Moving to Malta

Welcome to Expat.com manilee

I hope that other members will bring their input to your various queries soon.

Wish you a nice day further
Regards

Welcome Manilee,

Well some things about Malta and being close to Africa...  The locals see that as a huge disadvantage and not a blessing in any way due to a lot of immigration problems and the crime rates rising because of people jumping the boarders and running to malta, basically the same issues with the illegal mexican in the lower parts of the US.   Africa has it's beautiful places if you like to travel but their lack of any real government causes a lot of trouble here.

The only of your questions I can really answer is your question about the car...   If you plan on working from home you should have no trouble, as long as you are close to your childs school.  Everything here is really close, but for both exploring the island and finding work the car is a necessity.   My wife and I thought we could get by without one here for a while and there is no chance...   We need to buy one and will do so this week.   Local buses are unreliable and traveling anywhere takes hours because all the buses go through Valetta then spiderweb around the island.   You can do it, many people do, but it is necessary for us.  If for some reason you need to find a job and cant work at home...  well That is the first question most employers I have interviewed with have asked  " do you have a car "

I wish you luck in your travels and have a great day.

Thank you for writing and the very useful information. In this case it seems like if I do not want to have to drive then we really need to be careful about where we rent a flat. I guess i have to wait until we arrive to Malta to really find out but thank you again.

Hi Manilee,

The University is situated in  Gzira but quite a way out from any nice places.But there are many flats nearby so you will probably find a not too expensive place there easier than in the nicer spots closer to the sea.

There are several schooling threads on the Forum. So just go through the previous posts ( coverering the last months) and you should find answers to your school questions already posted.

You won't really find any open spaces for kids to play anywhere near the University. The best playgrounds for kids that I know of are all along the seafront in Sliema .

I have never heard of a french school in Malta. The closest would probably be the International School in Pembroke but check out the school posts first.

Regards and good luck
Ricky

Hi Manilee,
I don't think there's a french school in M. but ask the Embassy : http://www.ambafrance-mt.org/spip.php?article1743
I would recommend a car in Malta, otherwise you'll lose time and miss discovering many interesting places difficult or impossible to reach by bus. Go to Valletta/Sliema by bus, anywhere else, drive!Car rental is much cheaper than in France, you might want to rent rather than buy, depending on how long you intend to stay.Winter prices are low and you don't need Air Con in the car till May.

Dear All, thank you so much for your responses, very very helpful. Yes, you are right it does not seems like there is any French school in Malta but I will contact the Embassy as wisely suggested to be sure.

Well, one of the reasons I left California was b/c i hate driving. In this case, I will follow your advice and will try to stay in the center for a while see if I can live with out a car. I don't even have an EU driver license just an American one, so I have to see how that works out.

Finally, it seems like we will visit some time at the end of the next month.

Happy New Year to all of you and thanks again for taking the time to write.

Cheers