Making it in Malta

Mariane St-Maurice of New York's Baruch College has returned from a nine-week long internship in 'exotic' Malta. She says that her internship at TMIS has steered her in the right direction. From The Ticker:

Walking home one night a few weeks ago, I looked up to the sky and realized that I could see stars. A rather unusual sight in New York, I exclaimed to my friend, "They have stars here!" Despite having made a fool of myself, this was one more thing that has made this summer one of my greatest...Living in another country has taught me how differently people live and how rushed our New York lifestyle really is. In Malta, when I walk down streets, beaches, cafes and restaurants, I often catch myself dodging people like I would in Manhattan. Here, no one else does this.

The culture in Malta is also very different. The majority of the population is Catholic as seen through hidden statues of saints on house walls and tunnels. In addition, both abortion and divorce are illegal here, the latter of which I had never even fathomed back in the States.

I spend my days writing in the office, surrounded by other journalists who run in and out of the small newsroom to attend press conferences or go to interviews. Every week, I am given a set of stories to work on. Most of them are features, which means that although I have more time to work on them, they involve interviews and research. I make my own schedule for most days, in the sense that I have deadlines to meet, and must plan accordingly..

In fact, I have been fortunate to have extremely helpful colleagues and on my very first day I attended a press conference by the Minister of Environment. There was also a time when I sat in on a special meeting of the United Nations and another where I ran around the island with a photographer who had received word that a dead body had been found at sea.

Of course, one must not forget the many coffee breaks taken, usually in groups, by the journalists. At first, I thought these were actual breaks, but soon found that even then, important issues are discussed. I have learned many things about the country and its residents, mainly about politics and the problem of illegal immigrants, by sitting around with my co-workers.