August 1: Day 3
As 9:00am approached, we were already lost as we drove through the chaos that is the streets of Pawtucket, RI. We stopped in the parking lot of a cemetery for Palkyi, Ngawang, and Palden la to give phone interviews, which will be broadcast in Tibet, by Voice of America. A few minutes past 9:00, by the grace of Gerry's intuition, we found the exact spot where we left off yesterday. Soon after we began walking, Sonam, Mingmar, and Palden-la were interviewed by Radio Free Asia.
Today's walk was a bit precarious because there was no shoulder on Route 1 for the first few miles. Palden la, however, seemed to have no difficulty walking. In fact, it was hard for us to keep up with him, especially when he would take off running with a huge grin on his face! (Must be the New Balance sneakers... Can we get an advertising campaign with them??) Twenty-two walkers participated today.
Lunch was a special treat today as the “House of Tibet Kitchen” in Boston provided a delectable feast, which we enjoyed next to a pond in a local park as we enviously eyed the community swimming pool at the other end of the park. After lunch, as the sun began to heat things up, new blisters and pulled muscles started acting up among many walkers as we followed a confusing route through Pawtucket. Close to 5:00pm we reached downtown Providence where a photographer from the Providence Journal was waiting for us. As we circled the local farmers' market for him, a cameraman from the local Channel 12 Fox News Television Station happened to stumble upon us, and we had to keep walking despite the fact that we had already clocked our scheduled 15 miles for the day. (Although we have some reason to suspect that it was more like 16 or 17 miles since the route creators were not very accurate for this part of the walk....) We finished walking 5:15pm.
Our potluck and presentation was scheduled for 6:00pm at the Beneficent Congregational Church in Providence, so there was not much time to recuperate as we set-up and cooked. Around 15 locals attended and shared dinner with us before listening to speeches by Palden la, Larry and Jigme. Then Palkyi, Sonam, Tseten, Ngodup, and Norbu shared their reasons for walking. Sonam la, for example, mentioned that even though she tells people she is from Tibet when they ask, she feels incomplete as she has never visited on lived in her homeland. The audience was emotionally moved by her open sorrow and the depth of her feelings.
Goodnight Rhode Island!!!
