Brief recap:
We were all set to meet a nurse in Masaya to buy a scooter but then had to reschedule at the last minute because she got in a non-scooter related wreck. Now begins Day 2…
The seller called and told Roberta that we could meet her at her house in Masaya after she got off work at 6:00 pm, so we re-scheduled Bosco to take us out there.
We had already talked to a lawyer here – recommended by our landlord – who told us exactly what we would need to get from the seller: the title and an invoice, basically a formal letter that states she is, indeed, selling us the vehicle. She would also need to sign some documents provided by our lawyer. Our lawyer talked to her on the phone and explained that she would need to come to Granada to sign the documents the next day. She said whatever the Nicaraguan equivalent of “cool” is.
We got to her house in Masaya a little after 6:00 pm. She was not there. Her mom (I assume) invited us all in (Bosco included) to sit and wait. We sat in in rocking chairs by the front door.
We waited. And we waited some more. At one point Bosco talked to the woman who’d invited us in for a bit. After that talk he came over to me, and said (not verbatim) “I don’t think you should buy this scooter now.” He said that when lawyers and documents were involved (especially in Nicaragua) everything should all happen together. He said we could buy the scooter now fully expecting her to come visit our lawyer in Granada the next day. This girl might be the most trustworthy girl in the world, but she might be “too busy” to come to Granada the next to sign papers. And might be “too busy” the day after…and the day after that…and the day after that. In the mean time we could get pulled over and not really own the scooter and have it impounded. He advised that since we aren’t residents, and must have these specialized documents signed, that we have a lawyer present and take care of the entire transaction in one sitting. Good advice, I think, coming from a guy who owns a transportation business and buys / sells many vehicles in Nicaragua.
I agreed with Bosco, especially since we’d now been waiting for this girl to show up with the scooter for about an hour. It was now after 7:00 pm and Levi was getting hungry. We decided to leave.
Bosco called the seller and explained that if she was still interested in selling the scooter then she could meet us in Granada at our lawyer’s office Friday with the scooter. Then I talked to her. She was very apologetic (she speaks some English) and explained that she had to work late at the hospital where she is a nurse. I explained that I completely understand having to work late, but this is the second day that we’ve expected this deal to happen and it hasn’t and that if she still wants to sell the scooter I’m interested but she’ll have to meet me at our lawyer’s office in Granada Friday. She said she’d call me when she could be there. We’ll see what happens, and I’ll chronicle that in Day 3!!
Side note: Bosco is by far the coolest Nica we’ve met here and we consider him, as he does us, friends. He passed up his nightly poker game to drive us to Masaya, spoke to the seller, and the lawyer for us. I’m incredibly grateful that he was there to serve as interpreter and adviser in this situation. I HIGHLY recommend his transportation service Eleda Transporte, whether you’re looking for tours or just a ride from point A to point B. They are based out of the Euro Cafe in Granada.
