A wave, a magic trick, and leaving the country to find much more than just work: "I still don't understand how he noticed me."
Fernando Funes left his beloved San Martín in the midst of the 2001 crisis, never imagining that he would not only find a new destiny but also the great love of his life: “What I least imagined was that in the country of the North I would meet a woman from Mendoza who, in addition, would become my wife and mother of my daughters Angelina and Milena,” says Fernando, still with a hint of surprise in his voice, as if the miracle of love were still a gift he cannot fully understand.
He'd been working as a manager at a restaurant near New York for two years when, one random afternoon, chance—or causality, as he likes to say—brought them together. She was a dental assistant, and on weekends she worked as a waitress. "The conquest was terrifying, full of embarrassments. I still don't understand how she even noticed me," laughs Fernando, while replaying scenes that today seem straight out of a romantic comedy.
A beach, a red swimsuit, and a failed magic trick were part of the beginning. “I tried to act sexy, and a crushing wave took my breath away and even took off my swimsuit, which I managed to recover because I saw it floating. It was all very bizarre, and people laughed, but at least it opened the door to a friendship,” he recalls. Carolina, unperturbed, didn't crack a smile. But she did accept his company. And in that first silent spark, something deeper began to develop.
Friendship blossomed into trips, weekend get-togethers, and, over time, love. They started dating in 2003 and married in 2007 in New Jersey, where they now raise their two teenage daughters and run a restaurant and a candy store together. “Carolina decorates the cakes. Outside of that, I'm a missionary pastor, and she's a great supporter of mine,” says Fernando, proud of the woman at his side.
What unites them is much more than romantic love. They are united by faith, social commitment, and a vocation to help others that Fernando has had since his adolescence. Those traveling plays on bicycles, alongside his school friends, to collect donations at rural schools, were just the beginning of a life dedicated to others.
“I always remember that time we raised so much to deliver to the kids' homes that a classroom at school was overflowing with donations. The teacher asked us to pull the truck closer to load the things… and we were too embarrassed to admit we were riding bikes,” she laughs.
Today, that same vocation is multiplied in his work as a pastor, giving lectures and carrying out solidarity missions in Central America, such as that unforgettable experience in Guatemala after a volcanic eruption, where he officiated a group wedding for 56 couples and brought smiles to vulnerable children with his clown shows.
And although New Jersey is now his home, his heart still beats in Mendoza. “A few days ago, I was walking through some vineyards located in Montecaseros, in my native San Martín, and I started talking to my wife about this topic. We both agreed that our roots are precisely in Mendoza,” he confesses.
Because in the end, Fernando and Carolina didn't just find a new place in the world. They found each other. And ever since, they've walked together. With faith, with love, and with the certainty that miracles—sometimes—come disguised as embarrassing embarrassments, treacherous waves... and a red swimsuit floating in the sea.
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