Week 4 - Bike troubles

Sorry I missed this weekend's post.  I was lazy on Saturday and needed to prepare for a sermon on Sunday.  Then on Sunday I had some motorcycle troubles that slowed me down a bit.

After church, Joseph and I were going to go into the little town nearby and purchase some meat for the birthday dinner we were celebrating.  For birthdays we often will buy meat for dinner, since meat is more expensive and we don't get it often here.  It's sort of a luxury for the poor in most 3rd world countries, as you could guess.  And now it's a luxury for us as well.  

                            

Anyway, we were on our way and stopped at Marcos' house to see if we could borrow his motorcycle so we didn't have to ride tandem.  It's much more fun to have your own ride!  So we got to his house and he showed us "the trick" on how to get the moto started for our return trip.  We get to Zambrano fine, grab our groceries for dinner and of course a snickers and a cold fruit beverage (sort of a ritual when we go to Zambrano).  We leave the tienda (store) and Joseph shows me where the doctor and pharmacy is in case I ever need to take someone there and we make one last stop for vegetables.  When we try to leave Marcos' moto wont start up...we both try several times and its just not working.  We decide maybe it's best that I go back to Marcos' house (about a 15-20 min ride) and get him to perform "the trick", meanwhile Joseph will guard the groceries and try starting the moto again in a few minutes.  If he can perform the miracle trick, then we’ll meet somewhere in the middle and turn around.

I head off to Marcos’ place, tell him about what happens and after a few laughs we head out.  About half way back to Zambrano my back wheel feels like it’s swerving all around.  That’s because it was.  Stop take a look at it, and what do you know…a flat tire.  Alright, sweet.  Stuck in a small town with no phone and no mode of transportation.  After listening to Marcos jabber to me in mostly unrecognizable Spanish (not because he can’t speak, but because I don’t understand Spanish), I think we decide that I will wait for someone to drive by and take me into Zambrano and I can start the moto.  He demonstrated “the impossible trick” on the flat tire moto and I guess I was supposed to be able to start it whenever I reached Zambrano.  Anyway, I think that’s what he was telling me, but really I’m not sure.  (I do a lot of guessing here).  After a few minutes of silence we hear a motorcycle driving towards us and once again I guess at what I think he is saying.  It sounds like his moto, and sure enough it’s someone else’s moto.  Hmmm…not good.  Thankfully a couple minutes later Joseph comes riding by!  If not, I’m sure I would have caught the next taxi to Nicaragua or something. 

In town, a mechanic helped Joseph clean out a filter and get the moto started.  Phew.  Marcos’ told Joseph (who actually knows some Spanish) to take me back to his house, grab the bicycle tire pump, leave me at his house, tell his wife to feed me, and Joe can bring the pump back.  So I had some good sopa de pollo (chicken soup) – with what I’m sure was chicken heart, and Joe left with the pump. 

Joe and Marcos return on both motos a little later, but Joe’s still has a flat!  Turns out the pump broke while they were trying to pump up the tire.  I’m not sure it would matter anyways because when we took the tire off the moto, we found a nail sticking through the tube.  Thankfully Joe and Hailey were going to the larger city the next day for an ultra sound and bought a new tube.  A 1hr 30 min trip that lasted somewhere closer to 4 hours.

Other highlights include;

-Cold milk and oreos from Comyaga (where the ultra sound was)

-pizza from Comyaga

-ho’d up the ground for our garden, but still have a lot more work left

-we think we had a bat in our house

-we definitely had a bat like moth in our house (seriously had a wingspan of 8 inches)

-Glen brought a bunch of goodies

-tipped over on the moto going up a huge hill and split my toe in half.

LASTLY - we are trying to raise $1000 for a motorcycle.  It's the easiest mode of transportation and cheapest.  Now we are doing a lot of walking, but we are all able to fit on the motorcycle when we've borrowed one.  It also makes trips into town much easier and faster.  If you are interested in helping out with the cost please let me know.  thanks!