Petr Kozyubenko, 31, energy sector specialist, Murmansk
Personal Archive
I was bored to death, surfing Tinder and swiping through all these girls without much interest. Then I saw her: hazel eyes, dark curly hair. I was hooked immediately and swiped right. The feeling was mutual, because we immediately matched, and for some reason, I thought she must be the one.
A simple “Privet, kak dela?” started off our conversation, which ended with us discussing the quarantine and other travesties you encounter in life. We had this immediate chemistry, it’s hard to describe. After three days, it became clear that I really wanted to meet her in person, so I asked her out.
There weren’t many places to meet - all the cafes are still closed, other entertainment venues as well. It was also snowing, but she took the initiative and invited me to her place. Only on the condition that I observe the social distancing guidelines and other precautions. There wasn’t much to do, so I put my mask and gloves on, bought some flowers and went over to her place.
As was the rule, she sat a meter and a half from me. We were like idiots, sitting at opposite ends of a small kitchen, lifting our masks to sip coffee, but talking about everything in the world. And I felt completely at ease with her, I didn’t even care about the pandemic. It was like all of life’s worries had taken a back seat.
We had five dates over the course of the week, chatting for days on end, watching movies and playing board games, and I was never bored. In about a week, I couldn’t hold it in anymore, and proposed that we start dating properly. She happily agreed.
We’re still figuring each other out, but I’m hoping for the best!
Yuliya Gribkova, 33, PR, В2В project manager, Moscow
Personal Archive
We were celebrating a friend’s birthday in late March. It was a joyous evening, given that we were all going against the government’s guidelines on self-isolation. Of course, at the time, no one knew how things would transpire, or was really freaked out by the prospect of a house party.
That’s when I met him - smart, handsome, the full package, we clicked immediately. There was a spark, we swapped numbers, and started chatting on Zoom and other online places pretty soon after that. A week later we decided to go out on a date.
The parks were already closed at the time, so he just came over to my area to hang out. You didn’t have to wear masks or gloves yet, but we still caught some stern gazes from passing police, who could easily have asked us for our IDs, but thankfully, this didn’t happen.
After the walk, we decided to go back to mine, as we were both hungry. We ordered burgers via an app.
These days, we meet at either of our places, usually. We both read a lot and discuss literature - he turned out to be an avid reader and an intelligent man. We were discussing [social psychologist] Erich Fromm just the other day.
It hasn’t been a very easy year for me at all - a divorce, a change of work and a move. So, when self-isolation rules came into place, I was, jokingly, asking myself the question: “How hard would it be to find a husband during lockdown?”
As it turns out, life doesn’t end during isolation, and miracles - as the saying goes - must be achieved with your own hands.
No one knows what awaits us after a corner. Wedding offices aren’t working at the moment, and an engagement ring is hard to come by. Let’s see how things develop, and what happens at the end of summer. Then again, you could get married now - it’s not like anyone would notice - and save on an expensive wedding reception and rings. You can’t see anything under a medical glove anyway.