Written by Christopher Matetich
This past week was a series of new experiences for the team. While the schedule was similar to previous ones, we no longer had Mary Durfee with us to guide our actions. It was up to us to go to meetings, work on projects, and make new contacts. This situation put a whole new perspective on the word “teamwork” as all of us had to depend upon each other even more than before.
The first test of this was the week’s meetings. We met with Edward Duca to talk about Think Magazine, Mario Cassar to find more projects around the university, and the other Pavlis teams at home to talk about a cooperative project opportunity with the University of Malta via video chat. All of these meetings went well. In particular, the video chat back home turned out to be very helpful. We were very excited to hear that the other teams were interested in the Desalinization design shown to us by Professor Ghirlando and Dr. Refalo.
There were some confusing moments getting around with the busses (thank goodness for cell phones with data). All things considered though, this aspect of the week saw the least amount of hiccups. We stuck together, arrived early, and always left any tension from the ride at the door. I’ve always been impressed with this team’s ability to be professional in spite of whatever else life throws at us, and our performance this week has added merit to that.
Another big test for the team was in the projects we needed to do this week without Mary’s guidance. Shelby, Joe, and Rachel all had jobs to go to this week on a fairly regular basis. It was amazing to see how much a normal routine this became. It was almost like being at home and seeing people on regular work schedules. I guess this “routine” was not something I expected to find on this trip. That being said, it has proved to be beneficial to all parties involved, so I am not complaining at all.
The rest of the team had another task at hand; creating a catapult demonstration for the Cottonera Centre. The nature of this project was to further engage the students with an exciting last demonstration that was not only fun, but also showed the fundamentals of mechanical motion and moving object trajectory. Normally, such a project would have been relatively easy to accomplish as well. Given our location, short time frame, and limited budget, this became a huge undertaking. Alex W, Alex U, and I had to find stores that had the supplies we needed, which was a chore as things like rubber bands are not in high demand here. We also had to figure out bus schedules that would take us, and the supplies, to and from these stores without much trouble. Of all these tasks, transportation turned out to be the greater challenge. In one instance, I took the three of us on the wrong bus route meaning we had to walk half of the way. In another, Alex W and I took the supplies on a bus route that turned out to be a scenic view of Dingli Cliffs. Moral of these stories, make sure to double check your bus routes, and always see which direction the bus is headed.
In spite of all this, I was once again astonished to see my team members' performance. With an incredible amount of patience, communication, and hard work, we have continued to produce quality work centered on what our country contacts have asked of us. The cooperative work goes on as usual, and the demonstration projects were completed. Being on this team is not always the easiest task. It is, however, exceptionally inspiring to see the amount of work being put into our projects here.
The team has also found a little time to bond socially in addition to professionally. The best example I can think of from this last week was our trip to the Hard Rock Café. It was on a day that all of us had come back from some sort of project. Work, searching for supplies, and being away from home was taking a slight toil on us all. On the spur of the moment, Shelby looked at us all and said, “Let’s go to the Hard Rock Café!” The team rallied, and we all got up to go. The trip consisted of yet another confusing bus ride, delicious burgers, talk about what we missed about home, and talk about the fun stuff here. It was exceptionally helpful to have that “taste” of home, as well as a moment to remember that our time here was limited; we need to make the most of it. Our dynamic changed a little after that, and we seemed to gather more momentum. I feel like I can count on this team to keep me and others moving forward.
So, yet another week has gone by here in Malta. The project, culture, and teamwork experience have made the days fly by. Hard to believe we will be finished in a couple weeks. I do not know what these next two weeks will have in store for us. I do know that with hard work, teamwork, and a little prayer here and there, we will be just fine. Time to continue to learn to lead.
This past week was a series of new experiences for the team. While the schedule was similar to previous ones, we no longer had Mary Durfee with us to guide our actions. It was up to us to go to meetings, work on projects, and make new contacts. This situation put a whole new perspective on the word “teamwork” as all of us had to depend upon each other even more than before.
The first test of this was the week’s meetings. We met with Edward Duca to talk about Think Magazine, Mario Cassar to find more projects around the university, and the other Pavlis teams at home to talk about a cooperative project opportunity with the University of Malta via video chat. All of these meetings went well. In particular, the video chat back home turned out to be very helpful. We were very excited to hear that the other teams were interested in the Desalinization design shown to us by Professor Ghirlando and Dr. Refalo.
There were some confusing moments getting around with the busses (thank goodness for cell phones with data). All things considered though, this aspect of the week saw the least amount of hiccups. We stuck together, arrived early, and always left any tension from the ride at the door. I’ve always been impressed with this team’s ability to be professional in spite of whatever else life throws at us, and our performance this week has added merit to that.
Another big test for the team was in the projects we needed to do this week without Mary’s guidance. Shelby, Joe, and Rachel all had jobs to go to this week on a fairly regular basis. It was amazing to see how much a normal routine this became. It was almost like being at home and seeing people on regular work schedules. I guess this “routine” was not something I expected to find on this trip. That being said, it has proved to be beneficial to all parties involved, so I am not complaining at all.
The rest of the team had another task at hand; creating a catapult demonstration for the Cottonera Centre. The nature of this project was to further engage the students with an exciting last demonstration that was not only fun, but also showed the fundamentals of mechanical motion and moving object trajectory. Normally, such a project would have been relatively easy to accomplish as well. Given our location, short time frame, and limited budget, this became a huge undertaking. Alex W, Alex U, and I had to find stores that had the supplies we needed, which was a chore as things like rubber bands are not in high demand here. We also had to figure out bus schedules that would take us, and the supplies, to and from these stores without much trouble. Of all these tasks, transportation turned out to be the greater challenge. In one instance, I took the three of us on the wrong bus route meaning we had to walk half of the way. In another, Alex W and I took the supplies on a bus route that turned out to be a scenic view of Dingli Cliffs. Moral of these stories, make sure to double check your bus routes, and always see which direction the bus is headed.
In spite of all this, I was once again astonished to see my team members' performance. With an incredible amount of patience, communication, and hard work, we have continued to produce quality work centered on what our country contacts have asked of us. The cooperative work goes on as usual, and the demonstration projects were completed. Being on this team is not always the easiest task. It is, however, exceptionally inspiring to see the amount of work being put into our projects here.
The team has also found a little time to bond socially in addition to professionally. The best example I can think of from this last week was our trip to the Hard Rock Café. It was on a day that all of us had come back from some sort of project. Work, searching for supplies, and being away from home was taking a slight toil on us all. On the spur of the moment, Shelby looked at us all and said, “Let’s go to the Hard Rock Café!” The team rallied, and we all got up to go. The trip consisted of yet another confusing bus ride, delicious burgers, talk about what we missed about home, and talk about the fun stuff here. It was exceptionally helpful to have that “taste” of home, as well as a moment to remember that our time here was limited; we need to make the most of it. Our dynamic changed a little after that, and we seemed to gather more momentum. I feel like I can count on this team to keep me and others moving forward.
So, yet another week has gone by here in Malta. The project, culture, and teamwork experience have made the days fly by. Hard to believe we will be finished in a couple weeks. I do not know what these next two weeks will have in store for us. I do know that with hard work, teamwork, and a little prayer here and there, we will be just fine. Time to continue to learn to lead.