| Important Dates |
First Date: December 26, 2004
Engagement: August 19, 2006
Wedding: October 10, 2008
|
|
| About Us |
Ana Maria Malpartida "Ana Marimba", now 25, was born and raised in Lima, Peru. She attended the University of Lima for 2 years and then decided to move to Florida in 2004 pursuing her journalism career. After doing freelance for different publications, she graduated in 2007 from the University of Florida with a bachelors in Journalism and a German minor. Right after that, she got a job in NYC working for an online media company which put her career goals in perspective. Her dream has always been to become a writer and one day hit it big with a bestseller, so she can buy Sebastian a hacienda in Andalucia and drink sangria all day long. Currently, she spends her days learning German and working on a malicious plan to conquer Switzerland.
Sebastian Waldmeier "Sebel", 30 years old, youngest brother to a sister and a brother, was born and raised in Winterthur, Switzerland. While preparing for the baccalaureat, he spent an exchange year in Honduras, Central America, which opened the doors to and the eyes for Latin America(ns). His personal discovery of this interesting new world led him to study political sciences, which he finished with a Master thesis in 2004. Right after university, he started working for a pharmaceutical company, and has so ever since. An opportunity within this company took him to the US in 2007, where he worked for one year, to come back to Switzerland to follow the career path further. His biggest dream is for him and Ana Maria to travel around the world, working in different places, and wait for Ana Maria to write that bestseller so she can buy him a hacienda in Andalucia, or also on Barbados. He's not too picky about that.
|
|
 |
| How We Met |
Ana Maria trembled behind the wheel as she drove to the Miami International Airport. She wondered if her Internet friend would find her attractive. The next 20 minutes were all a blur.
Anxious, AM, then 22, bit her nails as she waited for Sebastian Waldmeier, the then 26-year-old man she had met on hi5.com, a social networking Web site. Fifteen hours after leaving his home in Switzerland, Sebastian got off the plane with one question on his mind, "What if she is not there, or what if she misrepresented herself over the web?"
From the distance, they spotted each other. He was taller than she expected, and she was shorter, but she fit perfectly in his embrace.
Their online relationship had begun six months earlier, when Sebastian took a break from his master's thesis to roam around hi5. He clicked his way to AM's profile and sent her a message.
In the following months, they e-mailed, instant messaged and called each other. They talked for about three hours each day on their computers or phones.
They both knew about the distance between the United States and Switzerland - a whole ocean and four countries. And they knew about their different cultural backgrounds.
Sebastian traveled to the United States for a second time in spring 2005. Their relationship was going well, and in the summer of that year, AM traveled to Switzerland to meet Sebastian's family.
After two-and-a-half years of a long-distance relationship and a fortune spent on plane tickets, both were tired of not seeing each other on a daily basis.
On August 19, 2006 , Sebastian took AM back to his apartment so they could change their wardrobe after a fancy dinner. As she walked up the stairs to the third-floor apartment, she saw handmade paper flowers hanging from the ceiling and in the fence along the stairway. Candles adorned the pathway all the way to Sebastian's door. Candles illuminated the room, and watermelon boats rested everywhere. In the center of the living room, a small table held a serving tray cover. Inside lay a watermelon. Trembling, she lifted the top off the watermelon, discovering an engagement ring.
The next morning, AM sat on the plane, caressing the unfamiliar object in her finger, hoping not to wake up from a sweet dream. The rest is history.....
(By Alejandra Cancino)
|
|
