Day Seven -- When we woke up this morning the sky was a brilliant blue and it looked like it was going to be a great, sunny day. That all changed before we got too far from Durres though! But I digress… Last night was probably my worst night of sleep yet. About 2 am one of our party decided it was time to go to the bathroom. He was on the bunk next to mine ( both of us on the top bunks) so he used mine to brace himself as he hopped down to the floor. That roused me from a decent sleep, then when he went into the bathroom, which like most Albanian bathrooms had a glass door, he flipped on the light - right next to my head! Now I was awake! He finished in there then went back to sleep and about 4 am I was awakened by his snoring. All of this is highly unusual for me, because as my wife can verify, I normally sleep like a rock! Nothing wakes me up! Well, sometime around 5:20 or so the rooster outside our window decided it was time to join the chorus, so it was snoring and rooster crowing for the next 45 minutes or so. The alarm went off about 6:30. Like I said, not my best night of sleep.
After a coffee and our customary banana and bread breakfast, we set off from Plepa - the big circle just south of Durres. My knee started hurting immediately and I figured it would settle down a bit once it warmed itself up. It did eventually stop hurting so much as the Advil began to work and as we warmed up, but the temperature started to drop and the clouds rolled in and we walked through a few sprinkles. Thankfully it never came a full blown shower, but it did get quite a bit cooler. AS we were walking down the lower end of the Durres strip, we were waved over by a couple of policemen. They asked us if we were with the "march of hope" and if there were more of us. We told them no and also how glad we were that they knew of us and were watching for us. The deputy interior minister, who is also responsible for anti-trafficking efforts in the country, had said she would send out a notice to all of the Police regions but this was the first sign we had seen of it having been done. So, for the rest of the time we were walking, we have a couple of police officers leapfrogging us. They were very nice, acted interested in what we were doing and we were very appreciative!
As we walked the wind started to pick up and the rain stayed away, so we were at least thankful for that. We stopped for lunch and I discovered that I had gained some new blisters - one large one on the side of my right heel, and another two smaller ones under my big toe. I think it is the socks I have been wearing today, since they were the same socks I wore when I got my other, more serious blisters early in the walk. Oh well, what can you do? It is only pain, right? I guess I have lost some more weakness today! :-)
I am now sitting in a wonderful room at the headquarters of the Operation Mobilisation team in Lushnje - our home for the next three nights. They have made us very comfortable and it is such a blessing. Many thanks to the team here for their graciousness in allowing us to stay here. I am confident that I will sleep better tonight!
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