Paula Galinsky
07/13/2020 - 9:01
- Clarín.com
- Society
"Ours is a great movie," says Merceditas Rojo (26) about her love story that won the distance and for March of this year she was going to be sealed with a wedding in Athens, Greece. Her fiancé is named Panteli Peri (31), he is Greek but lives in Switzerland and met him through Tinder in November 2018 when both, without physically crossing, they met in the Puerto Madero area and made a match . The pandemic became the unexpected villain. Merceditas had the wedding dress ready and passage for March 20, the day the mandatory quarantine in Argentina started. Now stranded in the country, she asks for help so that they recognize her bond and let her enter Europe to reunite with her partner .
Destination? Chance? Panteli moved from Chania, on the Island of Crete, Greece, to Zurich, Switzerland. And, for her work, she ended up traveling to Uruguay. One day he took a ferry to visit Buenos Aires and ended up visiting Puerto Madero. It was in November 2018. Merceditas had a work meeting around the levees area, at that time it was part of the marketing area of a Swiss cosmetics firm. They were both single and had Tinder, the app crossed them, they liked each other. He saw that the young woman worked for a company in the country where he was based. She says she loved his smile.
Love in times of pandemic: Merceditas, Pantelli and remote talks.
“When we started talking, he was already going back to Switzerland so we couldn't see each other. But the chat connection was very strong. We had enough in common. We first discovered that we both liked basketball. Talking to him, I noticed that the Greek culture is very similar to ours, ”she says. They went from Tinder to Instagram and then to WhatsApp. Messages and audios every day. Pictures of lunch and dinner, good night greetings.
There was a possibility that Merceditas traveled to Switzerland for her work in January 2019. With that illusion they held the link for three months. But the expected date arrived and the plan changed. "They warned me that they were not going to send me and the world fell apart," he recalls.
"I can't take it anymore, I need to know you. If you agree, I'm going to see you in Argentina, ”wrote the Greek. She did not hesitate. "Come home," was her reply.
Love in times of pandemic: Merceditas and Panteli in Mendoza.
Her friends worried. "Mechi, are you crazy? Look if he wants to kidnap you, ” he says they told him. With her parents, who are from Rada Tilly, Chubut, she whitewashed her chats with the Greek although she lied in the details. "She travels to see me but she stays in a hotel," she assured.
On March 16, 2019, the long-awaited message arrived. "We have landed," the Greek warned him. At that time, she was already in front of Ezeiza's arrivals gate. "I couldn't believe it. For a second, I said to myself: it's a joke, she's still in Switzerland and I'm standing here like a fool. After that, I thought what if she is very short?", She. remembers and laughs.
“I saw it and all the fears went away. He was a hottie, tall and with that smile that I had loved. " "You are so beautiful," he said, and they hugged .
Love in times of pandemic: the couple in Europe.
Having attended a bilingual school and having made an exchange in Ireland were points in favor so that everything flowed and they could communicate well. They lived three weeks in pure love in their Palermo apartment, with weekend trips included. “We went to Mendoza, to the Iguazú Falls and for the end of his stay I took him to Chubut, to meet my parents . An Argentine would have been scared, Panteli was happy ”, he adds.
The detail? That weekend her aunt Pety, who is married to a Greek, was celebrating her 80th birthday with a big party. “Suddenly that boy who lived in Switzerland and who I had matched up with for Tinder was dancing Greek music on my aunt's birthday in Chubut,” she says.
"I saw him dance and I said. Bye, I marry him. And then Pety came and told me something that marked me: ´ The good thing about the Greeks is that they are for life, ´ ”he continues.
Again in Ezeiza they said goodbye. He cried. She told him not to be sad, that they were going to see each other again. “When he arrived in Europe he wrote to me and told me that in two months he was traveling to France for work. The message included a proposal: Shall I send you the ticket and will you come with me? ”
She crossed the ocean and they said "I love you" in France . Within two weeks she had to go back to work. "I arrived on a Sunday and on Monday they kicked me out of the company," he says and remembers that at that moment he regretted not having stayed in Europe.
Love in times of pandemic: Merceditas and Panteli in Giverny, France.
In September, they met again in Greece. “Panteli wanted to introduce me to his mom. And that a Greek wants you to meet her family is a lot. They treated me amazing, they called me cukla, which means doll ”, he relates.
By then, they already started talking about not wanting to continue in a distance relationship. “ He told me that he was leaving everything and moving to Argentina . I didn't think it was the best option and in the end I decided to travel to Europe. In November we met in Switzerland and spent a new year there, in a beautiful place on the border with Italy ”, he adds.
Love in times of pandemic: Merceditas and Panteli in Europe.
She did not have European citizenship and they agreed that the best way to live together in Switzerland was to get married. They put the date, March 28. And she returned to Argentina to get the necessary documentation and meet Panteli in Athens. “My parents and my brother were going to travel, I had already bought the dress and the wedding rings. We had a lounge, the menu, the souvenirs ”, he reviews.
He did everything to get to Greece. “When I saw that Spain had closed and that my flight was via Madrid, I changed the passage. I was going to do Santiago de Chile, London, Athens. But I didn't succeed either ”, he details.
Love in times of pandemic: Merceditas and Panteli in Europe.
“The pandemic surprised us all. In my case, she left me stranded a few days after my wedding, far from my love. We haven't seen each other for 6 months and I still don't know when we will be together again, ”he shares.
Flight status: canceled. "When I read that, I started crying, I couldn't stop. I'm not the only one in this situation. We are many and we found ourselves on social networks under the hashtag #LoveIsNotTourism and #LoveIsEssential ”, provides Merceditas and explains that the documentation that she should present In Greece, the civil union expires this month, so they had to change their plans and think about getting married in Switzerland, where Panteli is today.
"What we are asking for is to obtain a binational couple reunification permit , something that they are already accepting in Austria, Norway and Denmark but not yet in Switzerland," says the young Argentine.
Love in times of pandemic: on March 28 they celebrated their failed marriage on Skype.
On March 28, he celebrated his failed marriage on Skype . "That day I put on the alliance," he says. Both are distressed although they feel that what is happening to them strengthened their relationship more. "We had time to think and no one threw in the towel. We remain sure of our love . Hopefully they will listen to us and soon we can start that common life that we have dreamed of for so long ”, he closes.
GS