The moment I knew: he hugged me and I didn’t want to let go
The moment I knew: he hugged me and I didn’t want to let go
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Maria Eugenia Nieva was reluctant to complicate her friendship with fellow musician Andrew. Then one day she could no longer deny her true feelings. When I was 29, I moved from Argentina to Sydney on a whim, following one of my best friends. It was late 2022 and I had a one-year working holiday visa for Australia. Initially, everything was new and exciting, but the shine soon began to wear off.
![[Andrew Blanch and Maria Eugenia Nieva perform Argentinian songs together during their Spanish Romance concert tour]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/db8ce592244ca5e3fc7d79eb34bd1788d0ec498f/0_451_1200_720/master/1200.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
In Argentina, I was a professional mezzo-soprano, but in Sydney I was racked by homesickness and working several service-industry jobs just to get by. Eight months in, I had picked up a few local singing students. One day I was giving a private lesson in a home when my student’s flatmate heard my voice and burst into the room. “You have to meet my friend Andrew!” he said. “He’s a brilliant classical guitarist who performs a lot of Latin American music.”.
Andrew and I met one Sunday morning for a coffee and walk at Bondi beach. The hours flew by as we discussed music, politics, religion and our childhoods. My English was basic, but Andrew seemed to understand exactly what I meant even when I didn’t have the words. We laughed as I taught him how to say my nickname – “Euge” – as they do back home, and which most English speakers find hard to pronounce. “Eh-ooh-he,” I said. On the cliffs overlooking the ocean, I sung a verse from Alfonsina y el Mar (Alfonsina and the Sea), a classic Argentinian song.
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