the ears, and both Sitara and I have picked up some lingo, as well as recognizing latin-root words that come from Italian, of which Spanish is very similar. Turning on the TV, Italian is most frequently heard on the channels here, and I am finding I can understand it nearly completely. It is sad to ponder that we are rounding the mid-point of our time here.
We will be coming back no doubt, on academic voyeurs that may last a mere week to maybe a few months, but I wouldn't dare say any longer than that. Another six weeks or so until we return home, and that is still enough time to know the culture better, explore some of the awesomeness that is Malta (that we have yet to see still). Seeing the close though, has also reminded me the value of why we came, and has eased my push for Sitara to keep up on her studies. Yes, she may fall a smidge behind on her math or reading, but you know what? That is well worth the experience she will be taking away from our time here in this small sea.