I'm engaged. It's cool. I like it.

It happened like this:

Alana and I had been in Bishkek for about three days and I was tired of carrying the ring (bulky little box) in my pocket everywhere looking for a great place to ask her. Plus I had 10000 tenge stolen from me on our way into B-kek, so I was a little skittish still. Also, making plans really doesn't happen in central asia. You can't just whip up some elaborate romantic scheme because as soon as you count on something to work here, it doesn't. So I had to bide my time. In the park? In the mountains? At Fat Boys?

Nope. I asked Alana to marry me in Carla and Tracy's kitchen, right after breakfast Saturday. She was suprised and said yes. That's really all there is to it.