Actually, I have a friend whose parents are Maltese. They all live here, but visit Malta every other summer. I've seen beautiful pictures - the city architecture is old and the streets are narrow, but everything looks clean and beautiful. The countryside reminds me of pictures of Sicily and some parts of Greece. It's one of the two places in Europe that I really long to visit (the other one is Poland).
And to add to all of this, all the Maltese families I've met that have immigrated to the US are very religious and active in the church (Roman Catholic) and in charity, love this country, and are pro-military.
Thank you for the input. It's very interesting.