I met my fiancé on Friday April 16th, 2010. Two of my friends, Aalap and Moustafa, introduced me to Fanny, whom they had met the week before. She had a very beautiful face and a wonderful smile – I immediately felt very attracted to her. I invited her to come with me to the horse track the next day, and I was quite surprised when she agreed and gave me her phone number!
The next day we talked quite a bit and got to know one another. I found out that we had many things in common: we have similar career paths (I’m a medical student, she is a veterinarian) and we both come from well-educated, loving families. I especially liked to hear that she eats healthfully and doesn’t smoke or drink, because health is very important to me. She later told me she was very happy to learn that I am honest and different from most men.
Our relationship was very serious from the beginning and we agreed to an exclusive relationship a few weeks later. We have had many wonderful moments together since then. We travelled to Florida to attend my cousin’s wedding and to visit my father. Fanny celebrated her first Halloween and Thanksgiving with my family and friends—she was very excited to wear a costume and carve pumpkins! Fanny attended a conference to watch me give a short research lecture. We also spent countless time together having dinner, playing games with my family, watching movies and becoming close companions.
Fanny and I were very sad when she left to go back to Brazil (late November); we wept because we were scared of losing each other and we didn’t want our time together to end. But now that she is in Brazil we have found that although we miss each other dearly, we are able to maintain a healthy relationship by talking through webcam using Skype everyday (as long as 3 hours at a time!).
Fanny and I first talked about spending our lives together at my cousin’s wedding. We both loved the idea but we wanted to spend more time together to be sure. We discussed it several times over the next few months, and after Fanny returned to Brazil we both became certain we wanted to marry. On December 13th we wrote and exchanged letters declaring our intention to marry (to use for the K1 visa application). We consider this date and these letters to signify that we are officially engaged, and we plan to have a ceremonial engagement proposal and party when I visit Fanny in Brazil in March 2011.
