Thank you all for the warm welcome to Hive yesterday! I’m going to be getting into posting about more specific topics, mainly travel, photography, and filmmaking. This post may be a little more sappy than most, because I want to also introduce everyone to my man, Cesar!
Cesar and I met at a party for international students and young professionals early in 2019. I saw him and thought he was cute… but one of my best friends saw him too! She was looking to meet people at the time, and I was just kind of along for the ride. She had studied abroad in Spain and Ecuador, and was ready to practice her Spanish on any Latin people she met. As soon as Cesar introduced himself to us, she asked him, “De donde eres?” and he said, “Soy de Panama.”
I decided to let them hit it off in Spanish and went off to dance. At some point, I went outside to catch my breath and chill in the cool night air. When I went back in, my friend came up to me and asked, “Hey, is it alright if I give that guy your number?”
I was a little confused, but I thought it would be nice to talk to him. I went farther into the room, and Cesar saw me. “I thought you left!” he said, then he asked me if I wanted to go out for sushi sometime.
Now, I don’t remember the exact words, but Cesar swears my response was, “Who would say no to sushi?”
We went out a week later and I really enjoyed it. I was hoping to see him again, but my schedule was packed because of it being my last semester before graduation. Then a few weeks later on Instagram, I saw him make a farewell post. I sent him a direct message right away, asking if he was leaving North Carolina, and he was. I was disappointed, but I told him that I had enjoyed meeting him. “Maybe our paths will cross again someday,” I wrote.
I wasn’t wrong. Throughout the spring and summer, he had to make several trips back, and we made sure to see each other every time. I moved up to New Jersey for a little while, but later that fall, we both ended up back in the area. We went out more, I started helping him with his work every day, and he finally kissed me. We made it official, started traveling to meet each other’s families and friends, then slowed our roll when the world locked down for COVID. But we considered ourselves lucky, since we had each other as quarantine partners.
Even more than partners, we look at each other as teammates. Every day we get up and look in the same direction, so we can move forward together. We each have our own dreams, but our goals are aligned because we each support what the other does. When I mentioned wanting to start writing again, he was pumped just because he could see how it made me happy.
He’s not very active on social media, but hopefully I can get him turned onto Hive eventually. In the meantime, let’s vicariously welcome Cesar!
xo,
Cecilia