By Sunday evening (the 12th), we had the majority of our things out of the house. The only things left were the cleaning supplies (for Margarita to do her final magic), all my plants, some rocking chairs and our mattress and box spring. Now would be an ideal time to tell you that box springs don’t exist on locally made beds. Our bed has always been very “firm” and not the most comfortable bed, but we just thought that the bed place had sent the wrong mattress. In the course of the move, the protective “sheet” that covers the bottom of the “box spring” was ripped away from the frame. Upon looking at it, where I expected to find springs, instead was empty space. The base is simply a wooden frame with wooden cross pieces covered by cardboard and then, a thin layer of padding. The mattress sits on top. That explained why the bed wasn’t the most comfy, but then it only made me question even more why it was so stinkin’ expensive to begin with! But that’s a pondering for another day.
Because we left the little bit of furniture in the house, Enrique, who was on night duty that week, went ahead and came to spend the night in the house so that it wouldn’t be left unattended. I asked him if he was sure he was okay spending the night alone in the house. He assured me he would be fine and that he wasn’t the least bit afraid. I don’t think either one of us was convinced.
After a night of fitful sleep, we got ready to go back to the house to get the rest of the things. Jamil, the guard who happened to be working the day before when the robbers tried to get in to the house, had ridden his bicycle to Susanna’s house and was going to ride in the car with us up to our place. The young man (Brinson) who owned the trailer and had helped us move the day before was also going to meet us at the house. The plan was we would get the rest of the things loaded and leave the cleaning supplies for Margarita who was to do the final cleaning the following day (Tuesday).
On the way up to our house, we told Susanna about the house for rent which we had seen the day before. We told her we didn’t think it was something we could afford. She said since we would be driving right past the turn off, we ought to just go by and since she had never been in that area, she was curious herself as to the type of neighborhood it was. This time, instead of just two of us gawking right and left at the huge homes, there were four of us oohing and aahing. When we pulled up in front of the rental house, Susanna immediately started to record the phone numbers listed. She thought the house looked worth the time it would take to at least find out what it would rent for. We thought it would give us an idea of what rental property was now going for as the economy here continues to tighten. The value of things is changing almost daily, with most items going up in cost.
While Susanna was writing down the numbers, a man came walking from around the corner towards our car. He asked if he could help us and Susanna asked him if he knew anything about the house. It turned out he was the caretaker and quasi-guard. He said we could come in and look at it if we wanted. At first, we said, “no”, thinking there was really no point in looking at a place we couldn’t afford but then we decided it wouldn’t hurt to just look. So, in we traipsed, with the man (whose name we found out was Eddy) leading, smiling from ear to ear, as he proudly showed us around.
The house wasn’t magnificent by any means, but it did look relatively safe, with the exception of several of the doors and windows not having any exterior bars. The house sits on a slope and is a two story with the front door opening up to the main level and downstairs, the back door opening up to the ground level. Upstairs there are two bedrooms (each with its own bathroom), a small living room, dining room and very small kitchen. Downstairs there is another bathroom, a small storage area, another small room that could be a guest room and a small fourth bedroom and bathroom that is accessible only from the outside…most likely a room for a live-in maid but could be used by an outside guard or gardener. The house has a covered area for a vehicle, similar to a carport. There is also an exterior supplemental water tank which is a nice “extra” as we have been without water before for more than a day…that’s not fun.
I have to reiterate that the house is not fancy at all…not nearly as nice as the house we just left, but it does seem to be much more secure and the neighborhood is certainly much nicer. We had Jamil look around and he felt like the house was fairly well protected from the outside. Jim was not at all pleased that there weren’t bars on all the exterior openings. We asked Eddy how much the rent was and he said he didn’t know for sure but that the landlady had said the rent was $700 but she was willing to take less although she would not go lower than $550. There’s never a straight answer to any question here. We told him we wanted to think about it and would get back with him. And off we went, back up to our old house to finish packing things up.
Freddy was already there, waiting for us. He had come early and had dug up all the plants I had planted since arriving in May. Smiling his perennial smile, he showed me each plant he had retrieved, including a small tree I had planted in the spring. I thanked him again and again, and told him how grateful I was that he was taking care of us. He said we were like family. He thanked us again for helping him when he needed milk for his baby and money for his medical tests. He wanted to help us however he could. If he thought there was a debt to be paid, he had more than paid for it long before that.
The trailer finally arrived and all the rest of the belongings were transported safely to Susanna’s in two trips. I have to confess that all my plants, the vast majority in pots, made one load in itself. In my defense, about ½ dozen of those were in great big pots which took up a lot of room in the trailer. Plants and pots are very reasonably priced here so it looks to be much more of an investment than it actually is…and that’s something we know of which we speak!
Of course, the last load of furniture couldn’t be moved without the rain coming in. Thankfully, we had access to a blue tarp so we were able to cover the mattress and base (I can’t bring myself to call it a box springs ever again!) so that it was fairly well protected. As we pulled out behind the last trailer load, I couldn’t help but wonder where were those eyes hiding that watched us so intently, knowing our every coming and going. What were they thinking? Were they saddened their newest source of income was coming to an end? Were they smug and triumphant that they had "chased" us away? Were they battling pangs of guilt and waves of remorse? Or were they impassioned to any of it…knowing there would soon be someone else moving in to “their” familiar territory. As we passed each person we came to on the road, I wondered if they were one of the robbers…and being so suspicious made me ill. I examined each face, looking to see if it betrayed any sign of culpability. What had happened to that fundamental American principal that a person is innocent until proven guilty? Oh, yes, I remember…it stayed in America…this is Nicaragua.
That afternoon, Susanna, Jim and I went to check out a few other neighborhoods that had houses for rent. The rent was much higher and the security much less. They were smaller houses, crammed right up next to each other…some even joined together. There was very little privacy and even less yard. None seemed to offer the security and the value of the rental house we had seen earlier.
Tuesday, Jim and I decided to drive by it again ourselves, checking out the various streets that led to the house. Eddy immediately came to check out who was in back of the house and recognizing our car, came to talk to us. He wanted to know if we wanted to go inside the house again. We told him no, that we didn’t have time. He actually looked a bit disappointed…I wondered if this guy was getting a commission for each time he showed the house…he sure seemed eager to do so.
Just then, our cell phone rang and it was our friend from Jinotepe, Roger. He called just to check to see how we were doing. We told him where we were and that we were just driving around to check out the back side of the house from the street below. He asked us if we wanted him to translate anything for us and we said if he wanted to talk to Eddy and see what other info he could gather from him that would be great. And so, we put Eddy on the phone to talk to Roger. Between the two, we ended up having an appointment the next day at noon to meet with the brother of the landlady of the house. Roger and his family were going to be there with us and if Susanna had time, she was going to join us as well.
The next day (Wednesday), as soon as Rhonda, Susanna and I finished with our Bible study group, we met with Jim and Roger and all of us drove on over to the rental house. Roger and Rhonda gave it their once over and we asked them to share their opinions with us as we shared our concerns with them. Ours were all about security. Jim said that the house had to have bars on the doors and windows or we just couldn’t even think seriously about renting it, no matter how reasonable the rent.
Security. That’s the name of the dead horse we keep beating. I’ve discovered that almost without exception, all the other missionaries have gone through similar robbery experiences. We’ve just jumped the gun a bit with our time frame and, because: a) ours is the freshest experience and b) the experience is ours…well, that dead horse can’t rest in peace yet. We’re still cracking that security-is-mandatory whip.
About that time, the landlady’s brother arrived. We had made a list of concerns and questions regarding the house. Roger began talking with the man and within a few minutes, we were told the rent would be $500 a month…$50 less than the day before. We told him we were definitely interested but stressed the fact that without bars on every door and window, then we just wouldn’t even consider renting the house. The brother said that they would repaint the walls, clean the house, etc. Roger translated. We listened and thanked him…but that without bars on every door, yada, yada, yada. Repetition is such a part of conversation here…and for someone who wants to just get to the point, it can be a little tiring. But, it is what it is. (Sound familiar?) The guy finally said that he could do the bars but the rent would then go up to $525 a month. That was still at least $25 less than we had initially been quoted and for us, it was well worth the slight increase to have that horse put out of its misery.
We all discussed it and Jim and I came to the conclusion that this house could meet our needs as long as we thought we could be safe there...knowing full well that none of us are really “safe” physically, are we? We only fool ourselves if we think we can control every aspect of our environment. Every day the papers and the news channels are filled with murders, kidnappings, muggings, robberies, natural disasters, and so on. Sounds terrible, doesn’t it? I’m not speaking of the news here, and trust me, we have our own issues going on in this country, but honestly, the nightly news reports there in the U.S. are far more frightening. I guess that’s why we believe that although we do what we can to be safe physically, the concentration needs to be on the assurance of a safe eternity.
The landlady’s brother wanted us to put down a deposit equal to a month’s rent so that they could get started putting the bars on. We told him we weren’t comfortable putting that much money down as a deposit but that we would agree to a smaller sum. He said we could go ahead and move in and they could work around us. We told him we weren’t going to move in until the work was completed. He told us we probably should go meet his sister. To that, we agreed. And so, we all piled in to our cars to go meet the landlady.
After a lengthy and highly charged negotiation (which apparently is part of doing business here), Roger got the lady to agree to put bars on all the doors and windows. At one point she told us she could rent the house that day to some people from China for $700 and not have to do one thing to the house. We told Roger we understood and that we appreciated her time but that we weren’t prepared to move in to any house without the security of barred doors and windows. She finally told us that she would have all the work done by the end of the month and if we came back on the 28th, bringing all our documents with us, she would have a contract ready for us to sign and we could move in. We are hoping she’s good to her word. We want the relationship to be a good one with this lady.
The business dealings completed, she then showed us pictures of all her children – all grown and very successful in their own fields of interest. She told us her husband, who had been twenty-seven years her senior, had passed away three years prior and that she was spending most of her time handling all their rental property. I believe she enjoys the challenge of the negotiation process and is a woman who has to think she’s gotten the final word. She lives in a very nice house and obviously is a woman of means…she is also very shrewd. Personality wise, she is as opposite of Don Carlos as can be. I’m hoping she’s also on that end of the spectrum when it comes to following through with her promises.
Now…the reason I wanted to be so detailed about this whole process is I want to make sure God’s hand is seen in all of this, from beginning to end. It’s so obvious to us but because we’re living it every day, it’s probably easier for us to see it.
- We have not been at home either time the robbers paid us a visit and although the last incident was frightening to the boys, no one has been hurt
- The first time, we were attending a baptism north of Managua and the second time, we were out looking at a ministry opportunity…God “events” which kept us from being at home and possibly in harm’s way
- We already had a day guard in place and a night guard at our disposal when the second attempt was made
- Freddy never works Sundays…he was working next door last Sunday morning and although it was time for him to leave, he went to investigate the noise he heard
- It was Jamil’s first time to work days for us…his face unknown to the robbers…they probably didn’t realize he was working for us as he was down by the front road when they came
- Susanna had issued an invitation for us to come and stay with her if we ever felt the need to move…that invitation came two days prior to the break-in attempt
- We were already in the process of looking at houses for rent before we even realized we would be needing one
- The robbers were attempting to break in to our house at the very moment we were writing down the phone numbers for the rental house
- Susanna rallied the troops with just one phone call…those kids gave up a day of swimming and fellowship with one another to come move us “old folks” to safety...we could never have moved all those things ourselves in such a short time frame using only our car
- Eddy, the caretaker at the new place, “happened” to be right there when we drove up to look at the house with Susanna
- The rent on the new house is within our budget…nothing else that was in a stated “safe” neighborhood came even close
- All of our furniture will fit in this house and there’s a great yard just begging for lots of potted plants to give it a homey feel
- The landlady has agreed to do all the work we requested - including bars and windows which means the security at this house meets all our criteria…at least for now!
- Roger “happened” to call at just the very moment we were trying to understand Eddy…Roger, fluent in Spanish, then spoke with Eddy and made arrangements for us to speak to the landlady’s brother
- The new place is on the same bus route as our old one for Freddy and Margarita so that we can still keep them working
- This house boasts an amazing view off in the distance of God’s handiwork…Lake Xolotan (Lake Mangua) and the volcano that rises majestically out of it…that’s the best housewarming “gift” from God…the view I absolutely love can be seen right out the back door!
- Jim’s perk is that we can continue to go to the same bakery...it's a favorite place of his!... and the same fruit stand – these are relationships we’re working on and we’re glad we still will have the opportunity to continue to develop them
It seems like it would be natural to focus on the negatives of the past few weeks but it's difficult to do so when we see God's hand of protection and provision so clearly evidenced in the events and the people He has brought to walk with us through these experiences. We feel so mightily blessed and we pray that those blessings are multiplied to others in great abundance. This is an exciting journey we're on! We hope you continue to be a part of it with us.
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