In Search of Shelving

Angie and Emily, North American teachers at Nicaragua Christian Academy, both want a shelf in their bedroom closets.

Saturday morning at 10:30 Marlo measures the closets and we set out for boards and screws. Our guest house host, Ricardo, has warned us that the only smooth wood we may find will be 4- by 8-foot sheets of laminated board. We have directions to a potential source: Richardson’s.

Emily maneuvers amid noisy mufflers, honking drivers, and stoplight street vendors to Richardsons. We enter past the armed guard and ask the clerk about wood.

No, they don’t carry it, but the carpintera across the street does.

But the carpintera carries only sheetrock and rough lumber. He directs us back across the street to the store behind Richardsons.

No, they don’t have it either, but on the other side of the bank is a venda de Madera (wood shop).

That wood shop also carries only rough lumber also. Angie and Emily borrow the shop’s telephone book, check the yellow pages, and call Sinsa, where they have shopped before. 

No, the telephone receptionist says, no Sinsa store carries any wood. Angie calls their friend Jairo. He directs them to Sinsa despite the receptionist’s denial.

At Sinsa we find melamine-covered particle board that will work—in 4 by 8 sheets that will not fit in the vehicle. And no, Sinsa can not cut it. 

Amy and Emily decide to borrow a friend’s truck next week, or perhaps the coming Faith Church team can transport it for them.

We ask about screws for mounting the shelves and request 20 of them. We take the order sheet to the cashier and pay for the screws. Then we take the receipt past the armed guard to the stockroom to procure them. We sign that we have received the screws, and head out.

It is now 1:30 p.m.

Our accomplishment: the purchase of 20 screws.*

…

This blog is dedicated to the coming Faith church team construction crew: Larry Groenenboom and Palmer Rhoades.