The Ladies of the Club

We had our monthly meeting at the Maltese Club this past Tuesday evening. I don't know if I had mentioned it prior to this, but I am now the secretary for the Women's Committee. So I take the notes (which there is not many of), read the past meetings notes at the current meeting and read correspondence (sometimes we get letters, etc.). So far it has been pretty good. You know, sometimes I lean towards the side of social anxiety, not sure why because once I am there, I am fine, but anyway...after thinking about the meeting all day and somewhat stressing out (for no reason whatsoever), I arrived and took my normal seat at the front.

We started with a dinner, it was chili night so there were 4 crock pots plugged in all filled with different chili recipes and huge baskets of bread. It was delicious, the ladies that cooked that day did a wonderful job. After dinner we all just sit around and talk until the meeting starts. This past week I sat next to a woman I had never sat by before although I had seen her at past meetings and had spoken to her (I couldn't remember her name though and still cant). She told me the most amazing story about when she first moved to the United States (in Maltese and English a 40/60 mix)....

She was 21 and had been married in Malta before moving the US with her husband and 2 small children, she was 8 months pregnant with her third child when they got off the boat in New York. Her husband had family in New York City so they decided they would live there. They had their own place and her husband had a job where he worked at night. She was scared most of the time when she first arrived because she did not speak English and NYC is another world completely compared to the small island of Malta. The Maltese people she knew were her husbands family and friends so she had some connections made, but not a lot. One night before her husband had gone to work she started getting labor pains and knew the baby was coming (having already had 2, she was not too concerned and did not tell her husband as she didn't want him to worry and needed him to work so they could have money). Later that evening after feeding and bathing her 2 young children she tucked them soundly into a bed they shared in the bedroom next to hers. She had then and decided she was too scared to go to the hospital in this new very large and scary city and she was going to have the baby alone and she started to pray to Mary to help her. She prepared her bed with newspapers, old blankets and towels and placed a large picture of Mary at the end of the bed and just looked deep into her eyes and kept praying for Mary to help her and the baby through what would be a long night ahead. After much pain (which she never cried out during as she did not want to scare the neighbors or wake the sleeping children in the room next door) she felt it was time for the baby to come out. With one big push, Mary appeared and pulled the baby from her and it was over. Her husband came home early in the morning to find his young wife sleeping with a newborn baby girl in their bed. He woke her and she told him the incredible story and he called his relatives who knew a Dr. to come and check on her. Amazingly, her and the baby were both fine..."the only thing was....The Dr. said I was crazy!" is how she ended the story with a laugh.

Incredible. During the entire story, this woman had her hand on my thigh and squeezed it when the story would get more intense. I feel blessed that this woman who doesn't even know me that well, shared this personal story with me. She told it like it was no big deal too - just blew me away.

I have heard many stories of strength and endurance from these women who moved to the US very young or who were in Malta during the bombings in WWII. I feel like these stories need to be shared with other women as I think we can all find them inspiring in some way.

PS - Robin, we all had a laugh at my large cross from Ash Wednesday photo - turns out I wasn't the only one who got marked so boldly.

Maltese Social Club Report

So, my Maltese has sort of fallen along the wayside - time to get out my flashcards and have Wendy start testing me again on my lunch break! Nothing like the reminder I got last night, everyone around me speaking Maltese and asking me to respond, ha ha! Next challenge, next month we are playing bingo and they are calling the numbers out in Maltese! Awesome.
Anyway, we had a very nice time, finger food and wine to start of the night and of course the socializing before the meeting. The meeting starting and of course the socializing kept on going, it is sort of organized chaos if I may say so myself.
Anyway, we talked about upcoming events, Father's Day Brunch, Prime Minister of Malta's visit in September and who is doing what at future meetings. I am bringing a dessert for the meeting in July so I will have to think of something fabulous. I am running the meeting in November or basically, hosting the meeting. We are going to have a potluck so I will ask for volunteers in September since I will miss the meeting in October.
My one wish for the Maltese American Social Club is that they get some more young folks in there to stir things up, bring in some new ideas and plan some different events for the people. I love it there and feel so lucky to be in an area with a high Maltese population, what are the odds? Funny when I moved here from Detroit I had no idea that this was the other highly populated Maltese area in the United States. Lucky me!

Maltese Christmas Event

Last night was the annual Maltese American Social Club Women's Committee Christmas Dinner and Gift Exchange - phew, that was mouthful. It was so nice to see all the ladies dressed in their various adorned holiday sweaters and jewelry. I have never known people to have so many Christmas themed pieces of clothing and accessories. It was incredible. When I first entered the club the men were at the bar (as usual) and the Christmas music was so loud I had to talk even louder than I normally do. For those of you who don't know, us Maltese are pretty loud. Sometimes people think we are yelling when we are not. Imagine about 50 Maltese Women talking with about a million decibels of Bing Crosby all in one room. The Grinch that stole Christmas must have unloaded everything he stole and set it up at the club. It was Scrooge's nightmare for sure.

It was a feast as always - we started with bread and salad, then came the main entrees which were large plates with roast beef, green beans and roasted potatoes on them. Following all this was not just one dessert, but three! There was a orange sort of fluffy, jello like dessert with fruit on top (Mom, I think this was "Fluff" ha ha). After that most of us got up to move around a bit, digest and get coffee (or more wine in my case) with the coffee they served panettone. Dishes were cleared and then clean up began (thanks to the men who were there). The meeting was about to start but no, wait, here comes a sheet cake the size of Camino (the smallest of the Maltese islands, but large for a cake). Not just any cake, a cake with a Happy Holidays message across the top large enough for everyone to read. The inscription was surround with sugary sweet frosting flowers in the brightest edible red I have ever seen. I was praying for an end piece, seriously, that would send me over the edge but in a funny way. Between the wine and the food I was fading and needed a boost and with the sugar content of the cake I might just end up staying and cleaning up afterwards because I would be so hyper there is no way I could go home and sleep, plus we still had the meeting and gift exchange to sit through and it was 8:45 PM. As my luck would have it, I got a small middle piece and then split it with Lucy next to me since we were both rolling our eyes at the thought of eating more, but also did not want to offend so we dug in. If it weren't for the carrots and raisins in the cake, it would have been all sugar. I think I have mentioned it before, but all dietary rules and limitations must be thrown out the door at the Maltese Club or offence could be taken or you will be the talk of the town. Generally, I don't eat the meat, but eat around it and no one seems to notice.

Finally, the meeting started - it was a quick one since people were yawning and wanting to get on with the gifts. As usual, everyone drew numbers and picked their gift in order of the number that they had chosen. I didn't do the gift exchange this time around but watched everyone open their gifts. The last two years people have had to open their gift in front of the group and then they say thank you to the person who gave it, etc. but this time because everyone was tired, they just went up in order and grabbed a gift. The ones that I saw opened were; wind chimes, wine glasses, vintage looking Santa statue, snack dishes made of glass that looked like train cars and Christmas themed platter and bowl. It was fun! For me, it is not about the gifts, but the fellowship and talking with these amazing women who most of them came to America with nothing but a fist full of dollars and a dream. The topic of discussion last night at our end of the table was a little racy and since my last Maltese Club Christmas post was on Wired Malta (12/23/07), I would rather not post that information. I love these ladies and can't wait to spend more time with them in 2009.

PS - They are all trying to get me to be the Secretary for the Club, I am not ready for that now though. I might fill in a little this year and see what happens.

Maltese Women's Halloween Dinner

This post is overdue since we had the Women's Committee Halloween Party/Dinner at the Maltese American Social Club back in the beginning of October.

Most of us arrived in costume and we had a lovely dinner of Italian Sausage Sandwiches, Potato Salad, Green Salad, Wine, Coffee and various desserts.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the night.