Episode 35: Living the Dream on Gozo

This week, Jim’s talking to writer Mary Charlebois about her experience living in the tiny southern European nation of Malta.

Malta may be small, but it’s worthy of your attention. This sun-soaked country, just to the south of Sicily, sits in the deep blue waters of the Mediterranean and enjoys warm, dry summers and mild winters. The country is officially bilingual, with English as an official language, so there’s no need to pore over textbooks or depend on Google Translate. The Maltese golden visa is considered one of the world’s best offerings of its kind, and the country itself has a long history of settlement, with some of the world’s finest neoclassical, baroque, and medieval architecture in daily use.

What many people don’t realize about Malta, is that it’s not just one island. In fact, it’s an archipelago of around 20 islands, of which three are inhabited—Malta, Gozo, and Comino. Regular ferries connect the islands with each other, and with Sicily and the Italian mainland. Although the three inhabited islands are close, they’re very different in character.

In her article for International Living magazine, and in her discussion with podcast host, Jim Santos, Mary Charlebois explains some of the differences, and what brought her and her fiancé, Kevin, to settle on tiny, agrarian Gozo. She paints a glorious picture of small farms, fishing villages, sidewalk cafés and community living that cannot fail to tempt you.

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Chapters

• 3:14 Malta—One Nation, Three (Inhabited) Islands
• 4:16 A Slow Pace of Life on an Agrarian Island—Gozo
• 6:18 Climate and Weather on Gozo
• 8:12 How We Chose Our Home On Gozo:
• 13:48 The Maltese-Americans Who Moved Back to the Islands
• 16:46 Two Bedrooms, Two Bathrooms, and a Sea View For €700 a Month
• 19:01 Food, Drink, And Little Luxuries
• 23:02 Family-Owned Businesses; Butchers, Bakers, Market Produce
• 27:05 The Health Benefits of the True Mediterranean Diet
• 28:47 Healthcare and Medical Facilities
• 31:52 Adapting And Integrating—The Challenges and Rewards

Transcript

Jim Santos 00:09 

Greetings and welcome once again to Bigger, Better World. In this episode, we'll be talking about a country you don't often hear mentioned as an expat destination; the tiny island nation of the Republic of Malta. Malta sits in the Mediterranean just south of Sicily, with a population of only about half a million. But people have been living there for almost 8000 years. 

Although made up of over 20 islands, only the largest three are inhabited: Malta, Comino, and the island we'll be discussing today, Gozo. The official languages are Maltese and English, although, as you might expect, because of its close proximity to Italy, about two-thirds of the populace speak at least some Italian. Our guest today, Mary Charlebois retired to the Republic recently, and she wrote about it for the July 2023 issue of International Living magazine in the article. ‘A New Life in an Old World: Living the Dream on Gozo.’ 

Mary, welcome to Bigger, Better World, and thanks for joining us.

Mary Charlebois 01:37 

I'm glad to be here.

Jim Santos 01:39 

Well, Mary, before we get started talking about Malta, and it sounds like a really fascinating place, I wanted to get a little background on you and your husband, Kevin. What kind of travelers were you before discovering Malta?

Mary Charlebois 01:51 

Well, Kevin is my fiance, just to clarify, and we've both been international travelers and also travelers all of our lives, but together, we traveled extensively in the west coast of the US. And other parts of the United States. Also, we began traveling internationally together about four years ago, and a lot of that time was spent in Ireland and England, two places that we considered retiring to. But when Kevin came with me to Malta for the first time, I had been here before, that's when we knew this was the place we wanted to be.

Jim Santos 02:38 

And that was 2019, or was that your first solo trip?

Mary Charlebois 02:41 

My first solo trip was 2019. I came here on assignment, actually, for International Living.

Jim Santos 02:49 

Okay.

Mary Charlebois 02:50 

I spent a month here, two weeks on the island of Malta and two weeks on the island of Gozo. And Malta is an archipelago. It has quite a number of islands, but only three are inhabited.

 03:06.17 Jim Santos

That was a surprise to me. I was aware of Malta, but I always assumed it was just the island of Malta.

 03:14.43 Mary Charlebois

Most people aren't even aware of Malta. Thank you for knowing that. We came together in 2022, and we spent a month here on Gozo in that time. That was in March. We came back in November and spent another month between March and November. We absolutely were certain this was what we wanted to do. So we came in November. We found a place, an apartment or a flat, as they call them here, to lease and began all the incredible paperwork for acquiring residency. Then in January, I made the trip here alone to take possession of our flat. And Kevin came in February.

Jim Santos 04:12 

And what was it that attracted you to Gozo rather than the main island?

Mary Charlebois 04:16 

Well, Gozo, first of all, it's very tiny, as is actually Malta. Gozo is four and a half miles wide and 9 miles long. It's primarily an agrarian agriculture, farmland. Here it's just a much slower pace of life. There's less development. Malta, the island of Malta is developing at an almost scary rate. Lots and lots and lots of high rise condominiums and that sort of thing. It was in many ways, parts of Malta were like being in an American city which… we’re not city folks. 

So Gozo is made up of 18 villages with the average population in those villages is around 1000. But there is a village that has 500 and then the largest town or village is Victoria, which is about 7000. And that's the capital of Gozo. For us, it was just this feeling that you kind of step back in time about 20 years. It's a very friendly, warm place. We were made to feel welcome immediately. People have a very strong connection to community, to family, faith in the land and the sea and those things really appeal to us. Plus, the cost of living here is less, quite a bit less than Malta even though both are less than living in the US.

Mary Charlebois 05:50 

Or in California, where we're from.

Jim Santos 05:52 

Yeah, if you're where they grow the food, it's surprising how much cheaper it is.

Mary Charlebois 05:56 

I know. And we are where they grow the food. We're surrounded by farms, although now we're moving into the summer season, only some of the farms are growing. The harvest has already taken place. Gets very dry and hot here in the summer, which it is today.

Jim Santos 06:18 

I was going to ask you about the climate there. So you do have seasons?

Mary Charlebois 06:22 

Yes, kind of two seasons, really. There's the hot, dry summer, which is kind of from June till late August, sometimes into September. And then in September, the temperatures begin to drop and you move into the fall, winter, spring season, which is absolutely fabulous. January, it rains quite a bit. Kind of the only time it really rains a lot. But the average temperature here year round is about 72 F. Today it's in the 80s. By four o’ clock, it'll be probably 88. Very high humidity today. But in the wintertime it's more like in the mid 60s. It's very comfortable and the climate is good. But it's a big adaptation for us to spend the summer here because we are from Northern California where it doesn't get hot.

Jim Santos 07:22 

Right now, with 18 different villages on Gozo, how did you settle on the one that you chose? I believe it's Nadure.

Mary Charlebois 07:30 

Yes, that's exactly right. Not because it's one of the easiest to pronounce. Maltese is not a simple language, but we picked three villages. Ances, which is by the harbor. That's where the ferry terminal and bus terminal are. And the only way to get to Gozo is by ferry is by boat. Well, unless you have a helicopter, maybe, but it's only two and a half miles from Malta. But it's still the only way to get here. 

But we picked down by the harbor. Our temporary home was there in the harbor and we absolutely loved it. And it was convenient as well. For transportation, we picked Nadur and Qala, which is the next village over. And you can see the harbor from here, but Nadur is the highest point on Gozo, so we decided on those three villages and then we began the research into what rent was like and those kinds of things. 

And when we came back and began to look, Ghajnsielem just didn't have the things that we wanted on our list of must have for our flat. We couldn't find anything there that was in our budget. Qala just didn't have anything. The inventory of rental properties is low there, and Nadura, it really had everything that we wanted. Not only the flat, but the village itself. 

The shopping in the village is our little shops. There's a butcher, there's a baker, there's a little food shop where you go and get other kinds of things. On Wednesday, the largest street market is held. Every Wednesday. It's the largest one on the island. And then, of course, this time of year, lots of farmers and fresh food is amazing. Just amazing. And when we came here we had to meet the real estate agent in the town square. And we got there early and we just sat down at a table outside a little cafe and just sat there and kind of watched what was going on. 

And I think we knew then Nadur was the place and he showed us three apartments and we walked into this one. We knew this was it. We had no doubt at all.

Jim Santos 10:11 

The way you describe it, it sounds beautiful.

Mary Charlebois 10:13 

It is. It's very beautiful. We have a sea view from our terrace and that looks out over the Gozo Channel. And you can see Malta and Comino, which is the other inhabited island. Island. Although it only has two inhabitants.

Jim Santos 10:32 

Oh, really?

Mary Charlebois 10:34 

Yeah, only two. And they're probably going to be the last two, who knows? There's been talk of developing it, but I don't think that will happen. Anyway, we have a very comfortable, very modern apartment, big kitchen that was important to us. Having the terrace and the sea view was important. And I would say three minute walk from the bus stop and four minutes to any one of the markets. 

Everything's close because it's actually quite small. There's only 3000 people in this village, and most of those are not year-round residents. Gozo is kind of a summer home for Maltese. People who live on Gozo are called Gozatins, and people who live on Malta are called Maltese. And even though their language is similar, they have actually a little bit different language, and they're only two and a half miles apart, but they're very different. The food is different, the language, customs, everything is much different between the two islands.

Jim Santos 11:47 

You have to confess my ignorance here. I wasn't aware that there was a language called Maltese.

Mary Charlebois 11:52 

Yes, there is.

Jim Santos 11:53 

I just assumed it was Italian speaking or something like that.

Mary Charlebois 11:58 

Well, it's very similar. If you speak Italian, you probably get along pretty well here. The Maltese language. Well, first of all, it's a dual language country, Maltese and English. As you may know, Malta was conquered by twelve different cultures.

Jim Santos 12:17 

Just about everybody.

Mary Charlebois 12:19 

Just about everybody. If they were in the Mediterranean, they wanted this place because it was right in the center of the Mediterranean. It was the only place with fresh food and water, but the British had it for quite a long time, 164 years, actually. 

So there's huge British influence here and they pretty much did their best to eliminate Maltese. Even today, the official Republic of Malta's government language is English, so most people do speak English. All young people speak English because they teach both languages in school now. So Maltese and even the Gozotin language is made up of a combination of Arabic, Italian, English and just a little bit of French thrown in there, here and there.

Jim Santos 13:19 

Well, that's a nice little mix. So even on such a small island, then, there's a lot of English speakers.

Mary Charlebois 13:25 

Oh, yes. In fact, although we didn't know this when we moved to Nadur, it's known as Little America.

Jim Santos 13:35 

Very little.

Mary Charlebois 13:36 

Very little America. Well, after the Second World War, you may or may not know that Malta was the and is still the most bombed place in any war.

Jim Santos 13:48 

Really?

Mary Charlebois 13:48 

Yes. And the island of Gozo not so much, because Gozo was thought of as a third world country at that time, and people were barefoot and plowing the fields, riding donkeys kind of thing. And of course that was happening on Malta too, but it was a little more modern over there. Anyway, Malta got totally bombed. 

It's amazing that they managed to rebuild the way that they did, but as a result of all of that, there was nothing left for people. There was no work, there were no jobs, there was nothing. So many countries, but primarily England, the US and Australia, opened up their doors to Maltese citizens to come as immigrants. So lots and lots and lots, over a quarter of the population, did that, went to these different countries. So we have a lot of residents here now that their parents or their grandparents went to America or Australia, wherever it might have been and made a life there. 

And some of them returned, others didn't. But anyone who has ancestors, if you're an American citizen, you're born in America, but your Maltese ancestors lived here, you can come back to Malta and get Maltese citizenship.

So there's a lot of that. And also some of those people returned themselves. They made a good life for themselves, made money in America, and they came back here and they were able to take over the family property, that sort of thing. So there are a lot of Americans here, but they are also Maltese. They're both. In fact, my very first friend that I made here—I call her my bus stop friend. I've made more friends waiting for the bus than anywhere else. And she's Canadian. And Maltese. It's a lot of Canadians here too. 

And you walk around the streets and you look at the different houses. They're actually all apartment blocks. Very few freestanding houses in Malta. You'll see like the Canadian maple leaf or an American eagle or you'll see something that represents Australia. We didn't know, but we moved to little America.

Jim Santos 16:36 

Getting back to your apartment, you've got the sea view, you've got three bedrooms, two baths. You got this for just €700 a month. Yes, that's a pretty decent deal.

Mary Charlebois 16:46 

Oh, it's a heck of a deal. This apartment where we're from in California would be $3,000 a month. I mean, it's very nice. We have marble and tile and beautifully furnished, all custom made, everything here. But it's not unusual. There are apartments that similar to this that would go for much more. Those apartments also would have a pool and garage. We don't have a car, so we don't need a garage, and would maybe be larger, but very few have the view that we do at any price. 

We did look right on the same street where we are. We looked at what they call the penthouse. The top floor is always called the penthouse in these apartment blocks. And they are usually pretty fabulous. And I think it was about €1200. But it was huge. I mean, we would have been lost in the thing. And it wasn't furnished, which we're not about to ship furniture over here. Our apartment was completely furnished. I mean, everything knives, forks, dishes, sheets, towels, television, everything was here.

Jim Santos 18:07 

So that's great. Just bringing your suitcases and you're all set.

Mary Charlebois 18:11 

When I arrived here, I had two suitcases and that was it. Now, since then, because Kevin goes back and forth in fact, he's in California right now. He still has a business there. When he comes back. Now he brings things in his suitcases that we can't get here, right? Some piece of clothing or something I've decided I just have to have.

Jim Santos 18:40 

When we lived in Ecuador, every time we came to the States, we'd come with two suitcases inside two other suitcases. And then we'd come back with four full suitcases.

Mary Charlebois 18:51 

Yes. Really strange little things we've been asked about that a lot like white sponges, which I like for cleaning.

Jim Santos 19:01 

Oh, yeah. Certain spices. I have to have my old Bay spice.

Mary Charlebois 19:05 

Yeah. Oh, yeah. That would be one you'd never find here.

Jim Santos 19:09 

Speaking of which, I assume on the islands there you have quite a bit of seafood available.

Mary Charlebois 19:13 

Yes. Oh my God. Yeah. The seafood is just really most things that you would think of, and right now during the heat there's not as much, but in the winter is when there's a little bit less because there can be very rough seas and so the fishermen don't go out. 

There is a fishing fleet here, lots of little fishing villages, but they're not going out in these enormous ships. They go out, in some cases, rowboats two to four men, and they literally go out in these small boats. It just blows my mind. They're not going that far offshore. And they have certain ways that they do things. These beautiful, crazy…they're not nets, they're more like baskets. It's a trap, actually. They're hand woven. And the fish, they have a way of enticing the fish to come into them and they can't get out once they go in, the way that they're made. And you'll see them, some that are maybe the size of a laundry basket, but you also see one that a human being could stand inside of.

Jim Santos 20:31 

Something that we noticed. And other expats that I've talked to who live in areas like you do, where you have these smaller markets where you're tending to buy fresh foods all the time, notice that their health just really improved because you're getting…you talk about farm to table, but that's really the only way that you're living in a lot of expat destinations. So you got your fresh seafood, your fresh vegetables, your fresh fruits, your fresh grains. Have you found it's had a big impact on your health since you've moved there?

Mary Charlebois 21:01 

Yes, definitely. Now, one thing has had a big impact on our weight, and that's the bread. The most amazing bread you'll ever eat in your life. But we finally got enough of it and said, okay, we got to be realistic about not eating a loaf of bread a day. But health has definitely improved, I think also just having such clean, fresh air every day. You can be outside now. This time of year, you're not going to be outside usually between twelve and four. It's like a ghost town everywhere on this island right now because it's too hot. But around about four-thirty people start coming out. You go down to the square, you meet your friends, you have a wine or a coffee, but definitely we've changed the way we eat. 

Fruits and vegetables are just amazing. They are fresh. They weren't harvested and put on a truck and sent off somewhere and floated around the country for two weeks while they got to market. I mean, on Wednesday, when you go to the street market, for example, that stuff was harvested that morning, right.

Jim Santos 22:24 

And it wasn't sprayed with something to make it keep its color.

Mary Charlebois 22:27 

Oh, no. Even the foods that are packaged foods and things, there's not preservatives and everything either. We've really noticed that at first. We kind of wasted food a little bit because we'd buy more than we could eat in a day or two. And then we noticed how quickly things spoiled and then finally haven't been sprayed with chemicals and preservatives and so forth.

Jim Santos 23:02 

Yeah, that was a big shock when I first moved to Ecuador and we had these mercados that have all this wonderful produce and all this wonderful fresh seafood. It's like, oh, I want some of this, I want some of that, I want some of that. And then half of it goes bad before you can eat it. You have to school yourself to remember. I can go down there every day and get it. I don't have to.

Mary Charlebois 23:19 

Yep. We do the same thing in the month. I was here before Kevin. I kind of got into the shopping every day because it kind of gave me something to do. He got here just like you said. Oh, he'd go to the market. Oh, he was just filling up the basket. Are we going to have a party or guest for dinner? But we finally got the hang of it. 

And we have three food shops, general food shops, and then we have two butchers and one bakery. In fact, our flat is owned by the guy who owns the bakery. And we know this food shop. We like their produce better than that one. The chicken at this butcher is better than, we like it more, than at that butcher. But they are also buying from local farmers and producers. And oh, the chicken. I mean, it just blows me away.

Jim Santos 24:27 

Yeah, I had my chicken lady and my veggie lady and my fruit guy and my shrimp guy.

Mary Charlebois 24:33 

Well, on the Wednesday market, it's like that, too. We like his potatoes. Potatoes are a huge crop here, and I love potatoes. Kevin and I are both actually Irish descent, so we love potatoes. They're delicious here. It's amazing. They're not like any potatoes I've ever had, but it's a little bit like while there are some animals, there are quite a few plants that exist only on these islands. Maybe they came here from Rome or from France or Greece or wherever they may have come from. 

As these different groups came and took over here, they brought their own foods and their own animals and that sort of thing with them, but they didn't evolve beyond that state. Wheat is one of those things now. Unfortunately, wheat is not… the old, ancient wheat is not a huge crop here anymore, but it is still grown, and there are bakers who are still only using that ancient wheat and milling their own flour and that bread. Oh, my God. It's unbelievable. 

But you got to stand in line to get it. But the food here, everybody's heard of the Mediterranean Diet, and it's true because it's made up of fresh, seasonal things and just amazing. You know, they do eat a lot of bread, and the pizza is really big here. And there's a physiti, which is more of what they call Maltese pizza because it seems so weird to Americans. Has potatoes or maybe tuna.

Jim Santos 26:36 

Yeah, I had pizzas in Italy that had artichoke and slices of hard-boiled egg on it.

Mary Charlebois 26:42 

I still love margarita pizza. I don't know why. The one thing that we are always in search of, not always, but look for a lot is what we call American-style hamburger. Burgers are big here, but they use a very lean meat, and it just lacks that fatty flavor.

Jim Santos 27:05 

Now, you mentioned the Mediterranean Diet. I think what a lot of people miss about that is part of the reason that it can be very healthy is because of that freshness. So when you're trying to duplicate that diet in the big city in the United States, you're not going to see the same effect because you're not getting it, like you said, right off the truck, right out of the field.

Mary Charlebois 27:23 

Right. But also one kind of fish, the most popular, I guess fish, is called Lampuki, which is mahi-mahi, but it has a season. Even though they're always out there, they only go for them at a certain time of year. This is not a new idea to have sustainable fishing. It's a very ancient idea. But anyway, when Lampuki is in season, oh, my goodness, it's everywhere. Every restaurant, every shop, everybody's got Lampuki. I think that’s a seasonal thing, too. You get more of certain kinds of things. Fish, my goodness, is so healthy. And typically it's grilled. It's either that or in a soup. One of the most popular dishes for fish is soup. So I think you kind of get an abundance of it. You get a real big seasonal dose of something or other, depending on right now. Melons are everywhere. Oh, my God. So full of minerals and things like that.

Jim Santos 28:38 

One thing I did want to ask you about, since you're on an island with just 10,000, 20,000 people on it, what kind of medical facilities do you have there?

Mary Charlebois 28:47 

Well, Malta in general, the World Health Organization has rated Malta number five in the world.

Jim Santos 28:56 

Wow.

Mary Charlebois 28:57 

And that's only behind, like, Switzerland and places of that type. Gozo itself does have a very big modern hospital and lots of pharmacies. And then there are many doctors. Kevin and I have already found a doctor, Dr. Teddy. We love him. He's an older guy. He's a private doctor because we are not yet able to participate in the state health plan, which is free. But Dr. Teddy's office visit is €20, right, so he's a great guy. But we have a very modern hospital here, and they do pretty typical things. 

Now, on Malta, I don't know how many hospitals are there, but there's a huge medical university with a teaching hospital. It's enormous. And people come from all over Europe to attend the medical school here, and they do lots of more complex things. I've only been by it on the bus. I have been inside the hospital here on Gozo and seen the operation. We had Kevin, one of his prescriptions that he takes regularly, wasn't available at the local pharmacy, so we had to go to the hospital to get it filled, which, of course, they were able to do.

Boy, talk about that. Prescription drugs here, we almost feel like they're free. They're so inexpensive. I only take one prescription drug, which it wasn't expensive in the US. It cost me about $40 a month. It's $3.22 a month here. And same for Kevin and his prescriptions. It's amazing.

Jim Santos 31:06 

Yeah. That's something that expats are consistently surprised of. Just about anywhere they go is how much cheaper prescription drugs are.

Mary Charlebois 31:13 

Well, and there's so many things that you don't need a prescription for. My blood pressure medicine, I just went in and had my prescription bottle from the US. And it's an over the counter thing. Many drugs that would be prescription in the US are over the counter, but healthcare here is very good.

Jim Santos 31:35 

As you probably know, most expats take one to two years before they feel like they've actually adapted to their new surroundings. You haven't quite been there a year yet, right? It's about eight months or so. Where do you think that you are in the process?

Mary Charlebois 31:52 

I'm fully integrated personally, but one, I had spent quite a bit of time here before in different times of year and in different locations. And two, I'm a very adaptable person. Kevin also, I think, for him, he just left four days ago to return to California, and he had been here for three months. And I knew when he got here he was going to be okay. His first go around. I worried about him. 

There's a lot of funny little things about living here. But, for example, I think you've probably experienced this. Most shops closed from noon till four, and a lot of restaurants close in the afternoon, so you're not going to have a late lunch. One of our favorite things to do, he had trouble. He's a big guy and I'm a big gal, but he's a very tall man. He's 6’3”. And the personal space that we're accustomed to doesn't exist here.

Jim Santos 33:05 

Right.

Mary Charlebois 33:07 

I know that was a little bit hard for him, but boy, when he came back, not only, oh, the clothing, that was the other thing. He could not get rid of this Northern California, I need to have a long sleeve shirt and vest on thing, but boy. When he came back, first thing we did was go buy him sandals, something I never thought he would wear. And he put on shorts and t-shirts and if he wanted to dress up, he put on shorts and a button up shirt.

Jim Santos 33:39 

Do you still feel like you're living the dream on Gozo?

Mary Charlebois 33:43 

Oh, absolutely. Every day when I get up in the morning, and our bedroom is in the back of the flat, I walk through—because we've got 2400 sqft here. It's a big place—and I go out on the terrace and I have my gratitude prayer because I feel I'm very lucky to be here.

Jim Santos 34:10 

We've been talking with Mary Charlebois, author of ‘A New Life in an Old World: Living the Dream on Gozo’ in the July 2023 edition of International Living magazine. Mary, I hope you and Kevin enjoy your lives on Gozo for many years to come. And thanks again for taking the time to talk with us on Bigger, Better World.

Mary Charlebois 34:28 

It was my pleasure.

Jim Santos 34:40 

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