we're getting married

I (Esther) was in the NYC for my 4th year medical school electives, living month-to-month in craigslist finds and friends' living rooms, when I met Baladan, who was currently working at Samsung. Our first date was at Ippudo ramen. We continued to see each other, though only on the weekends, as I was rotating in the surgical ICU and had little time off. Every time we hung out, he made sure I was well fed and enjoyed my day off. Esther was living off of bagel with CC, cheap coffee, and take away containers when I (Baladan) met her. After each date, I’d drive her back home so she wouldn’t have to take the crowded NYC subway. On our fifth date, we went to eat dimsum in Chinatown and walked to South Street Seaport to enjoy the night air. She told me that this probably wouldn’t work out because: she’s moving to India/Israel to finish her fourth year, and wasn’t hopeful about the distance and her life trajectory. But for some reason, when I heard this, I knew that it would be worth the distance and uncertainty. On 10/15/16 we begin dating officially. Baladan came to visit me (Esther) during Passover break in Israel, to explore my home for the past 3.5 years for med school. Then I graduated, went to Korea, Malaysia, and finally to Davao City, Philippines (where I grew up) to volunteer with an healthcare NGO. During this time, we endured spotty wifi, a 12-hour timezone difference, and weeks of cell service/communication, as my team would work in very rural areas. On 12/3/17, Esther went to the States for residency interviews and visited me (Baladan) in NJ. We got engaged at South Street Seaport, where we first talked about our future, exchanged rings, celebrated with friends, and then she flew back to the Philippines to finish her time there. We shared the news about matching into Internal Medicine in Rochester, over the phone between NJ and the Philippines, and are now busy planning a life together. We can't wait to see everyone for our wedding in September!