I love the hugs; hate the hat

It has sucked to not be able to tell our "big news" to our friends and family in person. I was blessed to get my parents on the phone (my mom bawled; supposedly my dad's eyebrows shot up), but for most people it's been email/blog/facebook. I'm thankful for this technology, so I can't really complain about it. It has been really amazing to tell people here about it face to face. John made me tell my boss first. Awkward! Supposedly you don't tell men this sort of thing in Zimbabwe - you just wait for them to find out. So I think he was shocked, but understood. One of my Zimbabwean mothers burst out crying. The other did a dance. I've been getting lots of hugs, lots of huge smiles, lots of "this made my day!" and lots of "finally!" It's good to feel like you're part of a family.

In other news, our Chief (2nd in command of The Salvation Army in Zimbabwe) left today - to be stationed in Liberia. A few days ago we got the message, "a few people will go to the airport" to see him off, but this morning the message was different - "all of THQ will go to the airport and all of you must be in full uniform." So everyone had to go home first and put on the full outfit. The rationale behind the uniform was that when in battle, you need to have your full battle gear on. I tried looking around the airport for the battle, but I didn't quite see it. Anyway, if I had, I would have been totally prepared in my skirt, suit jacket, fancy shoes and hat. I got away with not wearing a hat for 2 years, but a new sheriff is in town. They don't actually sell hats at trade, but a friend let me borrow hers. It is way too small, but if I don't move at all it rests gently on top of my head. I look absolutely ridiculous, and yet so ready for battle! Did I tell you that I'm having nightmares about protocol (literally...)?