I woke up a bit before 4am to go to the bathroom. After returning from the toilet I was lying in bed awake and the room started to shake. I immediately panicked-- another earthquake. I started shaking Mark (I'm aware of the irony here) and started saying his name loudly. He finally woke up and scrambled out of bed so fast he nearly fell over. We threw on shoes and raced out the door (all I could grab were my keys!) I looked and saw that Mark didn't have pants on, and while I'm used to this sight, I know the rest of Albania is not. I yelled for him to get his pants. He was so disoriented from being abruptly woken up coupled with the shaking that he was not at his best and brightest. The shaking was still happening as we took the stairs two at a time, Mark with his pants dangling over his shoulder. We made it outside into the cold night air and there were dozens of people, all in different types of pajamas, anxiously milling about. I made sure the first thing Mark did was put his pants on (call me crazy but I wouldn't run outside without pants, even during an earthquake) We sat on the stoop as cars started racing up our hill. Everyone was evacuating, but where to? This same thing happened the last time there was a quake. Mark and I made a plan to grab the things we needed as quickly as we could and then head to the park. We ran back in, quickly scoured the apartment for coats, water bottles and phones, and then left for the park. The night air was cold but the streets were buzzing with activity. So many people were wandering around, trying to figure out what to do outside of their apartments. Mark and I sat in the park for close to 45 minutes before we went back to the apartment.
We both laid in bed (socks, pants and sweatshirts were a required sleeping item this time around) but didn't sleep. It was near 5am. I got up around 630 to get ready for school and was bombarded with messages from colleagues. "Are you safe? Will there be school today? What if there's another quake?" I finally got the news that school had been cancelled at 710, and rushed to inform all of my coworkers. Unfortunately another quake took place soon after, this one more rolly than shaky. Mark and I left the apartment and headed to Tony's, one of our favorite American spots for breakfast. Here we both enjoyed hearty breakfasts while we watched the news of the devastation that took place in Durres and Thumane. We learned that the magnitude of the quake was 6.4, the strongest and deadliest to hit Albania in almost 40 years. Collapsed buildings killed more than 30 and left even more missing and unaccounted for. Rescue workers came from Serbia and Kosovo (which is in and of itself a potential natural disaster because these two countries hate one another), along with Italy and Turkey. However, rescue efforts were complicated because of continued after shocks that rolled through during the day on Tuesday and Wednesday. After breakfast I ran some errands. I then met Mark at his office to do some work on the computer (better to be in a building with multiple people than in my apartment building alone, right?) I met my coworker, Erin, for lunch and then we did some exploring of Tirana by foot. We found an amazing flower shop with all the feels and scents, a New York bagel shop that isn't amazing but will definitely curb the craving, and a vintage secondhand shop. The owner of the vintage shop told us about going to school for art. During her years of schooling the school chose the art domain for students, so she had been placed into sculpting. She hated it and quickly took up photography in her spare time. She visited one of the camps that was hosting kosovar refugees and came upon a little girl, not more than 3 or 4, who was getting her head shaved. She followed the little girl as she moved about the camp, capturing her innocence through photos. One of these photos is hanging in her shop today. On another wall is what looks to be a clothing magazine cover, however something is off. The owner explained to us that she flipped fashion on its head when she shot this cover using beggars from the street as models for the clothes. I walked away feeling better for having connected with this woman today. A group of us, still not wanting to face the reality of having to go home for the night, met for dinner to celebrate one of my coworkers birthdays.
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