T.A.B. Get Used to It!

That’s Africa, baby! Get used to it! I heard this expression from a fellow missionary who has lived in Zambia for 11 years. We try not to question “why” things are done a certain way, but sometimes you just have to wonder “what are they thinking?” Hence the following story:
We had placed an order for mosquito nets from a company in Zimbabwe. They agreed to ship the nets to us in Lusaka, but we had to go through customs to receive the goods. After calling the airport trying to figure out where we need to go to pick up the cargo, Ricky decided he would just drive out to the airport and deal with it face-to-face. We knew the cargo was being shipped through Air Zimbabwe, so that was his first stop. However, when he arrived at the counter, the staff was busy handling an incoming flight (the only one that day), so he was told to wait until they finished unloading the plane and reloaded it to take off again. He actually had a good time sitting in the airport for 1 ½ hours watching each plane take off and land. By the end of his wait, he was able to tell which plane would take off at a certain point on the runway depending on the size of the aircraft.
Finally, Ricky was able to talk with someone, who just sent him in another direction. He proceeded to the clearing customs area and was bombarded with private clearing agents who wanted to help him. He bypassed this crowd and headed into the clearing office. The lady explained the process to him, but he didn’t know what to do. She wanted him to pay all these charges, and then there was the option of using one of the private clearing agents which would cost money as well. So, Ricky left and decided that he needed to talk with me (Niki).
When he explained everything to me, I called the lady and talked with her again, having her explain the process to me. It was so confusing! Well, we decided to go back to the airport and attempt to get our nets.
We arrived at the clearing office, but this time no clearing agents approached us, so we thought we would try clearing customs ourselves. From the 1st lady to another building to inspecting the goods to receiving the nets, all in all we saw 15 different people in different buildings, BUT we got the nets after 2 hours spent filling out paperwork, getting papers stamped, and signing our name more than we cared to.
So, that’s Africa, baby! We are getting used to it!