The Art of Negotiation

I read somewhere that financial issues is the number one reason for divorce. I’m not too sure how reliable this information is, as I tend to read things and then store it in the back of my mind until the information seems relevant again, usually coming out somewhat altered from the original version (ever played that game ‘telephone’ in grade school? That’s kind of how my brain recalls meaningless information), but if it is true, I now have a better understanding of why. Not that we have any plans of splitting up down here, but I do know that the weight of financial worry can cause one or both parties to become anxious, upset and seemingly intelligent adults turn into five year olds playing the ‘blame game’ before someone realizes that no matters whose fault it is, it won’t change the situation. I’m not going to say whose role was whose in this scenario, but overall these types of experiences can either make or break a relationship. In fact, we have been through many ‘make or break’ situations and are still pulling through, so I suppose that’s a good sign.

Anyway, back to the point. After analyzing our situation, we realized just how much our insane electric bill, multiple bike repairs and countless other unplanned events had put us in over our heads, leaving us essentially without food for the months of November and December. So we conjured up a few plans. 1) argue the utility bill because of it’s ridiculousness and end up not paying it, 2) pack up and leave in the middle of the night and find somewhere else to live 3) negotiate with our landlord to let us use our last months rent (December) in November, move to a muuuuch cheaper place in December and use our deposit money from the current apartment to get us through December- this plan also involved finding a new landlord to negotiate with, and whom would essentially allow us to move in on only one rent payment, because that is all we could afford unless we lived on ramen for two months.

Plan 1 was out the window almost immediately after a few short, snippy emails to our landlord and back. Plan 2 was rather dishonest, and really just thrown in there as a last resort. So that left us with plan 3, which meant I was the one who had to face Miss Marlena and somehow appeal to her in a way that she would let us out of the lease early- all in a mix of French and minimal English. So I finally got up the courage to confront her, and after a very stressful, hour long conversation, we were out of our lease. Yay! But now it was time to apartment search. Which meant more negotiations.

As luck would have it, I ended up running into a friend who happened to be friends with one of the SO’s and landlords of a nearby apartment. I told her about our situation, and what we were looking for, and we finally secured the PERFECT apartment. We move in on Friday, but I have been counting the days all month. It not only has free washer and dryer, but all utilities, including internet and cable (I will finally have a TV!) are included in the rent. And I was sure to ask about the electricity bill, which should be on average, a very doable 200EC (about 80 US) per month.

Here is the link to Our new apartment! I will update with more pictures when we are all moved in. Not only do we have a washer and dryer, but we will have an oven, a real refrigerator AND a television, and its also right on the bus route. No more 15 minute long and panicked walks to catch the bus.

So now that the apartment situation was out of the way, it was time to figure out how to get our bike fixed and back on the road. It had broken down in mid October, and was in the “shop” for nearly 3 weeks before they finally called and said they had to send it out to get repaired elsewhere. I had spent the past few weeks calling and dropping in to check up on the bike and every time I was given the runaround by a man who looked eerily similar to snoop dog and was guaranteed to have a joint hanging out of his mouth. So when it came time to pick up the bike, I brought along Courtney and my game face. I refused to be taken advantage of again. After a two hour debacle, we left, and made a deal with the third party mechanic who had ultimately fixed the bike. He is letting us pay him weekly, and about 180 EC less than the ‘original’ cost.

So all of that has pretty much occupied the past month. I am thankful to learn that with all the setbacks of living in a developing country, at least you can negotiate your way out of a situation when you’re in a pinch. I have been through my fair share of ups and downs throughout college and I am used to making a little go a long way. At the end of the day, I get to be with my boyfriend on a gorgeous island and that makes all the other ‘stuff’ worth it.