A Long-Distance Love Story Blossoms While Studying Abroad in 西班牙

留学目的地:

西班牙巴塞罗那

留学期限及年份:

Internship Program in Summer ‘17 and Onsite Ambassador program in Summer ‘18

U.S. 院校及专业:

Kean University and 沟通/Public Relations with a minor in Women’s Studies

当前职位及职业发展历程:

My current position is a Cell Therapy 360 Site Account Specialist with Bristol Myers Squibb, a global biopharmaceutical company and currently going to school part-time for a master’s in Interior Architecture and Design from the Academy of Art University.

你的爱情故事:

My name is Karime Diaz De Jesus and I am an American citizen in a long-distance relationship with Franklin De Jesus, 谁是西班牙公民, 最初来自多米尼加共和国. Our story of how we met is comparable to a movie such as the Lizzie McGuire Movie. It was an organic encounter and a happy surprise. Franklin and I met my first-time visiting 巴塞罗那, 1717年夏天的西班牙在我的 留学项目.

巴塞罗那 is known for its local social events and great night life and my local friend, Mileydi, 我当时是在她咖啡馆工作时认识她的, 邀请我参加社交舞会. 起初, I didn’t want to go because it was late at night and I already was dressed in my pajamas, but a thought struck me that maybe I’ll meet someone cool. And low and behold, I met Franklin that night and we danced the night way. It always amazes me how studying abroad and travelling opens doors of opportunities to make connections with people from all over the world.

We hit it off right away and we became inseparable. 我要回美国了.S. 10 days later and we spent every day together; dining out, 观光, and enjoying each other’s company until the very last day. We kept in touch after that using Skype and other communication and social media channels such as WhatsApp.

I graduated in the Spring of ‘18 from Kean University and that summer, I had the amazing opportunity to go back to 巴塞罗那, 西班牙作为CEA现场大使, helping students adjust to the 巴塞罗那 culture and promote the CEA Ambassador program to the onsite students. I had a blast in this role and got to meet and network with new people, 参观西班牙的新地方，比如瓦伦西亚, 加强我和富兰克林的关系.

富兰克林后来来到美国.S. for the first time to visit my town of Union, New Jersey in early 2019. I then went back to 西班牙 that summer with my mom and then Franklin came back to New Jersey in Winter ‘19 and left early 2020, right before COVID-19 put a halt to all non-essential travel, 这挑战了我们的关系. We went a whole year of not seeing each other in-person and that was tough on the both of us, but we never lost hope that travel would open back up soon. Many other long-distance couples were in similar situations, and we joined a support movement group on Facebook called Love Is Not Tourism and monitored to see any updates on travel and how couples were able to reunite after many months apart. 1月. 1, 2021, we finally were able to reunite in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

We have maintained our long-distance relationship for 5 years and counting, 在彼此之间来回穿梭, 一起探索新的目的地. We made a big step in our relationship and recently got married this past April ‘22. We are looking forward to a bright future together and more milestones and anniversaries to come.  

我们是如何做到的: We make it work by always communicating daily and updating each other on important life events. Being in a long-distance relationship is not for the faint of heart and takes a lot of communication, 信任, 和牺牲, 但我们不会有其他的方式.

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泰勒·库尔森 数字营销协调员是谁.