To celebrate the Kosovo independence, here’s a transcript of one of my earlier posts which was written in Finnish.

Kosovo.

The ice cold bathroom fills up with thick steam as soon as I turn on the shower. It is impossible to adjust the temperature - the water is either too hot or too cold. I soon run out of warm water. I have to rinse my hair with cold water.

Today we get electricity for two hours every four hours. It is always a big surprise when the lights go off, unannounced. Nobody remembers where matches, candles and candlesticks are kept, as if the last time they were needed was sometime last year. Someone finds a small table lamp which is brought in the living room and connected to the inventor. The inventor is a car battery that can produce power just long enough for us to watch a film or for someone to dry their hair. We don’t use flashlights. An aggregate is too dangerous, the gasoline may blow up.

We sleep under three blankets: the radiator in the sleeping room is out of order. An electrician is summoned and the problem is fixed in the morning. The electrician is offered a glass of raki.

We have café macchiato, fresh lemonade made of real lemons, two chocolate bombits-pastries and one pudding cake. The cakes are beautiful like jewels.

The air smells of smoke. Most houses burn wood for heating. In front of a qepaptore we are surrounded by the smell of roasted meat. The aroma of salted roasted peanuts and sunflower seeds lingers further down the street.

At home in Luxembourg. It is grey. Cars are passing each other on the highway and people hurry to work looking serious. We play Kosovo for a couple of more days, drinking tea from small glasses and wearing indoor shoes, as if our floor was freezing cold.