MINSK, 7 May (BelTA) - Belarus won me over, former aviation engineer, musician, and Los Angeles native Mark Aron Hudnall said in BelTA’s Honest Story project.
Mark said that important things connect him to Belarus. “My first son, my first child was born here 22 years ago,” he said.
He shared the story of how he met the future mother of his son. “I love Mexican food and I never expected to find my favorite Mexican food restaurant in Abu Dhabi where my waitress was a Belarusian woman. It was the first woman I ever met from Belarus. Anyway, approximately a month later, she was already pregnant. We had a baby on the way, but we really didn't know each other very. The relationship did not hold together, but we had a baby,” Mark said. “I knew my father. I loved my father very much, and I wanted to make sure that my son knew his father too. So I would even quit jobs if I had to to at least come here for one month every year, which is a very difficult thing to do for an American, because typically we only have two weeks’ vacation. When my employers would tell me: ‘No, sorry, you cannot have one month’, I said, ‘Okay, I will quit this job’. I would have to do that sometimes. But I was very hirable. My skills were in big demand.”
He added that for the first couple of years, when he came to Belarus, he would look at the people around him and not understand a single word of what they were saying. “The architecture is completely different from Los Angeles. But I learned very quickly that the people are very wonderful, very good, very caring. So I really felt at home here eventually. As you know, I made Belarus my home. I came out of a highly technological world. I was living in Silicon Valley. The most difficult thing was finding a way to feel at home here, in Belarus. No Wi-Fi in cafes. Cafes were few. Hotel internet was not very good. My language skills were so poor that I felt like I was a fish just swimming in a fish bowl almost. I wasn't afraid of problems but it was very difficult. The language barrier still blocks me, but I’m working hard to get through it,” the musician continued. “But things change. And Belarus is like a different country now. I think a lot of people take it for granted. When I was coming here, starting in 2005, I felt like I was still seeing the tail end of the USSR. I was living in state hotel and everything was run absolutely differently than what I was accustomed to. Some time later I got an apartment. My language skills were improving. I felt more confident. But still there were times when I would get lost in the city, take a taxi to the wrong location, not be able to get back, have to rely on children to talk with. Typically, the older people didn't speak any English at all. But gradually I restored my comfort level.”
The musician spoke about what he would always like to see unchanged in Belarus. “The one thing I hope will never change is that the kindness and beauty of Belarusian women who helped me keep on track when it was hard. Some people I met here became very special to me. If it weren't for them, I probably would have given up on everything, because at times I was really tempted to give up. Today I never feel bored. Now we have Arena City. The bike path runs from Chizhovka Arena to Minsk Arena. There are very many wonderful things to do here. You can ski in the wintertime. There’s tons of new restaurants, just every kind of food imaginable except for Mexican still. So Minsk is catching up. I am very sorry that such wonderful people here have to live under the sanctions imposed by the West. It's unfair,” Mark Hudnall said.
He shared the story of how he met the future mother of his son. “I love Mexican food and I never expected to find my favorite Mexican food restaurant in Abu Dhabi where my waitress was a Belarusian woman. It was the first woman I ever met from Belarus. Anyway, approximately a month later, she was already pregnant. We had a baby on the way, but we really didn't know each other very. The relationship did not hold together, but we had a baby,” Mark said. “I knew my father. I loved my father very much, and I wanted to make sure that my son knew his father too. So I would even quit jobs if I had to to at least come here for one month every year, which is a very difficult thing to do for an American, because typically we only have two weeks’ vacation. When my employers would tell me: ‘No, sorry, you cannot have one month’, I said, ‘Okay, I will quit this job’. I would have to do that sometimes. But I was very hirable. My skills were in big demand.”
He added that for the first couple of years, when he came to Belarus, he would look at the people around him and not understand a single word of what they were saying. “The architecture is completely different from Los Angeles. But I learned very quickly that the people are very wonderful, very good, very caring. So I really felt at home here eventually. As you know, I made Belarus my home. I came out of a highly technological world. I was living in Silicon Valley. The most difficult thing was finding a way to feel at home here, in Belarus. No Wi-Fi in cafes. Cafes were few. Hotel internet was not very good. My language skills were so poor that I felt like I was a fish just swimming in a fish bowl almost. I wasn't afraid of problems but it was very difficult. The language barrier still blocks me, but I’m working hard to get through it,” the musician continued. “But things change. And Belarus is like a different country now. I think a lot of people take it for granted. When I was coming here, starting in 2005, I felt like I was still seeing the tail end of the USSR. I was living in state hotel and everything was run absolutely differently than what I was accustomed to. Some time later I got an apartment. My language skills were improving. I felt more confident. But still there were times when I would get lost in the city, take a taxi to the wrong location, not be able to get back, have to rely on children to talk with. Typically, the older people didn't speak any English at all. But gradually I restored my comfort level.”
The musician spoke about what he would always like to see unchanged in Belarus. “The one thing I hope will never change is that the kindness and beauty of Belarusian women who helped me keep on track when it was hard. Some people I met here became very special to me. If it weren't for them, I probably would have given up on everything, because at times I was really tempted to give up. Today I never feel bored. Now we have Arena City. The bike path runs from Chizhovka Arena to Minsk Arena. There are very many wonderful things to do here. You can ski in the wintertime. There’s tons of new restaurants, just every kind of food imaginable except for Mexican still. So Minsk is catching up. I am very sorry that such wonderful people here have to live under the sanctions imposed by the West. It's unfair,” Mark Hudnall said.
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