![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-11-24-at-04.01.24-Copy-696x389.jpg\" "\\"WhatsApp-Image-2023-11-24-at-04.01.24")
<\/div>\nAugust 1991. Irja Uotila, a Finnish publishing employee living in New York, decided to finally fulfill a long-held dream of visiting Latin America.<\/p>\n
She\u2019d fantasized about traveling through the region\u2019s archaeological sites and picturesque towns ever since she was a teenager growing up in Finland, poring over travel brochures and daydreaming about future adventures.<\/p>\n
Now in her early thirties, Irja was exhausted from a long summer navigating layoffs at her workplace, and dealing with some challenges in her personal life.<\/p>\n
This was the time to go for it, Irja decided, she was going to take those vacation days and enjoy that dream trip.<\/p>\n
She wanted a vacation where she could relax, but also get to know the culture and history of the destination. After extensive research, Irja pinpointed Oaxaca, Mexico as the perfect spot.<\/p>\n
There was only one issue. There were no direct flights from New York City to Oaxaca City, so she\u2019d have to change flights in Mexico City and stay overnight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was fairly experienced and fairly seasoned as a traveler and everything else. But the prospect of me landing in Mexico City around 10 p.m., in a city of 20-plus million inhabitants, not speaking Spanish, was not very attractive,\u201d Irja tells\u00a0CNN Travel\u00a0today.<\/p>\n
She discussed her vacation plans with friends, including Marcus, a former coworker of Irja\u2019s who\u2019d grown up in Mexico.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do have this friend,\u201d she recalls Marcus saying. \u201cYou know, he was here in New York recently. Maybe he can help you out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus was thinking of his old high school friend, Jes\u00fas Estrella Jurado. Marcus gave Jes\u00fas a call and asked if he\u2019d be able to meet Irja at the airport.<\/p>\n
Calling abroad was costly, so Marcus just relayed the key details: her name\u2019s Irja, she\u2019s from Finland, she lives in New York City, these are her flight details \u2013 and she\u2019ll be landing in a few days.<\/p>\n
Jes\u00fas said yes right away. Sure, he didn\u2019t know much about Irja \u2013 and Marcus hadn\u2019t given him much notice \u2013 but he wanted to help out his friend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know who\u2019s coming, but I\u2019ll do my best,\u201d he recalls thinking, spelling out Irja\u2019s name on a homemade sign and buying a bouquet of flowers to present her with upon her arrival.<\/p>\n
When Irja stepped through the crowds at Mexico City Airport arrivals, Jes\u00fas was struck by her right away. \u201cJust her smile, her eyes,\u201d he recalls now.<\/p>\n
Irja, meanwhile, was exhausted. She\u2019d gone straight from work to the airport, but as soon she was introduced to Jes\u00fas, she felt comfortable in his presence. \u201cHe seems kind,\u201d she remembers thinking. There was a kind of decency about him, she says, that she warmed to right away.<\/p>\n
Jes\u00fas asked Irja if she was hungry. He working two jobs at the time, as a dentist and part time for his family\u2019s business, and he\u2019d just finished for the day was keen to grab a bite to eat.<\/p>\n
Irja was ready for some food too, so they headed to a nearby restaurant.<\/p>\n They started chatting in the car, and the conversation continued to flow in the restaurant. They talked about Mexico, about New York and Finland, their mutual friend Marcus and their travels.<\/p>\n \u201cI was enjoying her conversation,\u201d says Jes\u00fas. \u201cBut also, I was enjoying the way she was showing me her eyes. They were beautiful, shiny eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cI was not fully aware that I was in love,\u201d he adds. \u201cBut definitely that was the driving force.\u201d<\/p>\n It was late when they got to the restaurant, and it was later still when they finished up.<\/p>\n They\u2019d only known each other a few hours, but the tiredness they\u2019d both felt earlier had dissipated, and they wanted to continue their conversation.<\/p>\n Jes\u00fas suggested that, rather than checking into a hotel, Irja could stay at his brother\u2019s apartment, which was currently unoccupied.<\/p>\n Looking back, Irja says she\u2019s conscious she took a risk, trusting someone who was essentially a stranger.<\/p>\n \u201cHere I am, in a strange city, in a part of the world that I have never visited before, it\u2019s the middle of the night here, am I doing something that\u2019s safe? Or is this really foolish?\u201d she says today.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the same time, I thought that we had a mutual friend, that both of us were very close with. And then I just kind of said to myself: \u2018Well, I guess you have to trust people, you have to be careful, but at the same time, you cannot lose all the trust.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The next day, Jes\u00fas gave Irja a lift back to the airport. On the way, he stopped off at his family\u2019s business where Irja met his mother and brother.<\/p>\n Back at the airport, Irja and Jes\u00fas said goodbye, hoping to cross paths a week later, when Irja would be connecting back through Mexico City to return home.<\/p>\n \u201cI did go to Oaxaca City, which I think is still one of my best travel experiences,\u201d says Irja.<\/p>\n Despite her excitement at having met Jes\u00fas, someone she\u2019d clicked with immediately, she was really glad to be vacationing on her own after a tough summer.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it was very healing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n On her way back to New York, Jes\u00fas and Irja tried to meet again, but they almost missed one another.<\/p>\n When Jes\u00fas got to the airport and he couldn\u2019t find Irja anywhere, he had no way of contacting her. Increasingly worried he\u2019d missed her, he approached the airport staff and asked if they\u2019d make an announcement over the overhead speaker.<\/p>\n Finally, he found her with minutes to spare. Irja and Jes\u00fas said goodbye and promised to keep in touch, but neither of them had any expectations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe last thing that at that point in my life that I wanted to have was a man in my life, let alone a long-distance relationship,\u201d says Irja.<\/p>\n But before she left, she snapped a photo of Jes\u00fas. She wanted to remember him.<\/p>\n And when she got home, she sent him a thank you card.<\/p>\n \u201cI kept it,\u201d says Jes\u00fas, who wrote her back, sending a postcard adorned with pictures of other parts of Mexico.<\/p>\n On the back, he wrote that if she ever made it back, he\u2019d love to show her around the country.<\/p>\n Irja and Jes\u00fas continued to send letters back and forth, and also speak on the phone on occasion, but the communication remained sporadic.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was no email, obviously no FaceTime, no texting,\u201d says Irja. \u201cThe mail between New York and Mexico City was a little erratic too. And the best you could do was just call long distance \u2013 and I still remember very distinctly that it used to cost about 90 US cents per minute.\u201d<\/p>\n In November 1991, three months after Irja\u2019s trip to Mexico, an opportunity arose for Jes\u00fas to visit New York for work.<\/p>\n He was so excited at the idea of seeing Irja again. He decided to frame the trip as a \u201ccomplete surprise\u201d and only tell her he was in New York after he\u2019d arrived.<\/p>\n He stopped communicating with Irja in the lead-up to his visit to add to the surprise.<\/p>\n But from Irja\u2019s perspective, Jes\u00fas had just stopped calling her. She was confused \u2013 and when she found out he was in New York, it was the last thing she expected.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I literally got a call from our mutual friend saying like, \u2018Oh, you know, Jes\u00fas is in town, would you like for the three of us to get together?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Irja agreed but wasn\u2019t sure what to think.<\/p>\n When Jes\u00fas and Marcus came round to Irja\u2019s apartment, it quickly became clear to Jes\u00fas his plan was a bad one.<\/p>\n \u201cOh my God, I remember going back to my friend\u2019s house, because I stayed overnight with him, and I was so miserable,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Back in Mexico, worried he\u2019d blown it, Jes\u00fas was relieved when he got a phone call from Irja that Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t think that encounter was quite so negative,\u201d says Irja. \u201cI was just surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n Since returning to New York, Irja had started taking Spanish lessons and reading piles of books on Mexico\u2019s history and culture.<\/p>\n \u201cI had certainly fallen in love with Mexico after being in Oaxaca \u2013 definitely Mexico, wasn\u2019t so sure about [him],\u201d says Irja.<\/p>\n She decided to plan another trip for January 1992, this time staying for 10 days.<\/p>\n \u201cThat time around, I actually did build Mexico City into it intentionally,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n Over the course of Irja\u2019s January 1992 trip, Irja and Jes\u00fas finally had the opportunity to build on the connection that had first sparked at Mexico City Airport.<\/p>\n While Irja spent some of vacation touring alone, the two also enjoyed exploring together. Jes\u00fas prepared authentic Mexican tamales for Irja, and showed her his favorite spots in the city.<\/p>\n And they traveled together to Taxco, a city known for its architecture and rugged mountainous surrounds.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very popular with tourists, an old silver mining town,\u201d says Irja. \u201cAnd it\u2019s very romantic. Like, you know, if you are supposed to fall in love, that\u2019s probably the place.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe trip was, I think, a big success,\u201d says Jes\u00fas, recalling driving through the mountains with Irja and admiring Taxco\u2019s beauty.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess that\u2019s what you would call like a turning point,\u201d says Irja.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter that, things were a little more solid,\u201d agrees Jes\u00fas.<\/p>\n The couple returned to their respective homes determined to make a long-distance relationship work.<\/p>\n In March, Irja traveled to Mexico, meeting up with Jes\u00fas for a long weekend that coincided with her birthday.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was the first time I went to the house of Frida Kahlo, and it happened to be under renovation,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n When they arrived at the Blue House, the couple were told the museum was closed.<\/p>\n Jes\u00fas stepped in. \u201cShe\u2019s come a long way,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd she\u2019s a fan, can you please let her in?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey did, so I got my little private tour,\u201d says Irja.<\/p>\n A few months later, in May 1992, Jes\u00fas came to New York. \u201cOf course, she was waiting for me at the airport,\u201d he recalls with a smile.<\/p>\n In between the trips, the couple saved up for long-distance phone calls and flights. This back-and-forth defined their relationship for the next few years, but Jes\u00fas spent increasingly long stints in New York.<\/p>\n Of course Irja had met some of Jes\u00fas\u2019s family in Mexico during their very first encounter, but the couple didn\u2019t travel to Finland to meet Irja\u2019s family until 1994.<\/p>\n The year before, Irja endured some health issues, and her parents, who already liked the sound of Jes\u00fas, were irrevocably won round when they found out how he\u2019d been there for her during this tough time.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was the one who was at my side and supported me through that experience,\u201d says Irja.<\/p>\n Their friends were also happy for them, particularly Marcus, the friend who\u2019d brought them together.<\/p>\n In December 1995, Irja and Jes\u00fas were married in a civil ceremony, followed by a small religious ceremony the year after.<\/p>\n They\u2019d bought rings together on a return trip to Taxco earlier that year. At the time, they hadn\u2019t had a wedding date fixed, but it seemed like the perfect opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cTaxco is a famous silver mining town where they sell all kinds of silver items including jewelery with local stones,\u201d says Irja. \u201cThe thought was something like \u2018we are here in this perfect place, so we might as well buy rings in case we should need them any time in the future.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Irja, who\u2019d lived in New York for several years, had a US Green Card. Following their marriage, Jes\u00fas went through a long US immigration process.<\/p>\n Then the couple could finally be together in the same country, permanently. But this wasn\u2019t without its difficulties.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went through that whole process of somebody coming from another country as a professional, and then running into all these hurdles \u2013 how you have to go back to school, kind of requalify yourself,\u201d recalls Irja.<\/p>\n Jes\u00fas abandoned dentistry after discovering he\u2019d have to retrain for several years before practicing in the United States. Instead, he started a photo and video business.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause I met Irja I came to New York and I started a new life here under conditions that I didn\u2019t imagine,\u201d says Jes\u00fas. \u201cBut certainly, I can tell you that feeling, that you feel inside \u2013 it makes life beautiful anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n The couple happily settled into their New York life together and a few years later welcomed a daughter, Erica.<\/p>\n \u201cWe chose a name that works in Finland, Mexico and in the United States,\u201d says Irja.<\/p>\n Today, Irja and Jes\u00fas still live in New York, they both work in hospitals in the city and run the photo and video business part time on the side.<\/p>\n Jes\u00fas works in hospital patient relations. Irja \u2013 now fluent in Spanish as well as Finnish, English and Swedish \u2013 works in translation services for her hospital.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth of us have gone through the nightmare of Covid-19 in New York City,\u201d says Irja.<\/p>\n But the two are thankful for the support they\u2019ve shown each other throughout the past year.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that has been one of the strongest experiences that we\u2019ve had together,\u201d says Irja.<\/p>\n In 2021, Irja and Jes\u00fas will celebrate 30 years since they met at Mexico City Airport, and 25 years since they celebrated their marriage in New York.<\/p>\n In the intervening decades they\u2019ve visited Taxco many times, including with daughter Erica. They also enjoyed returning to the Frida Kahlo Museum with Erica in tow.<\/p>\n The family have also spent time in Finland and traveled together in Europe.<\/p>\n \u201cTravel gives you a different perspective, a perspective on your own culture, but also, I think it kind of opens up your mind,\u201d says Irja, adding it was important to the couple to pass on their wanderlust to Erica.<\/p>\n \u201cThe story of how they met and their relationship in general definitely makes me believe in true love, kind of like a fairytale romance type,\u201d says Erica, who is in her early 20s and studied tourism and hospitality at college.<\/p>\n \u201cI also think it\u2019s very unique and fascinating how two people from opposite sides of the world came to meet and have a daughter who is half Mexican and half Finnish,\u201d she adds. \u201cI consider myself cool and unique for that reason!\u201d<\/p>\n Thirty years since they first met, both Irja and Jes\u00fas still enjoy learning new things about each other \u2013 both the good and the not so good, they say, laughing.<\/p>\n The story of how they met and their relationship in general definitely makes me believe in true love, kind of like a fairytale romance type<\/p>\n Erica, Jes\u00fas and Irja\u2019s daughter<\/p>\n And while the couple often look back on the magic coincidence of their first encounter, they\u2019re also looking forward to the future.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though we have differences, it\u2019s so nice to be together, and just keep enjoying the feeling that make us decide to be together, hopefully for many years in the future,\u201d says Jes\u00fas.<\/p>\n \u201cLife keeps just being so generous, so wonderful. So that\u2019s my feeling \u2013 is being thankful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Irja](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/210414173257-irja-and-jesus-airport-romance-5.jpg\")
![\"Irja](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/210414180421-irja-and-jesus10.jpg\")
A surprise gone wrong<\/h2>\n
![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/210414182739-irja-and-jesus-2.jpg\")
Long distance romance<\/h2>\n
![\"Embarking](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/210414173538-irja-and-jesus-airport-romance-8-2.jpg\")
![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/210414182719-irja-and-jesus-1.jpg\")
![\"Irja](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/210414173316-irja-and-jesus-airport-romance-7.jpg\")
30 years later<\/h2>\n
![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/210414173513-irja-and-jesus-airport-romance-10-2.jpg\")