A Californian party girl has swapped her fun lifestyle to become a traditional housewife in a poor part of India
An American woman is “happier than ever” after ditching her comfortable Californian life to become a traditional housewife in rural India.
Mum-of-one Adriana Peral, 41, fell in love over social networking site Facebook with a man 16 years her junior.
After a whirlwind romance the former receptionist flew to the sub continent to meet the man she’d fallen in love with.
Within months she was married to Mukesh Kumar, 25, and had assumed her new role as a doting housewife – sweeping, cooking, cleaning and mucking in on the family’s farm in an impoverished community in Haryana, India.
Adriana, who had to leave her 25-year-old daughter Lucy Cortez behind, said: “I love my life here with Mukesh – I wouldn’t exchange it for anything in the world.”
But Adriana’s family were shocked when she decided to make the bold move.
She said: “Some people thought Mukesh was a fake, an online scam and that he didn’t really exist. I can’t describe the moment I finally saw him at the arrivals gate at Indira Gandhi airport – it was a big relief to finally see him in person.”
 Adriana’s new home was a modest farm house in Popran, a large village over 30 minutes drive from the nearest town.
Adriana added: “When I first stepped off the plane it was a complete culture shock.
“It is stricter here – women have to cover up more.
“At first it was a real struggle, but soon you realise you don’t need a fancy toilet or power shower to be happy.”
One of the biggest challenges, says Adriana, was being accepted among the largely impoverished locals.
Adriana, who immediately ditched her favoured high heels and adopted sandals, saree and headdress, said: “Foreigners are rarely seen in the villages here, and wherever I went a crowd would develop all wanting to catch a glimpse of this outsider.
“Over time I began to get used to it. It was a bit like being a celebrity, but they have accepted me as one of their own now.”
 Mukesh, who speaks broken English, but is learning from his new wife, said: “Adriana is a good wife. She is always doing housework and if my mum is doing dishes she say, ‘No, I want to do – it is my job.’
“I am very happy to marry with her. It is true love.”
The couple now plan to have children together and build a family in India, but Adriana isn’t ruling out returning to the US one day.
She said: “If I could bring the American food and luxuries here it would be perfect. But one day we would like to return to America with our family.
“The people of India are very loving and this does feel like a second home now.”