Amir, 33, and Amy, 42, met when he helped her move house in 2020 – a language barrier meant they began their relationship through Google Translate. Now married, they live together with their two cats in Georgia
In February 2020, Amy had plans to go on holiday to the UK to visit friends. Originally from the US, she was living in Tbilisi, Georgia, teaching English to Chinese students. At the last minute, she pulled out of the trip. “I’d heard about the virus that had started spreading through Europe and decided it might not be great timing,” she remembers. The same week, she discovered black mould in her home. “Instead of going on holiday, I decided to move house.”
After finding a new flat, she asked a friend if she knew anyone who could help her to move. “She said she knew someone from Iran but he didn’t speak any English.” Amir had moved to Georgia to buy a home, had bought a van and set up his own moving business. When he arrived to pack up her boxes, she was struck by how attractive he was. “He was the most handsome man I’d ever seen. I hardly knew where to look,” she says. Because Amir couldn’t speak English, they weren’t able to communicate on the journey. “Even though we couldn’t talk, I thought she seemed smart and pretty,” he says. The next day he texted her to ask her out, using Google Translate to send the message. They went for dinner and used their phones to communicate all evening. “We talked about our families and the reasons we’d come to live in Georgia,” says Amir.
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