Heißer Norden tagesspiegel.de - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from tagesspiegel.de Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
David Arrigo looks at cameos of potted history with deeply-rooted Malta connections through the extraordinary lives of the Malta-born Bell brothers.
When Malta became a Crown colony in 1814, early British colonialists left their mark by founding businesses, some of which are still operating today.
Charlotte Bell née Williams, Captain John Bell s second wife.
John Bell, captain of the brigantine called The Sisters, was firstly married to Suzanna Williams in 1812, then to her sister, Charlotte, in 1925. Their daughter, Susan Mary, was born in Bristol and, after coming to Malta, John Thomas and Thomas William Bell were born in 1815 and 1819.
The three children were educated at the Missionary School in Sliema, known as the ‘Institution’. Here, they learnt French, Arabic and Maltese, the knowledge of which took them away from the island ‒ the boys were employed as interpreters to Maltese workmen engaged on overseas missions.
Eager to learn more about Mayan culture and history, my friend Eddie Deleon arranged a meeting with his friend Joel, a practicing Maya from Guatemala, at Ix Restaurant (pronounced eesh) on a Sunday afternoon.
Eddie is a Guatemalan born photographer who now lives in Brooklyn. I met Eddie through my friend Juan Carlos Pinto, a Brooklyn based artist, who is also from Guatemala.
Ix’s founder and principal chef, Jorge Cárdenas, opened the restaurant in November 2017.
Interestingly, Ix takes its name from Mayan astrology. Jorge’s nahual, or sign, is the ix, a jaguar. We sat at the table in front of the mural which depicts a jaguar in a rainbow-colored tropical forest background with a Mayan temple looming in the background. Perhaps to make us more comfortable, this jaguar’s expression is more meditative than threatening.