Living in Malta

Local time is GMT + 1 (GMT + 2 between the last Sunday in March and the Saturday before the last Sunday in October).

Malta uses the Euro. One Euro is divided into 100 cents.

Tap water is perfectly safe to drink, although the mineral content is probably different to what you are used to and some people may find that it upsets their stomach. Many people buy the bottled mineral water which is available in most shops.

You can mail letters and postcards in any post box. These are bright red and found on many streets.

The nearest Post Office to the Sliema school is on Censu Scerri Street, (turn right from the school exit and left at the end of the street).

Prices

Letters or cards up to 20 grammes cost:

• 37c – Europe
• 51c – Middle East, North America, Africa
• 63c – South America, Asia
• 86c – Far East

Opening hours

Monday – Friday: 08.00 - 13.00 & 16.00 - 18.00
Saturday: 08.00 - 13.00
Sunday: Closed

All calls in Malta - except to numbers starting 800 - are chargeable, so you will need to pay for any calls you make. You can use public telephones in various locations. These take coins - the current charges are here - or you can buy a pre-paid telephone card from the school bookshop, which can also ber used on the telephones in our internet café.

Depending on the length of your stay here at IELS, you may want to buy a Maltese SIM card to use in your mobile. SIM cards are available from many shops and dealers in Malta.

The best mobile networks to look for are Vodafone, Go, Onvol or Melita.

Local Malta telephone numbers are eight digits long. If you are dialling from a fixed-line telephone or payphone in Malta, dial these eight digits. If you are using a foreign mobile phone, dial the international access number (often 00), then 356, then the number.

The tones you hear may be different to those you are used to.

• If your call is connected and the phone you are calling is ringing, you will here this ringing tone.
• If the telephone you are calling is engaged (busy) you will hear this engaged tone

By far the simplest way to keep in touch. If you bring your own laptop, you can make use of the school’s free wireless internet connection. If you do not have your own computer you can buy a voucher from the reception desk to use at our Internet Café here at school.

Malta is full of colourful markets with fresh fish, quaint old shops in Valletta’s backstreets and the latest continental fashion in shopping plazas.

Shops are usually open from 09.00 hrs to 13.00 hrs and then again from 16.00 hrs to 19.00 hrs. They are usually closed on Sundays and public holidays.

Baystreet, which is one of Malta’s largest shopping centres is situated in the village of St Julian’s. The shops open here from 10.00 hrs to 22:00 hrs, seven days a week.

Sliema has the feel of a quiet seaside resort, but is in fact a major commercial and residential area and houses several of Malta’s most recent hotels. It is a centre for shopping, restaurants and cafe life. There are a number of food stores, appliance outlets, pharmacies as well as a number of souvenir shops. It houses the major banks and a main post office. A sub-post office is situated opposite the school.

The Plaza Commercial Centre which is centrally located in Sliema comprises a mix of retail shops, catering establishments and office suites spread over nine floors built around a central atrium.

A gratuity of 10% is expected in hotels, and 10% in restaurants, if service charge is not included in the bill. Most other services are tipped about 5-10% (including taxi drivers).

The wearing of skimpy clothing away from the beaches should be avoided, and dress should be conservative to enter churches.