Lusaka again

The internet has been acting up here so please be patient with me.  I think it is because it is the end of the month and the ISP is limiting the access we have.  Things take longer to upload and often time out before  they are done.  Right now there is an error message flashing across the top of my screen and this is the second tme I have had to write this update.

 Last weekend I got to fly into the city to take a test that would validate my US mechanic's license.   The benefit of having my license validated would be that I could sign off my work on the airplane instead of putting that responsibility onto John.   I prepared with the materials we had available but much that was on the test I had not seen before.  It is unlikely they will have the test graded while I am here on this trip but it would be useful for the next trip.
                                      
 A big answer to prayer came while in Lusaka.  I had applied for my long term workers permit.  This would get me a 2 year visa and allow me come and go over that time without paying for additional entry visas's.  There are missionaries here who have been waiting over a year to get the same visa without a word from the government.  I picked mine up after 3 weeks.  I have a good friend who is like a brother to me that is a Zambian.  He called a friend, who called a friend, ect...

 After the test and running around we needed to do some shopping for the month.  After flying 3.5 hours to get to the city and an hour driving in traffic, what do you think  is the worse thing that can happen?  I lost my list.  Calling is out of the question, I tried to remember as much as possible but I knew I missed alot.  Near the shopping plaza we found an internet cafe' and I was saved.  Printed off the list and went to the store.  The stores in Zambia while being big did not have a lot of what we were looking for.  Without boring you with a long story of grocery shopping I'll just hit a few interesting points.  Philadelphia Creme Cheese was 16$ per block! Brownie mix was 7$ and there was no potato chips.

We then headed to the airport to load it all into the plane.  There was me, the pilot and his son plus the rest of our luggage and the groceries.  My child hood Tetris skills were certainly tested this day.  We were soon off the ground and headed home.

What an exhausting trip, I'm not a big fan of cities but compared to Lusaka, Columbus is a well thought out and easy town to navigate.  On an additional side note gas here is about 9$ per gallon.  It cost about 100$ to fill up our vehicle.

Thanks for taking the time keeping up to date and praying.  I'll try to get another post in this week.   Josh