Greetings from Washington!

Even if it means living the same day twice,” were the last lines I wrote at the conclusion of the first chapter of this adventure. I’m now in the 30th hour of September 25th, sitting across from the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill.

I have yet to see Washington in the daylight, as we arrived at 7:00 PM local time. Still, the beers were good and reasonably priced. Perhaps it was the exhaustion, or the fact that I’d spent over ten hours in the air without sleep, but the beer tasted richer, like a gesture of hospitality after a long journey.

Washington by night was beautiful.

The time difference with Kosovo is six hours, so I didn’t get to speak much with the kids—just enough to let them know I’d arrived. My youngest thought I’d be back soon, saying, “Come back with me.”

As I strolled through Washington, what struck me was the lack of visible political intensity. Even though the country is in the midst of an election campaign, I didn’t see a single political poster, unlike in Kosovo, where the streets would be lined with them. In fact, I only spotted one poster, urging people to vote, but nothing more.

And I almost forgot: earlier today, as we flew from Pristina to Vienna, the sky was painted pink—a stunning sunrise that made the initial part of the journey feel easier, like a good omen for the long day ahead.

Yet despite the beauty of that morning, reality hit soon after: ten sleepless hours over the Atlantic. I watched two films: A Million Minutes of Good Things and A Man Called Otto—probably the best films I’ve seen in a while.

I managed to read only a little of Elena Ferrante’s book; it was impossible to concentrate with so many people talking around me. Even my usual fear of heights, which tends to bother me, didn’t trouble me this time—I made it through, seated in the middle.

Tomorrow, we visit the U.S. Congress, the very place where decisions have been made that changed history, including the history of my own country.