Chief,
Sorry, had to get that last one off hasty as there were a bunch of Moroccans behind me, tapping their feet for me to hurry up and get off this greasy computer. At any rate, I hope it's easier to get into Lusaka than it was here. Plane arrived at 6 a.m. and they herded us all into a "Transit" stage where we had to go through another security line (that's three today) which was not very well organized--every plane-load that came in formed their own lines, so the damn thing looked like a spoke with one x-ray machine going in the middle. My line didn't move for an hour and then this kid in an airport uniform picks me out of the line and checks my boarding pass. He tells me to follow him, and I have a moment there when I'm thinking this is not good. But I'm getting tired of this drill and perhaps a cavity search would alleviate the boredom.
So the kid leads me through the crowd holding my boarding pass up like a talisman to much multilingual grumbling from the various queues. Kid busts me right up to the x-ray machine and now I'm really thinking it's a sting or something, but they put me through with a minor search of bags and a compliment on my hat. I give the kid a U.S. fiver and he's gone. Of course, I'm checking every pocket to make sure all my gear is still attached to me, but it seems to be one of those little airport miracles combined with the fact that the kid obviously knows class when he sees it and made the appropriate move. That, or he thought I was Ben Affleck.
In any event, I send this message now in case the sting has only been delayed and they get me for bribing a minor or corrupting an airport protocol. As always, keep the extradition lawyers on call.
Tony Perez-Giese
