Waiting in Line

Bureaucracies are the same world-wide. I need to renew my visitor’s visa on a monthly basis. I entered on November 1, and because another Jesuit was going to immigration, I thought I would tag along. The first office did not renew visitor’s visas so we went to another location. Patiently I waited in queue with the other people, only to find out that I was too early, because they were only renewing for November now. I could come back on Friday or Monday. But the waiting time provided me a good opportunity to do some people watching. A few observations: everyone seems to have a cell-phone; waiting and queuing is the name of the game and people are very patient; smoking is not that obvious and like the rest of the world, one doesn’t smoke in public places; and even though you think that no one knows you, you can always be surprised. As I was sitting outside the Public Services building waiting for a ride, a woman greets me, Hello Father.” It is not that I stand out, but there are not that many white people in downtown Lusaka. Once again, I was struck by the friendliness of the people. My guide through the immigration process was Ken Johnson, a Jesuit surgeon, who works at a hospital in Choma. He is a member of the Southern Province via Chicago. He was in Lusaka on his return from a Jesuit AIDS gathering in Zimbabwe.

I have a funeral this morning and then I will work on the coming "Come & See" vocation day of recollection connected with the novitiate visit of 12 candidates, the first Sunday of Advent and other odds and ends. I saw my first Advent wreath and it was made from cedar boughs.