I sent several messages with the quite uninteresting HOLA DE ARMENIA. Several guys replied, among them someone from Cuba, with nickname "mano", aged 25 ....and since then, during three long years those 4 small letters "mano" became the power that made my heart beat like crazy when I saw "mano online" blinking in the taskbar of my PC. There followed 3 years of chatting for hours, sometimes 24 hours a day, emailing, calling.
 

He had almost no chance of getting out of communist Cuba, and I had little opportunity to travel there. That time was full of virtual love, anger, attempts to break-up, forget, but there was always HOPE - a hope to meet despite we both were realizing that there were thousands miles and unfavorable conditions separating us.

So we kept living our ordinary lives on opposite sides of the planet, but always secretly waiting for OUR moment… In those 3 years I went through many changes in my life. In his life also a major change took place, in 2003 he managed to escape from Cuba and established in Miami, Florida. In Summer 2004 my mam (only 46) and my grandpa died one after another due to cancer. I was going though enormous stress, the world seemed to be falling apart for me, life lost its meaning and yet there were those 4 small letters – always there for me.

Nothing was keeping me in Yerevan anymore and I was ready for a move. But there was another obstacle – the chances to get US visa for an Armenian is 1:10. And that one single chance was mine on September 30! I had my visa, he bought my ticket, I was ready! On October 18, 2004 I landed in Miami International Airport, he was there. Real MANO, my Manuel Diaz. Now we are married for 4 months, living happily in Miami, and only time will show if those 3 years were really worth waiting. For now we are the happiest people alive….

"Anna"