Not a Sportswoman, Not a Komsomol Member, but a Beauty
Irina was born in Kharkiv, but spent most of her life in Kyiv, where her relatives still live. She is now 24 years old; a couple of years ago she graduated from one of the capital's universities and received a legal education.
You can't fault the girl for beauty and upbringing - Irina has always been very popular with the male sex. But the biggest problem in her life is an injury sustained in childhood, which has meant that a wheelchair has always been and remains part of the pretty girl's attire.
I mention this nuance not to wring a reluctant tear of sympathy from you, far from it. But it is impossible to pass by this fact, because: first - in Ukraine (even in Kyiv) absolutely nothing is adapted for the independent movement of disabled people, and often even a person nearby cannot help overcome countless steps and narrow doorways.
Second - all the numerous suitors, having fallen for, in their opinion, a defenseless girl, a "God's dandelion," quite quickly came under the critical pressure of their own parents, who absolutely did not want to see their child (even if lazy, unemployed, and often drinking himself into a stupor) even at arm's length from some "little frog in a box."
Third - almost the same reaction of passersby to the appearance on the street or in a public place of a well-dressed, great-looking girl in a wheelchair. People stare so much that, honestly, goosebumps run down your back. Once I even heard accusations from a "gentleman" who was tipsy, dressed in military uniform, saying, how shameful - she begs for money in rags during the day, and in the evening rides the metro in decent clothes. But that's not what I'm talking about now.
In general, Irina had plenty of reasons not to love her homeland, but everything was exactly the opposite - a great attachment to Kyiv, many friends and acquaintances, participation in public life, and just life itself. The above-mentioned legal education did not satisfy Irina's creative nature - she always wanted to work as a makeup artist or hairdresser, or better yet, both.
To make this dream come true, the future bride completed courses with fairly well-known makeup artists in Kyiv. She did not have time to work in this field in Ukraine - she was taken away to the Apennine Peninsula.
A Jack of All Trades
Roberto is the living embodiment of an Italian living in the south of the country. Dark-haired, curly-haired, loud-speaking, and desperately gesticulating. He is now 27, born and raised in a small town called Cancello Arnone, located near Naples, in a standard Italian family, where his father is the owner of a private factory producing metal-plastic products, and his mother is a housewife.
Having a very restless nature, he was involved to varying degrees in music, playing in one of the local rock bands and writing music and lyrics for it, and tourism, and many other things. He learned about Ukraine relatively recently - closer to the end of the 90s, when "Chernobyl" children began to go in large groups for considerable money to vacation with Italian families.
Irina's cousin Anastasia also went to visit one of these families for the summer holidays. By coincidence, Roberto turned out to be a friend of that family and took the opportunity to visit Kyiv when the Italian couple decided to go to the Ukrainian capital on a return visit.
Romance at the Forefront
The meeting of the "young couple" happened exactly during this trip to Kyiv - both ended up visiting Anastasia, and, it must be said, the impulsive Italian was the first to receive Cupid's arrow in the heart. Irina maintained visible calm for quite a long time in response to Roberto's persistent courtship. And it must be admitted, Italians know how to court very, very well.
Irina, who had literally just broken up with one of our compatriots for the reasons described above, had no secret plans for "putting down roots" abroad, and she treated the Italian's onslaught with caution.
Needless to say, it's not customary for us to declare to a girl five minutes after meeting that the suitor cannot live a second longer without her, and to confess love, as they say, till death. Then there were hour-long phone conversations, a song composed and recorded especially for Irina, and sweet surprises. And the notorious language barrier did not arise, since Irina knows Spanish quite tolerably and she successfully managed to "switch" to Italian.
In general, everything started like a fairy tale - falling in love and complete mutual understanding, Roberto's trips to Ukraine and, more often, Irina's to Italy. But it couldn't go on like this for long - the talk turned to starting a family.
Ah, This Wedding Sang and Danced...
After two years of phone communication and trips, the relationship changed somewhat. Roberto's initial ardor faded, and Irina began to notice not only good qualities in her betrothed. But love and affection, fortunately, remained, and continuing a long-distance relationship no longer made sense, so on June 15 of this year, a "matrimonia" (wedding in Italian) took place.
It should be noted that the local celebration differs in many ways from the Soviet-Ukrainian one. In Italy, the main thing is not the registration at the local registry office, but the church wedding. The first official part (registration) takes place about a month before the church ceremony, and the bride and groom come to it in ordinary clothes, as if for some paperwork.
But at the wedding ceremony everything is completely different. Italians are known for the grand scale of their wedding celebrations - there is the bride's luxurious wedding dress, the understated chic of the groom's suit, a wedding procession, and many guests. For the feast in Italy, a restaurant is rented, where all the guests sit at separate tables and are served. It is not customary to make toasts; only at the very beginning is a single wish given to the newlyweds. And there are no dances as such. There is only a festive dinner and the presentation of gifts. It is a bit boring, and, naturally, there are also none of the fights that are traditional for us at the end of a long feast.
The newlyweds went on a honeymoon cruise across the Baltic Sea. It seemed strange to Irina that in St. Petersburg she could not go far from the tour guide, because they did not have a special visa. It seemed like almost home, but already a stranger...
Post-Wedding
In principle, even before the wedding, Irina understood that she and Roberto had more differences than similarities, but she still decided on such a responsible step. Among these very differences is her husband's very hot-tempered character - he can flare up like a match and calm down just as quickly, while Irina is the opposite: she smolders for a long time, but if she flares up, she takes a long time to calm down. On the other hand, when visiting Ukraine, Roberto, thanks to his sociability and friendliness, so quickly makes friends and pals that you are amazed.
The relationship is also affected by the 'consequences' of an Italian upbringing - the newly-made husband does not know many common truths that would puzzle our second-graders. In addition, Roberto's father and older brother immediately accepted the guest from unknown Ukraine, while his mother remained wary for a long time, and perhaps because of this, the future mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were initially tense. The fact that Irina, accustomed to the bustling life in the capital, had nothing to talk about with a lifelong housewife in the Italian provinces also made things worse. But now, of course, both feel better - after the wedding, the young family moved into a separate apartment.
Acclimatization is not easy either - in southern Italy, due to the proximity of the sea, the climate is very humid. In summer there is heat with high humidity, and in winter, despite above-zero temperatures, strong winds blow that no clothing can protect against. Our winter frosts are much easier to bear. And Italian cuisine is very different from Ukrainian - soups and salads are practically not eaten there, with the main emphasis on pasta (they call it 'pasta'), pizza, and seafood. A Slavic stomach does not immediately get used to such changes.
But the biggest problem is the lack of communication. Irina still has not found friends - she has acquaintances and buddies. But that warmth of relationships that is accepted and considered the norm in our country is absent in Italy, as are conversations on more or less philosophical topics - there is only discussion of who ate what when and who bought what where. And there are very few entertainment venues in the city: a couple of cafes, small restaurants, and that's all. The cinema is located in a neighboring town. In summer, however, you can go to the beach, but Irina does not yet have an Italian driver's license. Add to this life in a small town where everyone knows each other, after the populous Kyiv, and doing housework instead of the usual studying or working does not make her particularly happy.
Among the people around Irina, as in any other country in the world, there are both good and bad. It is by no means possible to say that everyone treats the newcomer negatively, but it would also be an exaggeration to speak of a very warm welcome.
Of course, now in Italy, as in Europe as a whole, there are plenty of people from the former USSR, but it is not recommended to make acquaintances with all of them - people come in all kinds. Irina managed to become friends with only one woman - Albina, who works in Cancello-Arnone as a caregiver for an ancient old lady. The job of the forty-year-old Kharkiv woman is very hard, and she has little free time, but both Ukrainians find time for communication.
And as for our brides, there is almost a fashion for them in Italy - almost every local womanizer will certainly have a Ukrainian as a mistress, if not a wife. Such is the reputation of our girls there.
A good phenomenon of foreign life for Irina is that in Italy, even in a small backwater town, everything is adapted for people who have to move around in a wheelchair. There are almost no insurmountable steps - all of them are equipped with ramps, so she can quite easily move along the streets herself. And there are many more opportunities to have an operation in Italy. True, this issue is still a big question, since no one gives 100% guarantees of a good outcome of the operation, and it costs a lot of money, even by Italian standards.
Now Irina is slowly getting into work - so far she works twice a week in one of the local beauty salons as a makeup artist, hairdresser, and manicurist, and dreams of coming to Kyiv before the New Year. Roberto still works at his father's factory and is unlikely to visit the capital of Ukraine in the near future due to excessive workload.
So the newly created international family also has plenty of problems, the only consolation is that two people found each other, and one hopes that it is forever.