Surprised? YES!

(admittedly, this post is over two weeks late due to our difficulties with internet access…but here it is anyway!)

It was early afternoon on Wednesday when I (Jul), arriving home from work, rounded the corner of our apartment block and headed up the steps to our front door. Suddenly I drew up short and my heart was arrested as I saw a sleeping body laying on a duffel bag immediately in front of our door. But then in a split second, the person awoke, raised her head and our eyes met – Rachel? Rachel! How…?!

Yes, she surprised us for a five day visit, en route from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (visiting Craig’s current ministry) back to Kampala, Uganda, via Johannesburg. Without telling us her plans, she moved her flight to Kampala back five days and found a cheap ticket down to Cape Town.* So we were totally amazed to see her and be able to spend a few precious days together, celebrating her recent engagement and ‘mourning’ her forthcoming departure from Fort Portal (UG). Though the weather was quite wintry and cold (especially inside our flat, since we’ve yet to get a space heater and indoor heating doesn’t exist here – thank goodness for the new blanket we just purchased), we enjoyed cooking together, sharing stories and photos and laughs, going to church, a short hike up to Rhodes Memorial, lunch at the Waterfront, and several episodes of ‘The Amazing Race’ on dvd. Hopefully we will be together again at Christmas time – and next time with ALL the Hawkins siblings together!

*for those of you not looking at a map of Africa, Johannesburg is south of Bulawayo – a 15 hour bus ride – and the airport from which flights depart South Africa for Uganda. Cape Town, however, is a 2-hour flight southwest from Jo-burg, so Rachel had to get on a plane and go out of her way to see us. Upon leaving us, she flew back to Jo-burg, then on to Kampala, then took a bus home to Fort Portal the following day. Now that’s a long trip! And now…go look it up on a map!