The People

How can you explain the Maltese?  They're not Italian, but they sound--and some may look--Italian.  Their language isn't Arabic, but many of their words are from the Arabic language.

Last summer, I was in a public bathroom in Malta (not a reason to come to Malta).  There was another woman (Maltese) in one of the stalls, and we had both done our business.  We each discovered, too late, of course, that there was no toilet paper.  So we started an amiable conversation.   

"Do you have any?" 

"No!  Do you?"

"What are we going to do?  I can't come out."

Another woman entered the bathroom (also Maltese) and overheard our conversation, which had now risen to the decibel level of a plane taking off.   She left, said she'd be back, and returned with a box of tissues which she distributed under the stalls to very greedy hands.  The other woman blessed her in Maltese--and so did I--saying she had a good heart.

Those are the Maltese.

Here's another one.