Friday, April 6, 2012

Lusaka!

After the usual two days of very interesting road trip, we're safely in Lusaka with no major hassles. We planned to leave around 5, and we even got all 5 people from Sakeji all loaded up and the lady we were giving a ride in the car shortly after 5, but then we got stuck at the gates at the farm. We first went the shorter way and honked for the guy to come open the gate, but we couldn't rouse him and so we turned around and went to the Ikelenge gate. We had a key that fit the lock, but didn't turn, so we had to just sit there and watch the sunrise while waiting for 6am when it was supposed to be opened. One our workers coming through went and got the key for us, so finally, around 6:15 we were on our way again! We dropped the lady off in Solwezi, and then I attempted for the third time to get my Zambian drivers license.

We had to wait till 2pm since they have a 2 hour lunch break, and when the offices finally opened up again, I went down to the room where I knew the forms were, snagged one, filled it out, and then stood in line in the payment room. After more than an hour there, I reached the window I was told impatiently to go down to the room where I snagged the form from. I dutifully trooped down there, and after 15 minutes or so got my head in the door of that room. I was then send impatiently to wait outside the door of the manager, and after another 5-10 minutes I got in. Well, the long and the short of it is that they guy wasn't interested in giving me any breaks because I'm already a licensed driver, and if I had wanted to get my license there I would have had to spend at least a week coming in every day and jumping through all the hoops. *sigh* I think I'll try again here in Lusaka--it's personal now, and all my stubborn German genes are in fighting mode!

Today we 'slept in' to the grand hour of 7:15, and then started the second leg of our trip down. We had a late lunch here in Lusaka, and then came to the Flight House and unloaded and rested a bit before grabbing some supper. Most things were closed today, so tomorrow is going to be a big shopping day. It's a little frustrating being here on a holiday weekend since so many things will be closed, but since we are taking Beth's dad to the airport on Monday we kind of had no choice. Also, we were hoping to get license in Solwezi, so we had to leave early on Thursday. The upside is that the craft market is going over the long weekend, so we have more time to browse and enjoy.

Well, it's been a long day, and I'm in desperate need of a shower--the roads are already starting to get dusty even though the rains are just stopping. Happy Easter--He is risen indeed!

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