Love story

If there was one thing that added a whole rainbow of color into Elie's black-or-white view of life, it was when he

first set eyes on Marlena and fell in love with her that same second, just as she was falling in love with him.

Read this delightful true story of love at first sight that took place in a city photo-walk event which both lovebirds

didn't want to attend.

It'd been a long day and one didn't like taking photos and the other did not even own a camera!

Isn't it beautiful how love and destiny orchestrate their little song-and-dance?

Names: Marlena & Elie Status: Married Been together since: 2019

My gentle awakening.

I'd just completed my master's degree and had returned to my native Germany from Copenhagen.

I found that all my peers had automatically adopted the mindset of being grown-ups and were systematically embarking on

the sensible path of getting jobs, building up their careers and earning money.

I, on the other hand, had opted for a volunteering job at an NGO, which is something most people do when they are a

little bit younger, perhaps fresh out of college.

And even stranger, out of all the options available, I'd applied for opportunities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan or

Georgia, the one in Europe, in that order of preference.

I would be gone for a whole year.

My choice of opting for those places was not at all rational and I have no idea what put that region on my radar in the

first place other than perhaps curiosity about little known post-soviet era countries.

I would be stepping away from the familiarity of Europe, as well as from my boyfriend, whom I'd been with for almost a

year at that point.

People around me weren't being that supportive of my decision either and I truly couldn't explain why I was going ahead

with it, other than to say that a strong feeling was telling me I just had to do it.

When it comes to big decisions in life, I have always found that when I don't listen to my mind and just follow my gut,

things actually pan out quite nicely.

I knew to trust that.

That same strong feeling was also saying that I would end up being placed in Georgia and soon this was confirmed.

I was to be stationed in Tbilisi, the capital