I had been looking for someone to share my life with.  My last relationship had broken up about 9 months earlier, and I was looking for a lasting and permanent relationship.  I tried one of the major online dating services and had several matches, but none of the people that I met were who I was looking for.

While surfing the net one day, I came across Marianna's Marriage Agency.  I was intrigued by their web page, especially the part about, "We hold your hand throughout the process."  I started to look through the photographs of the women.  I was stunned by the beauty of the women whom I saw.

First you should know a little bit of background about myself.  As of the writing of this testimonial, I have been in law enforcement for over 13 years.  I am very skeptical about anything that I see over the internet, and I am always cautious of possible scams. So I did a little research, including reading the testimonials and newspaper articles.  Finally I was convinced that Marianna's was a legitimate agency, so I explored the website further. 

I was very happy with what I found.  What impressed me most was the agency's sincere desire to help me find a wife.  Marianna's was offering a special "Personal Photo Advertisement" where I would chose 10 of these beautiful ladies to write to.  Marianna would then narrow the list down to 6 ladies.  These 6 would receive 4 photos of me and a letter of introduction that I had written.  Within a few days, I had received replies from all of them.  Two of them politely told me that they were not interested in me.  That left 4 who wished to correspond with me.  Over the next couple of months, I got to know three of the four ladies pretty well through the letters we wrote to each other.  After about 3 months of writing to each other, I decided it was time to go to the Ukraine and meet these wonderful women. 

I contacted Cecil and told him about what I wanted to do.  I signed up for the personal tour.  I confirmed the travel dates with Cecil so his Ukrainian office would know when I was arriving and when I was leaving.  Cecil told me that the Ukrainian staff would take care of providing me with a translator and transportation while I was in their country.  I asked him for a recommendation for a travel agency, and he supplied me with one.  The lady (Erica) at the travel agency had handled the travel arrangements for men traveling to the Ukraine many times before, and knew exactly what was needed for me to obtain a tourist visa.  Within two weeks I had my visa, my airline tickets, and I was ready to go. 

About one week before I left on my trip, I received a letter from a fifth lady in the Ukraine.  I had never met this lady, but she said she had seen my picture posted at Marianna's office and would like to get to know me.  So now instead of going to see four ladies, I would see five. 

Now I was still a little skeptical.  I knew that three of the five ladies were certainly contenders for my heart.  I felt that I had gotten to know them very well during our letter writing.  Of course I had fears and doubts about meeting these ladies, but I finally convinced myself that I would go there with an open mind.  I was determined to have a good time and a great vacation no matter what happened. 

Finally the big day arrived.  I got on the plane and flew to Chicago.  From Chicago, I flew to Warsaw on Polish Airlines (LOT).  The trip to Poland was about 9 hours long, but there were two movies during the flight, and I tried to get some sleep.  I live in the pacific time zone, so there was 10 hours difference between where I live, and where I was going.  The flight attendants were helpful and seemed to be fluent in a variety of languages including English.   

From Warsaw I changed planes and had to go through a passport check.  My passport was in order, so there was no problem and I was allowed through.  It was a short flight to Lvov.

Lvov has a very small airport, and we exited the plane onto the tarmac.  From there we were driven by bus to the main airport terminal with our baggage.  Once inside the terminal, I was required to fill out a form about my stay in the country (the type of visa I had, what city I would be staying in, etc.) and I also filled out an optional  declaration sheet (for any expensive items being brought into the country).  Once these forms were completed, I went through two more check stations before I was allowed out of the terminal.  The customs people were pleasant but firm, and most of them spoke English very well.  As a traveling hint, bring your own pen.  They didn't furnish them and I ended up borrowing one from a fellow traveler in order to fill out the proper forms.

Having made it through the entry process (which took about 30 minutes), I was met by the driver (Vadim) and translator (Vitalic) as soon as I stepped out of the customs area.  Vitalic is an excellent translator and is a very friendly person.  He was to become one of my closest friends and really watched over me during the whole trip.  Vadim is also a very nice person and together with Vitalic, they answered all of my questions about the dating process and the questions that I had about the Ukraine.

After picking me up from the airport we started our journey to Chernovtsy.  We arrived in Chernovtsy at about 7:00 pm.  We stopped off at a little store on the way to my bed and breakfast so I could buy some food for my dinner for the night.  Vadim and Vitalic helped me with getting the items I wanted and we arrived at the B&B a short time later.  They took me in, showed me the house, and made sure I had everything that I needed for the night.  They said they would be by at 11:00 am the next day, and we would go to the office to meet the ladies.

The next day Vitalic and Sveta arrived right on time and picked me up.  Sveta is really a wonderful person and had personally met all of the ladies that I was going to see this day.  Sveta turned out to be my most important advisor regarding the ladies.

Here is how the process worked:  The first lady and I met for an interview in the Ukraine office.  Vitalic would translate both sides of the conversation, so there were no problems talking to each other.  As I said before Vitalic is a most excellent translator and made me fell very comfortable, and after a while I would tend to forget he was in the room translating.  After about 50 minutes or so Sveta would conclude the interview.  This would give ample time for the first lady to leave and the second lady to arrive for her interview.  This way they didn't run into each other during the interview process.

I had an interview with 4 of the 5 women the first day.  The one who I did not interview could not make it until the next day, so an appointment was set up to meet her then. 

After each interview Sveta would talk privately with the lady who was just interviewed and ask her about her impression of me, and whether or not she would like to pursue a relationship with me.  Three of the four ladies that I met that day were interested in me.  After some soul searching and discussion with Sveta, I narrowed the choice down to two ladies.  I decided to have dinner with one  that night and lunch with the other one the next day.  Vitalic took care of all of the details for the dinner date, including recommending a local restaurant.  The dinner date went well, but I was not sure that this was the right lady for me. 

The next day, Vitalic was right on time to pick me up.  Before lunch, I had an interview with the lady who was not able to make it the previous day.  Although she was a nice lady, I did not feel a connection, so I told Sveta that I was not interested in her.

We then went to lunch with the woman who would eventually be my fiancée, Marina.  Marina and I got along very well.  After we had lunch, I told Sveta that I had made my decision and that I wanted to spend the rest of my trip with Marina.  We spent the next 5 days together. 

Two days before I was to leave to come back to the states, I decided that Marina was the woman that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.  Sveta and Vitalic took me to a local jewelry store and helped me pick out a ring. 

The day of my proposal to Marina was wonderful and well planned.  We started the day with a trip to a local castle.  The castle was over 1000 years old, and was in the process of being reinvaded.  After seeing the castle, we had lunch and just spent time together.  I decided to propose to her after dinner that night.  Vitalic and I put a plan together for me to propose.  He made reservations for us at a very nice restaurant.

Vitalic taught me how to say a short phrase that roughly translated to, "Will you marry me?"  The plan was short but simple.  We would all have dinner together.  After we were done eating, Vitalic would excuse himself, and leave the room.  While he was gone, I would ask Marina to marry me and present her with the ring.  Of course Marina said yes.

I spent the next day with Marina, and then had to pack for my trip back to the States.  Again Vitalic and Vadim were on time to pick me up and made sure I made it safely and on time to the airport.  From Lvov I flew to Warsaw.  From Warsaw back to Chicago.

Overall I rate my experience with Marianna's as quite excellent.  I can personally testify that their service is top notch.