upworthy

world cup

Joy

Unlikely couple falls in love after man rents woman’s spare room as an Airbnb

The Airbnb was a last-ditch effort to pay her rent and medical bills.

The funny thing about love is that the person we fall in love with, more often than not, we run into by accident. Another strange twist is that the love of our life is likely to show up when we least expect it.

The following story, which feels like the promise of a hit rom-com, comes courtesy of a twist of fate created by the World Cup and an Airbnb.

In 2013, after six years of battling an illness, Ana was living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Having been financially drained by years of being sick, she invested the last of her money to buy two bunk beds and convert one of her bedrooms into an Airbnb for small groups of friends.

The Airbnb was a last-ditch effort to pay her rent and medical bills. A year later, the modest investment grew into a success, Ana’s health began to return, and the World Cup, one of the largest sporting events in the world, was coming to Rio.

To take advantage of the soccer fanatics flocking to the Cidade Maravilhosa (Marvelous City), Ana and her roommate, Fabio, turned a half room in their apartment into an Airbnb rental to give tired soccer fans a place to sleep.

“Though it was a small (pantry!) room, we added a bunk bed and listed two beds on Airbnb. One day after the listing went live, we had tons of requests for ‘Fabio’s Pantry,’” she shared. “It was fully booked for the entire World Cup period except for one week in July.”

Around this time, Ana was feeling well enough to go on her first vacation in years and took a quick trip to Uruguay. Just before she left, Ana received a reservation from a man named "Darko B." for the only unbooked days in July.

“I have always been a big fan of the movie ‘Donnie Darko’ and thought it was a strange coincidence, but didn't think anything of it,” Ana wrote. “I accepted the request, let him know I would not be there for check-in and Fabio would care for him until I was back the following week.”

When Ana returned after her trip, she had no idea that her life would change forever. Upon opening the door to her apartment, there stood Darko, who was so taken by her that he nearly fell over. “I was sure he stumbled because he had sand on his feet and didn't wash it downstairs as the rules of the building say, and I caught him, lol (everybody does that!). But it wasn't sand, it was just love at first sight... for him, I was still mad about the imaginary sand,” she joked.

As Ana worked on her business classes and workshops in her apartment, Darko lay around watching TV, barely venturing outside to see the marvels of Rio. Even though Ana told him all the great spots to visit, he was just as happy to hang around and talk to her when she took breaks.

It seemed that all Darko really needed was right there in the Airbnb.

“We chatted about everything in life during my breaks and got more and more connected,” Ana remembers. “We were still keeping a respectful distance because, from my perspective, he was my guest and I wanted him to feel safe.” As the temporary tenant, Darko was in a strange position, too. He was a “strange man” in Ana’s home and didn’t want to be too forward.

Ana believes that because the two kept a safe distance, their feelings had more time to grow. “That distance was the key for our friendship and connection to develop organically,” Ana said.

As Darko's week-long stay neared its end, the duo decided to catch a sunset at the Arpoador Rocks. It was a mesmerizing evening with a dual spectacle: a breathtaking sunset on one side and the grandest supermoon in three decades on the other. Moved by the magic of Rio and his growing bond with Ana, Darko extended his stay by three months, sidelining his plans to travel across Brazil to watch soccer.

“We had 3 awesome months together exploring Rio,” Ana wrote. “We did not go to the stadium to watch the games live, but we went to ‘watch events’ with friends, traveled to small places around Rio, and stayed in an Airbnb in Ilha Grande.”

Sadly, after 3 months, Darko had to return to Canada for work, and it seemed their blossoming relationship had come to an end. “I thought our journey would be over and we would remain as friends, but we kept in contact every day until he came back 3 months later for another 3 months in Rio together,” Ana wrote.

Three years after Darko fell, or at least stumbled, in love at first sight, the couple was married and recently celebrated their 6th anniversary.

All because of a chance Airbnb booking in “Fabio’s Pantry.”

Airbnb brought Ana and Darko together and continues to be a big part of their lives. “We went on a big trip together in 2016/2017 to Southeast Asia, and we stayed in tons of Airbnbs in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia,” Ana wrote. Her relationship with Airbnb, which started in Rio and moved on to Asia, has now gone worldwide.

“By 2017, I was recovered and traveling the world as a program manager for entrepreneurship programs. I had projects (and Airbnbs!) in Brazil, Guatemala, Panama, USA and East Canada (New Brunswick) and luggage all over the world,” Ana wrote.

In 2018, Darko took Ana to his birthplace, the former Yugoslavia, which is now Bosnia, and they visited Rovinj by the sea, a place Darko fondly regards as paradise. Naturally, they used Airbnb during their trip, extending their stay across various Croatian cities.

Darko and Ana’s story is a beautiful example of serendipity's role in people’s lives.

The right people found each other in the perfect place and had all the time in the world. Nice job, Airbnb. If any aspiring screenwriters read this, “Fabio’s Pantry” is a great name for the film adaptation.


This article originally appeared on 10.6.23

travel
Popular

Megan Rapinoe says the best way to support equal pay is by putting your money where your mouth is.

US Soccer

The U.S. women's soccer team won the Women's World Cup, but the victory is marred by the fact that the team is currently fighting for equal pay. In soccer, the game is won by scoring points, but the fight for equal pay isn't as clearly winnable and the playing field isn't as even.

We live in a world where winning the World Cup is easier than winning equal pay, but co-captain Megan Rapinoe says there's one easy way fans can support the team: Go see games.

Some people argue the men's team deserves to get paid more because they are more successful and earn more money for the United States Soccer Federation. Pay depends on merchandise and ticket sales, and in general, men's sporting events tend to draw a bigger crowd than women's sporting events. It's not about sex, many argue; it's about the fact that people just prefer to see men play.

Would you stay in a relationship with someone after learning they had a toxic political belief?

But the women's soccer team has proved otherwise. The ratings for this year's Women's World Cup final were higher than the 2018 Men's World Cup final. It was also the highest rated soccer game in the U.S. since the 2015 Women's World Cup final, which the women's team not-so-coincidentally also won. There is a sizable interest in the women's games.

Even though the women's team won the World Cup, the fight for equal pay isn't over, and it doesn't fall completely on the shoulders of the women's soccer team. Rachel Maddow told Rapinoe in a recent interview, "I think fans want to know what they can do to support that fight."


Rapinoe's response was simple: "Fans can come to games. Obviously, the national team games will be a hot ticket, but we have nine teams in the NWSL. You can go to your league games, you can support that way. You can buy players' jerseys, you can lend support in that way, you can tell your friends about it, you can become season ticket-holders. I think in terms of that, that's the easiest way for fans to get involved," Rapinoe said.

A viral post helps explain what to say - and what not to say - to a parent who has lost a child.

It's exciting to hear people chant "equal pay" when the team is lauded for their win with a ticker tape parade. But what about the games that aren't as high stakes as the World Cup? What happens when they play a game that doesn't draw international viewers? It's one thing to say you support the idea of women getting paid the same as men. It's another thing to actually support equal pay. And clearly, these women have earned that support.

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Recommended

Trump attacked the wrong 'Megan Rapinoe' on Twitter and her response has gone viral.

Michael Vadon

When it comes to attacks from the President on Twitter, no one is safe.

Trump unleashed a firestorm of criticism directed at USWNT star Megan Rapinoe Wednesday after she told reporters she wouldn't visit the White House if her team wins the 2019 Women's World Cup.

"I'm not going to the fucking White House," Rapinoe told Eight by Eight. "We're not going to be invited," the co-captain said in a video from behind the scenes of a cover story shoot for the soccer magazine.

"[Trump] tries to avoid inviting a team that might decline. Or, like he did when the Warriors turned him down, he'll claim they hadn't been invited in the first place," she said in an interview with the magazine.

Eight by Eight shared the video on Twitter Tuesday, which according to the New York Times was recorded in January when the photoshoot took place. The issue was recently released in May and an online version of the story appeared on the publication's website in June.

27 progressive Twitter users worth following for a deeper look at a few familiar topics.

Not one to let insults slide, Trump took to his favorite social media platform to respond to Rapinoe's comments with a series of nonsensical replies.


Highlights magazine denounces family separations in a blistering new editorial.

In his swift response, Trump didn't bother checking to make sure he was tagging the correct Megan Rapinoe. Instead of tagging the soccer player, he instead tagged another Megan Rapinoe (though the president has since corrected his tweets).

Fortunately, the "other" Megan Rapino took it in stride. Finding her Twitter overwhelmed by people who'd clicked her account after reading Trump's tweet, she decided to let the world know just what she thought of the president's taking the real Rapinoe to task:

And then:

Rapinoe's responses quickly went viral, with Twitter users praising her clap back.




This isn't the first time Trump has mistakenly tagged the wrong person during one is his Twitter outbursts. In January, he tagged a high school girl in a tweet in which he intended to call out Fox News reporter Gillian Turner.

Like Rapinoe, the mistakenly identified Jillian Turner took the incident in stride.

"Like how does that even happen," she wrote in another tweet. "One in a million chance."

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Badge
Ancestry
Ancestry
More

Racists blamed him for Germany's World Cup woes. Now he's fighting back.

The 2018 World Cup may be over, but the conversations about race and identity are not.

Most recently, German soccer player Mesut Özil is making headlines. Özil has decided to quit playing professionally for the national team after what he describes as experiences of racism and double standards against people with Turkish ancestry.

On July 22, the Turkish-German midfielder posted a statement on Twitter detailing the slander and ridicule he has received from far-right German politicians, the media, the German Football Association (DFB), his team, and soccer fans.

The statement comes in response to backlash Özil, a practicing Muslim and son of Turkish immigrants, received for posing for a photo with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The photo was taken after a charity event in London.

While Germany has over 3 million Turkish immigrants, some German politicians and fans questioned Özil's national loyalty after his photo with the Erdoğan. Some have gone so far as to say that Erdoğan was exploiting Özil for political gain.

But in his statement, Özil insisted that his meeting and photo with Erdoğan had no political motivation. "For me, having a picture with President Erdoğan wasn’t about politics or elections," Özil wrote. "It was about me respecting the highest office of my family’s country."

Twitter users also pointed out the double standard and hypocrisy Özil received for posing with Erdoğan compared to other athletes.

Özil says he's been singled out because of Germany's failure to advance in the 2018 World Cup.

While Özil helped lead Germany to win the 2014 World Cup, he said that he has been unfairly scrutinized for the team's shortcomings this year — something he says has to do with his Turkish roots.

In his statement, Özil described in detail every racist incident he's experienced. He called out the German media for using the Erdoğan photo as right-wing propaganda, DFB president Reinhald Grindel for making "unforgivable and unforgettable" comments about immigrants and Muslims, and German politician Bernd Holzhauer for referring to him with an offensive expletive.

But Özil insists that his heart is still with Germany. "I have two hearts, one German and one Turkish," he added. Despite being one of the world's best midfielders, Özil said his mother has always taught him to never forget his roots and values. This is particularly why he wanted to celebrate his dual heritage.

Özil's resignation is a powerful and courageous act of defiance against the selective — and racist — celebration of immigrants.

By taking a public stand against racism, Özil shed spotlight on the double standard used against players of dual-heritage. At a time when debates about refugees and national identity are looming, he's bravely shaping the conversation on the meaning and purpose of European identity.

The disapproval of dual heritage isn't a problem exclusive to Germany. Trevor Noah received backlash in July 2018 from a French ambassador for celebrating the African background of some of the French soccer players. But Noah set the record straight: His celebration of their African roots is not denying their "Frenchness" but rather is pointing out the beauty in all "these Africans who can become French."

As a matter or principle, Özil said he would no longer stand to be a part of the scapegoating and racism. The only way for him to do that is to step down from the team and speak out against injustice.

"Racism should never be accepted."

Right on, Özil.

Trending Stories