Well, I guess I should have/ started to see it coming. Brian and I have found our groove this fall, and we have so much fun down here in Langano. He comes down usually on his motorcycle and stays for the weekend (in a tent in the middle of all the houses). We even "checked out" a baby from Mana Abdii the orphan house to practice for the day!
This last week was his fall break so he came down to Langano for it. He brought his car (old Land Cruiser from the 70's fixed up) down with a trailer on the back with three motorcycles. When I asked who was going to ride the third one, he said, "when we want to go somewhere together!" So he got here on Monday, and Tuesday our task was for me to learn to ride a motorcycle. He brought a "Yamaha 250" down for me, explained the gears and all that, and I started riding around the compound a little. On the long stretch of road I was feeling good and he was walking behind me so I just sped off and then of course fell and the motorcycle fell over and was reving and smoking really loud and I was calling for him while the compound guard wandered over to see what was happening! Ha! Then we went outside the compound and he told me to drive though these (TRICKY!) puddles which I did, but then the last puddle I lost control, fell, and hit an old man on the side of the road! I said "Excuse me." When I fell I couldn't pick up the bike or restart it so he was very nice and patient about restarting.
That was fun. Then Wednesday he warned me we were going to have a scavenger hunt, so he pulled out this "packet" of papers and showed me page by page my clues. It was called, "10 Reasons why I love you" scavenger hunt, and at each spot he named a different reason. He had put so much thought into it, and funny clues, and funny places, it was great. One was a little soda shop in town that we went to before we went to the mosque on the Eid, so we rode our bikes out (6 kilometers, on my second day!!) there, then to Wenney lodge for lunch, then the last clue was "a place to waterski," so that was his friends house on the other side of the lake. So we rode the two seater Honda there, and the clue said, "Your prize is in the pocket of the life jacket." We chatted with our friends for a while, then (it was later than he thought I guessed: about 6 or so, and chilly and the water was really choppy) he said, "Let's go find your last clue!" So there was a lifejacket floating out in the water maybe 20 feet out so we got in the water both freezing!! (He said later that helped him not look nervous). When we got close to the life jacket I saw there was a bottle tucked inside of it and I said, "Oh, its a message in a bottle!" So I was dancing around from being cold, and he opened the bottle (which took a long time because it was taped so securely) and out came a little jewelry bag. Then I knew for sure! He pulled it out, and dutifully knelt down (putting his face up to his eyes underwater) and asked me to marry him. I said yes!
When we turned around to get out, everyone on the beach was taking pictures! Christina had towels and a fire ready for us, and then we had a celebratory cake and champagne. There were a few Ethiopians gathered around and when we were still in the water they were doing their wave sticks/dance/chant happyness thing and I loved that there was a bit of Ethiopian culture there for us.
So we enjoyed our lake beach scene with the fire at sunset- it was so beautiful! Then Brian said he was taking me out to dinner to a lodge nearby, so we got changed and when we pulled into the parking lot I saw plate number 00943 and said, "hey, isn't that the Langano clinic car?" And when we got there the Langano station was there to meet us! Brian had invited them out. So my brain was just swimming, and they were loving it!
Since then (Wednesday) Brian has been making all kinds of funny comments now that we can talk about life together. "I better go see where I'm going to put my horse coral." "What size bed do you want, king or queen? I'm going to make it" "I wonder which [Langano] project I should work on" "How about making a deck that wraps around that tree over there and stringing Christmas lights around it?" "What baby names do you like?" "We're going to have to take that picture down because I want this room to be African themed." All kinds of things, it is so funny. We are thinking mostly about living here in Langano but that sort of depends on what he would do- he has options to think about down here that could be great. We need to pray that God will show him what is best, whether or not it is in Langano.
He left this morning, and I am sad without him! I told him I like his boots on my veranda. We have quite a challenge these next eight months between trying to seeing each other, communicating with our families, planning a wedding, figuring out how to blend our worlds that are so separate now, language and culture stress, and all our radically different opinions! I do love him, and I am excited to see things unfold.
