My New Life in Malta

As expected, today’s post is all about the euro… again.

Yesterday afternoon I went out to the supermarket. I needed to buy one item for dinner, and figured it was a chance to try out the new currency on its first business day (as 1^st January was a public holiday and virtually all stores were closed).

I had a €50 note from when I last went to the European mainland, which I had kept specifically for €-day. I figured there was no point exchanging it back if the changeover was coming soon. However, I only had €2 worth of food in my shopping basket, so I went around the aisles and tried to get a few non-perishable staples so that I had enough to merit handing over a large denomination to the cashier. I then realised that the ATM’s are giving out €10 and €20 notes, and wondered if €50 would be considered too large.

As I approached the cash points, I heard that before announcing the total, the cashiers were asking “ewro jew Maltin?” (“euro or Maltese liri?”) in order to see with what currency the customer was going to pay. The woman in front of me had a lot of trouble coming up with the right combination of coins and confused the liri total with the euro total. However, nobody was rushing anyone. There was a certain air of camaraderie in the air, with everyone getting used to the coins. As I said last year, it is like being on holiday in another country and not being familiar with the money, except that in this case it is as if the entire Maltese population is on the trip with you. I noted out loud that “ikollok paċenzja llum” (“you need patience today”) and the woman in front of me agreed with an apologetic smile.

When it was my turn to pay, my total came up to €9 and I shyly handed over my €50. The cashier ran it through a little anti-counterfeit device FIVE times. Once in every direction, front and back, and once more just to be sure. It makes sense, since this would be a perfect time for people to pass on fake notes. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago a couple was caught in Sliema paying with fake euro notes, and later the police found thousands of them in their flat. Although even with the liri I had noticed that they always checked every single note at the supermarket to make sure it was real.

I was handed my change slowly, one note and coin at a time. Each one was pointed out individually. Then my total and change where repeated. The cashier spoke like she was teaching a child, not condescendingly at all but rather very educational.

On the way home I stopped at a small food store where I often chat with the cashier. Her register was still issuing receipts in liri and she had to do the conversions to euro with a calculator. This is the same store that waited until the very last day before dual-display was mandatory to label their items in both currencies, so I was not surprised. I did not want to burden such a small shop so I used coins. It was like a game, figuring out what the best combination was. She informed me that “99.9% of people are paying in liri” which made sense since everyone is trying to get rid of them. I asked if this was a headache for her but she said she would get used to it. Then she said she was well-stocked with euros, and proceeded to open the register and show me. Considering the unusually high number of hold-ups in recent weeks (which I attribute directly to the large amounts of cash being distributed as a result of the changeover) that was not very prudent.

And on a last dorky note, I paid her with a combination of Italian, French and German coins left over from the above-mentioned trip, thereby putting them into Maltese circulation. I wonder when will be the first time that I receive a non-Maltese coin as change.

Well, it happened. The euro is here. In only three-and-a-half years Malta has joined the European Union, joined Schengen (abolished borders with most European countries) and adopted the European currency. Malta is now completely integrated into the EU.

We spent new year's eve at a friend's house, alternating between watching the television coverage and looking at the fireworks out the window. At 11:00pm, I suggested we try to watch live coverage of Cyprus, since due to the time zone difference they were adopting the euro one hour before Malta. We tried all the different channels but could find nothing. Eventually we found a brief mention of it on France 24. The caption across the screen read CYPRUS ADOPS THE EURO but all the footage was of Malta!!

Then, as midnight approached there was a laser show projected onto the fortified walls of Valletta. First a countdown, and then the euro symbol projected onto a map of the Maltese Islands. We cheered and celebrated, greeting one another amongst the friends present. Then we turned our attention back to the TV. The Prime Minister of Malta was supposed to be the first person to withdraw euros at an ATM. We watched as he went through the transaction... and the machine did not work! Then he tried again... and once more it did not work! He turned white in shock and embarrassment. We all had a good laugh. Eventually he was taken round the corner to another ATM (which I assume was tested first) and eventually the public relations opportunity was successful.

On the way home, M and I tried to stop at an ATM but it was not working. Between 10:00pm and 12:00am all of them were shut down, and it was meant to take several hours until they gradually went back online throughout the day. We went back in the morning, and I took a little video of M withdrawing euros from a Maltese ATM. He switched back and forth between delight and embarrassment, as strangers were looking on.

However, it will not really feel like the euro is here until I actually use it. As yesterday was a public holiday all the shops were closed, and so far today I have not needed to buy anything! I will try to think of some small thing I can purchase so I can go out and experience the euro.

In honour of the new currency, I tried something new. I did a bit of a picture blog entry about the euro. However I do not want to post it here because it links to personal information. So if you want to see my euro collage, let me know and I will e-mail you the link.