25 hens

A dear old friend (old as in many years of friendship) has brought to my attention something so funny that has turned me into looking like an idiot, going about life with this big smile. I have also started laughing to myself too. Now I know that some people talk to themselves and that isn't exactly healthy, so I wonder where the laughing-to-yourself fits into the healthy/unhealthy scale. My best guess is that it's extremely happy. It has had me laughing for three days now, and no I'm not tired. And I so want to share this with everybody on the street, but I have to be selective because it sounds thoroughly mad. And sad. When you decide you want to buy a house, you usually go to an estate agent. At least that's what I did when I wanted to sell and buy. Of course estate agents aren't stupid in the least. It's their job, and nobody seems to do anything for nothing. Plenty of foreigners are buying property in what is called the South and that's fine, because the South is also mine and I don't mind them one bit. So the usual thing happens; estate agent calls upon the potential buyer and takes them to show them the house, or whatever type of property it is. Seems we are having inflated prices, but let's skip that. Potential buyer gets to see the house, then asks if the price is negotiable. Perfectly normal. Imagine if the estate agent came out with an,' you have got to add 25 hens to the price'. You'd think he was pulling a fast one. But no, it's a dead serious statement, it goes with the price, 25 hens, actual clucking real hens. Because it's a traditional thing in the contract, estate agent explains. How sad it did not happen to me, I would have died laughing. But if it had happened to me I'd have laughed and said, oh well what can you do. It's not so when it happens to foreigners. I am trying to see it happening to people who do not speak the mother tongue. With disastrous consequences. They must think that for a moment we're back in medieval times, or quite simply, that we're hopping mad. It would be enough to put them off Malta for life. It's outrageous fun for me. But sad for the country. And if I didn't know my friend well, I would have thought she was taking the piss. But no, it's dead serious. And so I've kept thinking about it for three days, smiling like a lunatic, wanting to share it with the world but apprehensive that the world might think I'd gone mad. I haven't gone mad yet, it's all true. And if you've seen this girl out on the streets walking in a zig-zag manner, smiling so hard at nothing, well now you know why. It's all about the hens. Pity not about cocks. That would have been an even better smiling situation. One thing though, I haven't been able to touch chicken for three days, lest the chicken I eat is one of those hens which are drawn up in the contract. Yes, hamsa u ghoxrin tigiega. That's exactly it.