Pleading for Pennies

Yesterday I had the opportunity to make some real money. I strapped on a toolbelt, cut and nailed boards, and wrote down my hours. It was a good feeling, to make some of my own money. I didn't have to ask anyone for it, and I didn't feel even a hint of guilt in looking forward to the check. There were no niggling voices in the back of my head wondering if I was worthy of receiving that money, wondering if I would put it to good enough use, wondering if I should cut back on expenses. Those thoughts come when I ask for money to serve in Nicaragua, when I raise financial support in North America.

I often feel tempted to just go it alone. What if I worked for a few years and then paid my own way as a missionary? The practice of "tentmaking" as I serve appeals to me. I could have a paying job and volunteer on the side, dedicating my time to serving when I'm not working. Not having to justify my use of other people's funds as I work overseas would be one less periodic existential crisis.

But that wouldn't be the point. As I was considering the freedom and self-sufficiency of earning money to support myself, God corrected me. Raising support isn't about me. It's about everyone participating in God's call on their lives. He has asked me to go to Nicaragua, and he has asked others to donate time, money, prayer, etc to his work in Nicaragua through me and indirectly to the Nicaraguan people that I serve. God is asking something of those who donate, and he's asking something of me. I can't say what the Spirit whispers in each heart that prompts the person to write a check or tell me their praying for me or excitedly ask questions and affirm what I'm doing, but I know God is at work.

 In my own heart, Jesus teaches me about humility and dependence. The lesson of Matthew 25 and not worrying about what I will eat or what I will drink or what I will wear takes on a different hue when I'm thinking about a budget overseas and asking others to help pay my salary. When I consider the verse about "bearing one another's burdens," the exhortation to pray for one another becomes more applicable when I think about needs in Nicaragua and asking people in a distant land to pray for them. I search the Bible for verses that guide me in what I'm doing overseas. "For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake" from 2 Corinthians 4:5 describes how I am representing Christ in Nicaragua. I'm preaching Jesus as Lord with my life even though I am not a great evangelist or doing much concrete work. And being a servant? Well, I take great joy in inviting community leaders and pastors into my house and life, giving them a chair to sit on and a cookie to crunch while they share with each other about joys and struggles in ministry. I serve Christ by serving them, the leaders who give up time and comfort to sacrificially do what God asks of them.

Furthermore, by relying on my own two hands for support, I would be continuing the cultural lie that I don't need other people. I can pull myself up by my own bootstraps. However, in the Bible I see that we are created to be dependent - on God and other people. By creating a network of support where we learn from each other and give to each other, my supporters and I demonstrate the Kingdom of God in contrast to what the world says. I learn to be less self-sufficient from Nicaraguans who are more relational and interdependent, and I learn that from my experience as a missionary in North America.

Although at times I feel like support raising is just begging, I have to remember that this is what God asks of me right now. Obedience doesn't look the same for everyone. For me, it looks like reminding myself that asking others for money and prayers is not about me. It's about all of us participating in the Kingdom of God. If I run from my duty in this area, I'm denying others the blessing of obedience. In the Bible, God has called us to give generously, and he has called us to disciple the nations. We are all involved in doing what God asks.

So the next time I feel like I'm just pleading for pennies, I will remember what God has spoken to me. It's not about me - it's about Christ and proclaiming him as Lord in my life. By involving others in that process, we can all be a participate in the Kingdom of God and learn from Him in the process.

Touching Down

I’ve never been to Miami before, but today I got to touch down there on my layover between Managua and Chicago. As far as airports go, it’s fine. As far as cultural bridges, I think it fit my needs perfectly. Because it was a new place, I got excited to see something new, to think that I was in MIAMI. Walking around the airport smiling, I was distracted from feeling sad about leaving Nicaragua, from feeling apprehensive about the busy upcoming month, from my exhaustion… Plus, I heard Spanish. Now, I don’t live 100% of my life in Spanish, but it is always accessible, and it is comfortable. When I don’t hear it, I miss it. In Miami, the majority of personnel were speaking Spanish if they weren’t speaking to travelers, and just hearing it comforted me.

When you change cultures, all sorts of little things hit you. I have felt called to Nicaragua, and I am happy with my decision to live there long-term. I’m to the States today for a month to raise care, prayer, and financial support as a partner missionary with the Nehemiah Center. The schedule is full of travels and visits, theoretically, though I only have rough plans for the month. I’m excited to be home, to see friends and family, to feel like I belong on the streets as just another person… But the fact is that I have chosen a new home now, and it’s hard to leave. It’s amazing how much the little details impact me, how much they matter. Transitions, you know. That’s why Miami was helpful.

Don’t get me wrong- I’m excited about all sorts of things being back in North America. Here’s a list of examples:

• ·         I can and will eat apples with reckless abandon, seeing as how they are way too expensive in Nicaragua, and I doubt they taste the same.
• ·         Flushing toilet paper down the toilet.
• ·         The smell of fresh-cut grass
• ·         Choosing the water temperature. In my shower, washing dishes, washing my hands… well, just about everything. It might not seem like a big deal, but it is.
• ·         Driving a car without feeling like I should be honking at every intersection to signal, “Here I am, don’t pull out, I have the right-of-way”
• ·         Few people will stare at me because I’m white, fair-haired, or blue-eyed.
• ·         I won’t be wondering half the time if I really meant to say what they just heard. Maybe I should be, but I don’t have the same questions about English as I do about my Spanish.
• ·         Hugs will be abundant; kisses will not.
• ·         Unlimited texting and an abundance of cell phone minutes. My calling plan in Nicaragua runs out pretty quickly, and that’s just with making calls to other Nicaraguans
• ·         I won’t be sweating constantly
• ·         In fact, I will get to enjoy fall! Changing leaves, apple cider, crisp breezes. I’m excited to wear hoodies and scarves and fashionable boots – and maybe even a hat
• ·         Since the purpose of my trip is support raising, I’ll get to share about Nicaragua, the Nehemiah Center, and my work as a matchmaker in ministry. That’s right – All the things that I love best professionally.
• ·         Leaving my wallet and keys in the car without locking the car… though I still think twice now before I go inside

But there are also things I will miss about not being in Nicaragua even though I know I will be back in a month, such as:

• ·         Riding my bike everywhere I need to go in town, or walking across the street to buy what I need for supper
• ·         Not needing to drive a car to get from one place to another
• ·         Greeting nearly everyone I lock eyes with on the street, especially my neighbors
• ·         The attention I automatically get. Maybe this isn’t a good thing to miss, but it will be something for me to get used to even if I’m glad about it
• ·         The hummingbird that comes to the tree in our garden every day
• ·         Buying fresh tortillas from the vendor on the street
• ·         Simply twitching my face to ask someone to repeat something, or pointing with my lips
• ·         Speaking in Spanish a majority of the time
• ·         The way a heavy rain automatically cancels whatever activity you had planned
• ·         Not needing to look at the weather because I know that basically every day will be the same temperature
• ·         Not really worrying about being late
• ·         Going to church on Thursday nights as well as Sunday mornings because there’s something centering about going to a mid-week service

I could go on listing, but that’s not the point. The point is, there are things about both places that I love, and things – people, mostly – that I miss. The transition between worlds might take me a few breaths, but I’ll get there. Until then, I’m thankful for places like Miami.

August Newsletter: So Many Changes!

Cohort of Missioners in Nicaragua : Caminantes en la Misión There is a time for everything, and everything changes with time. Since the last time I wrote, many things have changed. I have now been in Nicaragua for over half a year. My fellow Caminantes and I seem to have found our place in the Nehemiah Center. Many of the IMPACT Clubs have started, and we are all acting as leaders in these special youth groups. My brother graduated from university, and I was able to be a part of the celebration in Iowa. I planned and participated in a visit from a peer organization called Communities First Association. Sickness attacked with a vengeance during the month of May, and I've learned some difficult lessons about balance and rest. I moved out of my host family's house and into a place for communal living with the other Caminantes. For the first time in my life, I have my own house! We have had several short-term visitors, and we facilitated their time in León. I had a birthday. I also decided to accept an offer to continue working with the Nehemiah Center long-term. Lots has happened! Through it all, God has remained faithful, and I'm grateful that wherever I go and whatever I do, He remains the same. Mi Casa es Su Casa As the Caminantes in Nicaragua, we have been praying, planning, and searching for a house for several months now. Mark, Guissell, and I started thinking about it because we wanted a place of our own where we could invite all sorts of people all the time. People from the community, our friends, our colleagues, etc. We dreamed of having a place where participants in the Caminante program would live, eat, pray, and play together. As our work became more diversified, we saw a common house as a way to bring us together again. After looking for houses to rent, we heard of one close to the baseball stadium with many rooms and bathrooms at an affordable price. From our first visit to the signed contract, we delayed a month. It seems that this house was God's gift to us because the landlady really wanted us to live there, and she waited for us to agree. Since Guissell and I moved in the first week of June, we have already hosted a short-term team for 24 hours, invited people to dinner, acted as a hostel for traveling friends, and held Nehemiah Center meetings at our place. Our Nicaraguan friends have pitched in to loan us everything from a fridge to a stove to beds to dishes. It's a beautiful display of the generosity among the Body of Christ, and we hope it continues to be a place that points to the Kingdom of God. That said, you are welcome to visit! We have room for you. Please and Thank You -- I got sick with the stomach flu and various colds in the last month, but I'm thankful that the Lord gave me rest in those times. I'm also thankful for health now --Praise God for my 26 years of life! And thanks to all who made the day special and helped me feel celebrated -- I'm thankful for a new place to live as well as continued relations with my old family --Thank God for direction by confirming my decision to stay in Nicaragua and continue to do what is placed before me --Rejoice with me about a refreshing week at a Servant Partners training, with a mini-retreat, group Bible studies, and intercessory prayer with o --Ask God for discernment so that I can balance my life and make healthy choices regarding work and rest -- Ask the Lord to provide for my financial, emotional, and spiritual needs as a partner missionary. I need to raise more funds for a longer period of time. I plan to return to North America from August 30 to September 30, and I hope to have most of my budget raised in that time as well as reconnect with people. -- Ask the Spirit to give us harmony in our new home and help us work together as the Caminantes to describe what our program is and how it should be run in the future You're Doing What Now? Towards the end of May, I received an email from Nehemiah Center staff offering me a long-term position. It will be a bit different from the work I have been doing in the community development program, but it encompasses a lot of the partnership roles I have taken on. The most exciting thing is that I will be a member of the Nehemiah Center's Ezra Team and get to work with local pastors a lot. My official title is Intercultural Facilitator, and I will act as a bridge between Nicaragua and the rest of the world. A lot of the partnership focus is on North America, but we have connections to other Latin American countries as well as Romania with IMPACT Clubs. Some of my duties will include working with the Ezra Team to develop volunteer opportunities, figuring out how all volunteers leave the Nehemiah Center with the same basic ideas, maintaining and expanding church partnerships, looking into and pushing for more Nicaraguan missionaries to go abroad, overseeing and contextualizing the IMPACT program, and encouraging discussions about city vision among pastors and leaders. Some examples of these tasks would be helping university students find internships, translating emails between Nicaragua and Canada, keeping track of how many IMPACT Clubs Nicaragua has and what the leaders need, or calling local pastors to meetings where they pray and dream together. In other words, I get to be a ministry matchmaker on individual, group, organizational, city, regional, and country levels. In many ways it seems like my dream job though I am aware of my inadequacy for the task, forcing me to recognize the importance of prayer in everything that I do, depending on the Lord and His strength. (Pictured above are all of us at the Nehemiah Center who share a birthday on July 7) A Week in the Life When I'm not traveling with a group or participating in some training, my weeks have a general rhythm to them. On Mondays, I go to Managua to the Nehemiah Center for morning devotions. It's advisable to go by car, spend the night in Managua, or do whatever you can to avoid the bus on Monday morning because it's always full. After devotions, we have meetings with the Nicaraguan program coordinators (monthly) or with Steve, our supervisor. I go out to lunch with friends or pack something from home. In the afternoon I catch the bus back to León and go to Nuevo Horizonte to lead an IMPACT Club. Nuevo Horizonte is a neighborhood where I attend most of the community development activities, including this group for young people to do community service-learning projects, and their leadership team is pictured above. Tuesdays are usually planning days with Roberto. We map the week and divide up tasks. Sometimes we have an afternoon meeting in a community where we work. Wednesdays I have been trying to make as quieter days. Usually I have extended morning devotions, clean or do laundry, catch up on paperwork, and visit friends and acquaintances in León. In the evening I go to pick up Guissell from the community where she leads an IMPACT Club. Thursdays are often full days of meetings or trainings with Roberto, or we work on reports together. In the evening I go to church at Promesa. Fridays are also days for training, meetings, and paperwork. I work on translation projects, interviews, writing policies for the Caminantes, etc. Sometimes we have people over for dinner on Friday or Saturday nights. Saturdays are days to catch up, finish projects, clean the house, and have special meetings. Occasionally I go with a projector to a church to show a movie or a slide show at the request of a church member. Sometimes I plan for the next week's IMPACT Club meeting. Sundays, I go to church in the morning and spend the rest of the day with people or resting in my house. This gives a picture of my daily life although there are always exceptions to the average week's schedule. Up and Coming -- Conversations with the Nehemiah Center and Christian Reformed World Missions about my transition from being a short-term volunteer to a partner missionary for the foreseeable future. This includes a lot of work for becoming a partner missionary as well as transitioning from one position to another at the Nehemiah Center -- I will participate on the committee to evaluate the Nehemiah Center and determine the parameters for a five-year strategic plan, with definitions laid out by October -- Training with Roberto in each community about the five dimensions of development -- Describing and writing a lot of the policy for the Caminantes so others can follow us -- Partnership development as a missionary via social media and a trip to North America from August 30 to September 30 to share with c To partner with me: Go to www.crwm.org/donate OR make out a  check to Christian Reformed World Missions, put WMLA 803904 in the memo line, and mail it to  CRWM USA 1700 28th St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49508 unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences To contact me: Adrianna Oudman c/o Nehemiah Center Apartado Postal 1076 Managua, Nicaragua Email: adrianna.oudman@gmail.com Blog: adriannaoudman@blogspot.com

Water

If it's yellow, let it mellow.

That was my grandpa's motto when we stayed at his house growing up. I came from my house with a well that never ran dry to a farmhouse that operated on a cistern system. When the gutters didn't collect rain, my grandparents had to pay a water truck to haul water to their house and fill the cistern. So Grandpa was always frugal with water, especially on toilet flushes.

I think about that now as my region of Nicaragua is in a drought. Unfortunately, because of the heat, letting it mellow can become more like letting it ferment. But that's just olfactory stuff. Not only does conserving water cut down on our water bill, but it also gives me a sense of acting in solidarity with those who are suffering because of a lack of water.

Nicaragua's rainy season is supposed to start in May and pour with a vengeance until about this time in July. We've had a few rains, but hardly anything. What should now be a time of harvest continues to be a time of waiting. Farmers didn't plant this past season, and if they did, they didn't get enough food to live off of. There's talk of severe food shortages in Western Nicaragua. Cattle are dying because there's not enough pasture. The dark clouds that roll in only bring winds of dust. People are getting sick or having allergic reactions to all the dirt in the air.

On the other side of the country, I heard tonight, the Atlantic Coast is suffering from too much rain. They are having floods. Farmers are losing their crops because there's too much water. Only God knows what he's doing, the pastor commented to me. It's true.

Please pray for Nicaragua. Ask God to send rain to some parts, and less to others. When you flush your toilets or let the water run while you brush your teeth, thank God for the blessing of water pipes that work and wells that aren't dry. It's not a given at all, this business of having water, no matter where you live.

Keep still

When I was in elementary school, I had an assignment where I had to ask my dad what his favorite Bible passage was. He told me it was Psalm 46.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
 though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter,
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to then end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the chariots with fire.

"Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!"
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

For a ten-year-old, that psalm seems more scary than comforting. I hadn't lived through much to want a refuge. All that talk of war and desolation, the earth shaking at God's voice, shouting about the nations exalting the Lord seemed a little extreme. The words "be still" seemed more like a command than an invitation. I wrote that it was my dad's favorite passage while secretly questioning his judgement. Now I understand a bit better why he chose that one for a school assignment.

Tonight in church, we focused on Psalm 46:10, and it was as if God was speaking directly to me through the pastor. Unlike usual, I started taking notes as soon as I heard the opening sentences. I'll write them interspersed with my thoughts in italics.

Be still, and know that I am God. The truth is, I'm ready for some stillness. I feel like I have been running at full tilt for the past two months. I've started to fret more than usual, I'm irritable, and tired most of the time. I have taken my eyes off of Jesus and fixed them on how much my hands and feet can accomplish in one day. Sickness has been haunting me over the past few weeks, and I know that I am not taking care of myself. Despite this knowledge, I have felt powerless to change my situation.

The tendency is to make ourselves desperate. We become anxious. Psalm 23 says, "He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul." It's hard for someone to attend to us if we aren't still. A teacher can't give the lesson if you are talking over what she is saying. In quietness, we can find and meet God.

Oh yes, I've been desperate. The fact that I have made several snippy comments to Roberto and others this week proves that. Instead of recognizing the value of interruptions in my schedule to visit the sick, I've been put out. I haven't been sleeping. This weekend I was planning to do a sort of silent retreat. A year ago, I was in a week of silence at Taizé monastery in France. It changed my life, and I want an experience with God again. In quietness we can meet God. In that quietness we can know who God is.

Who is God? Numbers 23:19 says, "God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should repent." God does what he says he will do. Psalm 37:7 says to keep silence and wait for the Lord. Psalm 37:19 says that those who wait for the Lord will not be put to shame in times of evil. In times of famine they will live in abundance. I have been waiting for the Lord, but not very quietly. I have a decision to make about what comes after December. The fact is, I've been offered different positions, and I can't figure out how to make the decision. My feelings toss me one way and then the other. I know what I want, but I'm inexplicably afraid of what my answer could entail. Perhaps I'm afraid of being put to shame if it all goes south. And there are always little niggling doubts in my head that I'm not enough, that God will change his mind about me like he did about Saul, that an answer will not come. Are we really getting to know God in these difficult times? Or are we just complaining and lamenting, asking God "why?" Are we experiencing His presence in the hardship?

Well, there's a wake-up call. Yes, I've been coming to that conclusion myself. It's not so much about seeking an answer as it is about seeking God. Jesus is the one I should be looking for, not some mysterious direction in which to go with my life. The answers fall into place when I am dependent on God. Our hope and confidence should be put in God. Isaiah 26:2-4 talks about God keeping in perfect peace the one whose hope is in God. Our strength is in the Lord, and our confidence depends on God. 

Lately, I have wanted to do devotions, but I haven't really known what to study. I'm not in the middle of any books. I've been reading a psalm daily, but I want to spend more time in the Word - I just don't know where to go. So I've been listless about reading the Bible. Don't get distracted and allow the enemy to rob you of the Word. Take it and believe that God will do what he says. A desperate person acts crazy and doesn't make good choices. We need to wait quietly for the Lord, holding onto the Word.

He is my help and my strength. We can't go to the store and ask for a pound of strength. They might give us a 5 pound sack and tell us to lift it regularly, and then we'll have strength. But really, our strength only comes from God.

Like Jacob, don't let go of God until he blesses you. Don't give up on the answer from God. Like I said, I've been missing France and actually my whole experience from last summer. Strangely, I had this image of Jacob in my head last year, telling God that I would not let him go until he blessed me. When I entered into a week of silence, I thought I would need to wrestle with God about why I was a Christian and what purpose I was supposed to serve on this earth. But Jesus surprised me by wooing me with his love. We didn't wrestle; he embraced me. So today, this story comes back in a different way, and it brings a smile to my face.

Psalm 46:7 and 46:11 are the same. God really wants us to know who he is. He is the God of hosts, and our refuge. It repeats.

So how are we going to be? Quiet. We can grow to a new level of dependency on Him. We need to seek him more. Yes, a new level of dependency. I have a bad tendency of thinking I (or someone else) has "arrived" and there's no need to strive anymore. But as I wrestle with decisions about my future, policies for the present, and reflections on the past, I still need to depend on God. In quietness is my strength because it is there, in the deep places of my heart, that I know God best.

Getting Left Behind

With less than a month to go until I turn 26 and still single, some people are starting to make comments. Nicaraguans frequently ask me if I have a boyfriend. When I tell them no, they ask why not. When I say that God hasn’t put the right person in my life yet, they say that the train is leaving the station, and I should hurry up about finding someone. I tell them that Nicaragua doesn’t even have a train system, so it might as well leave me behind.

I’m not bitter about this. I love my life, and I don’t have any regrets about what I’ve done. I see singleness as a gift, especially now as I live abroad and explore the wonders of the world. In my very limited romantic experience, I’ve learned that when I rush things, they turn out badly. It’s better to relax and wait on the Lord. I trust Him with the timing of things.

I also trust that if I never marry and have children, that’s okay too. I’m not opposed to the idea, but I’m not longing for a family of my own, either. I have many rich relationships that fulfill me and give me a chance to serve others. Furthermore, having a husband and children was never one of my life goals. I didn’t think much about my wedding or how many kids I wanted or what color the walls of my house should be. In fact, I never spent much time planning my future. I’ve seen that people’s plans often change. Who am I to say where God will take me in 10 years? I couldn’t have imagined what my life would look like one year ago, and I don't know how to predict the next one.

But I have had one long-term goal as long as I can remember. To serve the Lord in whatever He asks me to do. My parents taught me from a young age that my faith should affect every facet of my life. I should always do my best in everything, as unto the Lord.  When I became a member of the church at 16, my theme verse was Philippians 1:21, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” I wanted that verse to be the truth of my life. I knew I hadn’t achieved it yet, but I wanted it to be true one day. Obedience is my lifelong goal. And that’s what has brought me thus far. By the grace of God, I have had all sorts of wonderful, undeserved opportunities. I have studied and traveled and met all sorts of people and made many friends. Some people say that my choices have affected my status as a single person. Perhaps I’m intimidating because of my intelligence, or unavailable because of where I choose to live, or too demanding because of my high standards. Perhaps.

Whatever the reasons, I feel content with my life. I believe that I have followed God’s leading in the choices that I have made. Regardless of the consequences, I have felt alive because I have been living out God’s purpose for me in my life. Of course I don’t have the same experiences as some of my friends who are married or have children, but I have other experiences that are also rich. As I learn to be more and more in love with Jesus, I realize that everything else falls into place. Love is the main motivation for everything in life.

So no, I don’t worry about becoming an old maid or getting left behind. The Lord has blessed me in my life. I’m glad that I’ve made the choices I’ve made. And no matter what happens, if at the end of it all I hear, along with all the others, “Well done, good and faithful servant” that will be enough. It has been so far, and it will continue to be. One step at a time, following the Holy Spirit’s dance through life.

Buyer's Remorse

This week I had to learn one of those valuable yet painful life lessons. Thankfully, it was about purchasing things in a foreign country - nothing too heart-wrenching, but a valuable lesson nonetheless.

As you know, I've moved out of my host family's house. The Cohort of Missioners is giving a house of their own a go. Right now, that means Guissell and me, but Mark will probably join us again in July, and there's a new missionary coming whom Guissell knows from Costa Rica who will live with us as well. Since I no longer live with Dona Idalia, I figured I should get my own bike. Guissell and I have been going to the market almost every day to buy things we need for the house. Tuesday we went together, and I was going to pick out a bike.

Instead of going to the bike section of the market, I stopped in a distributor's shop just to look quickly before making our way to the bike section. Well, I got pulled in. When I expressed doubt about the bike the salesman showed me and said I was going to go to the bike section, he insisted that they were a distributor and any bike I bought over there from the shops would have come from them. I got him to throw in mudflaps and a good greasing, all for the price of about $84. A little on the high end, but normal from what I'd already quoted.

I should have asked more questions.

When the salesman showed it to me, the bike didn't have pedals, a seat, or the mudflaps. I didn't see what models they were going to put on. I just handed over my money and trusted I would like it. Wrong. And after I tried the bike, the gears weren't working right. Considering it was a new bike, I was quite upset at all the problems. And from the feeling of the bike, I'm just going to continue to have problems because they used cheap parts. After I sent the bike back to the shop 3 times, the head mechanic finally discovered that the gear shifter had a manufacturing error. By this time, we had been at this store for over an hour. When I asked if I could just return the bike because I wasn't happy with it, the salesman said it had already been greased, and they'd written it up, so I couldn't return it.

When my friend Roberto saw the bike, he did not approve. The gear sprocket was loose. The tires were not aligned. The pedals were not new, or if they were, they were not in good shape. Things I had known, but was out of patience to deal with at the store because I wasn't getting the results I wanted. Roberto told me he had a friend in the bike section, and he would go with me the next day to get it fixed.

So on Wednesday I went with Roberto to another bike shop. They told me the parts on this bike were cheap, and they wouldn't last. They changed out the sprockets and pedals. They also added pegs on the back (I'm hoping to have some passengers!). So I invested another $7 in repairs on my new bike. And the shop owner told me he had a brand new bike for about $70. Bummer. Furthermore, they informed me that I was within my rights to insist on returning the bike the day I had wanted to return it.

When Guissell asked me how the bike stuff went on Wednesday, we were in the car with my host brother Albert. After hearing my tale of woe about the bike (I was very frustrated, especially knowing that I had gone against my better judgement on several points), Albert wanted to see the bike. He also confirmed that I should have been able to return the bike that same day, especially since I had a receipt. When Albert looked at the bike, he thought that the rear axle was bad, and that's why my bike was making a clicking noise with every revolution. He told me to take it back to the store and demand that they fix or change it for me. I asked him to go with me, and we made a plan.

So yesterday, third day in a row, I showed up at the market with this bike. Albert got them to look at the rear axle, and they did something to it. It felt much better when I tried it out, and really, I didn't want to be there any more.

What did I learn? Lots.

1) Don't try to be so independent. I could have asked Roberto or Albert to go with me when buying the bike originally. Guissell knows less about bikes than I do, and not much about negotiating in a market, either. If I'd asked someone knowledgeable and trustworthy, I could have saved myself some frustration as well as some money. My reasons for going alone were partly pride, partly self-assurance that I can live here alone, partly sheepishness and not wanting to impose on someone else. Bottom line is that they were bad reasons. Lesson: Bring a guide.

2) It's better to go to the section of the market that specializes in that item instead of going to a general distributor. When I got the bike, it was always being worked on out of my sight. I have no idea what the mechanics did. Nor did I see what types of pedals, seats, and mudflaps they had available to specify what I wanted. If I'd gone to a bike shop specifically, I would have seen it all. The salesman actually told me it was better for me not to go to the shop even though I wanted to. Lesson: See it firsthand.

3) If I have a receipt, it's definitely within my rights to return the item, no matter what the salesman tells me. I could have gotten a police officer involved. Here's where a guide would have been helpful as well. Albert or Roberto knew that I should have been able to return the bike the same day. The problem was that I didn't know the policies for return, being in a foreign setting. Lesson: Know your rights.

4) Finally, I feel bad because I ignored some of my instincts. I let myself be pushed around, and I didn't insist for what I wanted. Saying no is always hard for me, especially in pressure situations, but I should have told that salesman "no." Lesson: Go with your gut.

Those are the main things. I'm thankful that it was only a purchase of $80 instead of $800. It could have been worse. And to be fair, I probably shouldn't expect a really good bike for only $80. When I had a Costco bike in Canada, I knew that it wasn't the greatest quality. Same thing here. Even though there aren't many bikes for thousands of dollars here, that doesn't mean the quality is any better than getting any old bike in North America. And now I know how to do things better in the future.

I'm very thankful for this bike. Even if it is not ideal, it will serve me well. I've already been bopping all over town on it. Goodbye, taxis!