I was walking near the market in Antigua, Guatemala,. The day was sunny and the sidewalk crowded with shoppers. I was enjoying the weather and the pre-Christmas frenzy. I had my camera in a small pouch attached to my shoulder bag – what my friends call my “murse” – my man-purse. The pouch was old and the Velcro that closed it was worn. Instead of having the bag in front of me, I had it on my back. I just wasn’t thinking how tempting that must have looked.
Anyway, suddenly the woman in front of me stopped. I bumped into her and people behind bumped into me. I looked down, noticed her shoe had come off, and stepped out into the street and around her. I continued on my way. Of course, I was missing my camera but didn’t know it yet.
I have been to Guatemala several times. I love the run up to Christmas. There are parades and bands playing around Antigua’s main plaza almost every night. I have taken hundreds of photos and at this point wasn’t using my camera much.
It was later in the day that I noticed it was gone. My first thought was that I had left it somewhere. I though back over the day and when I had used it last. Slowly I started to put a picture together and remembered the bump near the market. The more I thought about it, the surer I was
Well, it was gone and I didn’t see any point in dwelling on it. First, I did a bit of shopping to see if I could replace it in Antigua. Readers of my travelogues might remember that a few years before I had dropped my camera in a toilet in Japan. I was in Tokyo and I just went out and bought a replacement.
It turned out to be impossible to find a reasonable priced digital camera in Antigua. So I just accepted the fact that I would be cameraless for the next few weeks - but I did feel a bit naked without one. I would remember it was gone every time I saw something interesting.
I had a lot of time in Antigua - I was just hanging out - so I did a bit of internet shopping and ordered a new camera. When I got home I replaced the Velcro on my camera pouch. More important, I now think about my (new) camera all the time and make sure I hold my bag in front of me and not carelessly slung over my shoulder on my back.
Live and learn.
Ann Arbor, Michigan
March 2010
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