Summary

In Chapter 10, Bekim remembered the annual 2,000 mile bus trip his family took to Kosovo. They stayed with his mother’s family, who wanted her and the children to leave Finland permanently. In “1980-1983: The Alchemy of a Nation,” Emine and Bajran had several children. Bajran’s parents died and the family moved into an apartment in Prishtina. The new government was anti-Albanian, however, and Bajran ended up losing his job and their apartment was vandalized. They decided to move to Finland because they were afraid for their lives. In “1993: Above the Balkan Sky,” the family flew to Finland and settled into a tiny room in a building full of immigrants. In “1994: The Town,” Bajran refused to get a job in a factory because he thought it was beneath him. He spent all his time learning Finnish and hanging around his new friends...