Just Another Day

This morning has been just another morning. I woke up at 6am to go downstairs to flip the breaker on for the water pump, threw a load of laundry in the washer, and went back to bed. Around 7, I got up, dressed, turned the water heater for the shower on, and headed out for a run. As usual, I made my way up towards the castle ruins. I said good morning to the few people I passed and was actually thinking about baking brownies for my students after Ramazan ends when I came across three white-haired men out for a walk.

I slowed a bit and moved over when one of them stopped me. Not quite sure what was going on, I said good morning in Albanian and made to move around them when the man in front thrust a stick into my hand. I often see people walking with handmade walking sticks. Mostly these sticks are carried to deter the street dogs although, to be honest, I haven't seen many strays and the ones that have crossed my path skitter off fairly quickly or are too busy eating garbage to notice me. However, not wanting to be rude, I accepted the gift of stick, thanked them, and continued on my way.

Not too long after, I ran into the group of folk I have been hiking with on the weekend. I explained the gift of stick and the English-speaking guy who works for UNMIK (the UN Mission in Kosovo) said that he knew the three men. These men were Albanian shepherds and it was not uncommon for shepards to make walking sticks as a way to pass the time while tending sheep. He examined my new stick (about the width of a broom stick and maybe 3 feet in length) and exclaimed it was made from a hazlenut tree and was quite a nice stick.

I brought my stick home, placed it by the front door, and will happily take it with me walking knowing that it was a well-intentioned gift from a complete stranger.

As for the rest of my morning, the laundry was finished washing by the time I arrived back home. It takes nearly 2 hours for a load to complete....why so long, I'm not sure. The washer is a front-loading model and doesn't fill with water although by the time the complete wash cycle is completed, my clothes are still quite wet. The spin cycle doesn't quite manage to squeeze out all possible water from my clothes, but things dry within a day or two, even jeans. I haven't seen any laundromats yet. I like to dry my t-shirts every few washings to try to keep the necks from stretching out too badly.

And to complete my morning, I'm now heading off to classes.