Lua & Dan
Jan. 8th, 2016
Albany, NY
WEDDING
Português
English
The Meeting
While still in Brazil, Lua found Dan online via a dating website she heard about from a friend. She was looking for Americans that she could practice her English with. He wanted to meet someone nice and with the same interests, who he could really get along with.
Dan was online at the same time Lua was filling in the "search preferences": 21-30 years old [same age group] and lived in New York [state she expected to live in her exchange program as an Au Pair]. Voila! He was one of the first profiles: a gorgeous, dancer, who enjoys running, cooking and loves movies! Lua did not hesitate to try a first contact. After all, that boy seemed to be cool.
The first "Hi" was answered and the conversation flowed naturally. Dan told Lua that he had a friend who had been Au Pair, like Lua was intending to be, and who was married to his friend. With the help of Google Translator, which Lua had been using to help subsidize her English, she gave her first slip in English: "Really Are we married?" What she meant to ask was whether Dan's friends were actually married. Today, this generates quite a few laughs.
And so, the two continued to talk only by messaging for nearly a month until the first Skype on July 05, 2013. Lua was so nervous that she hung up on the first call as soon as Dan said "Hi". He called again and she asked him to be patient with her English. That first "Hi" turned into three hours of conversation which repeated the next day and the next, and whenever they had time available. Before long, they discovered this was more than just an American helping a Brazilian with her English.
Dan wanted to find a way to bring Lua to live near him, but the exchange program did not give her the ability to choose where she want to live. So they waited until she begin to talk with families and the surprise came on the second day she was on the agency's website: a family from Ballston Spa, NY wanted to talk to her. She ran to see how far this city was from Cohoes, where Dan lived...only 25 minutes! It seemed like a dream, or rather... Destiny!
Three weeks later, Lua had the dream match with the family and began preparations for her trip to NY. During this time they took advantage to continute to get to know each other better: they exchanged photos of the cities where they lived, experiences they had, and shared their cultures. Not to mention the numerous videos that they recorded to show a bit of their day-to-day lives. They began a countdown to her arrival, each new day happy as it brought them closer to day 0.
The big day had arrived! Lua was very anxious and excited to start her new experience in another country with her host family and, of course, to finally meet Dan. They already had everything planned: they would dine at a Japanese restaurant in Saratoga Springs. Contrary to what is normal in their cultures, Lua was on time and Dan was delayed. Lua took a table and waited for a few minutes until she finally saw him: a tall, handsome, smiling man, with the most beautiful hands she had ever seen. It was him, Dan!
They could not hide the joy of finally being together. They hardly dropped their hands throughout dinner. They decided after dinner they were going to watch a movie. That's when Lua, with this thought of Brazil, gave her first "gaffe": Lua tried to stop Dan before crossing the street scared he would get hit! You see, in Brazil the cars do not stop for crossing pedestrians. He was quite confused as she held him back from crossing. They laughed a lot about this as they approached his car. That's when Dan said "Lua," she turned, and he kissed her. Lua then asked, "Do you want to be my boyfriend?"
The Proposal
January 25th, 2015 started like any other Sunday. Dan woke up and left the house for work and Lua finished breakfast with her mother who was visiting from Brazil. Lua had an appointment that afternoon for a haircut she had been wanting and Dan had taken the liberty of scheduling that for her at a nice salon.
Upon arriving at the salon and giving her name for the appointment, she saw some smiles and heard some snickers. "Oh, you're Lua! We have you scheduled for a massage for two, two haircuts, and two manicures. Also, I have been instructed to give you this" said the salon manager as he handed her a sealed envelope. Lua and her mother, Sineide, were both confused. Sineide had known what the end result of the day would bring, but was not privy to any of the details of how it would happen.
The envelope revealed what the day would bring, a scavanger hunt. Lua would have to find clues, solve rhyming riddles, complete tasks at each location and ultimately claim her prize. Lua's first clue brought her back home after her spa day where she was instructed to get ready as her ride would pick her up and take her where ever she needed to go.
Later that day a strech limo pulled up outside of the house. It was the first time she had ever been in a limo. Clue number two found at the house brought her to their gym. Her task was to sing the first 60 seconds of a song Dan sent her a link to, out loud, in front of the gym as Sineide recorded it!
Lua solved each riddle and found each clue from Cohoes to Saratoga. They were each hidden, just for her to find, sealed with only her name on the front. Places such as where they first bowled, where they went for their first drive-in movie, where they first went out dancing, and where they had their first kiss. She performed each task, embarrassingly singing each song in front of strangers, taking odd photos, and even dancing on a main street in Saratoga as many people walked by!
Lua's final clue brought her to the place they had their first kiss. The clue was taped to the pole of the light under which it happened. There was another riddle and another clue to be found, or so she thought. This, however, was just to through her off. Dan watched from afar as she completed her final task, to close her eyes and sing a song that meant a lot to them. He approached from behind as she finished her tune, her mother recording the entire time. As she opened her eyes she found him there, down on one knee. Under the same light where that magical kiss happened just 14 months before, Dan asked Lua to spend the rest of her life with him. "Yes!" she exclaimed.