Mi camera esta roto . . . la falta de dos ladrones

So here I am, writing a post I never wanted to have to write.  This story doesn’t have a horrible ending, but it is a little on the sad side.

I came into Quito yesterday to use the internet and run some errands.  I didn’t have too much to do, so I called my Ecuadorian Aunt and we decided to meet up about an hour before my bus left.  There is a park very close to my bus stop, so we arranged to meet there.  As we were sitting on the bench talking, we were both very aware of our surroundings, watching and looking at everyone who went by.  Our bags were sitting in our laps, and we each had a hand on them.

From behind, a man walked up to us, and demanded a dollar.  My aunt looked at him, and firmly yelled no, telling him to leave us alone.  Rapidly, he reached out and grabbed my backpack.  My aunt and I both had a hand on it, and pulled back.  He pulled even stronger, and we lost our grips.  The thief turned around and took off, with my backpack over his shoulder.

I jumped up, as quickly as I could, and using the bench propelled myself over the fence.  He glanced over his shoulder and noticed me fastly catching up to him.  As he tried to jump over another fence, his toe snagged on the top of the metal wire.  In the same second, I hurtled over the fence (running track in high school paid off)  grabbed my backpack and gave a sharp tug.  The ladron (thief) fell to the ground, laying out flat on the cement. 

I screeched to a halt and tried to turn around to grab my bag.  Another man ran by, kicking my bag in an effort to send it skidding on the pavement.  Luckily, my bag was heavy and remained firmly planted on the sidewalk.  I dove for my bag and covered it, picking it up and brushing myself off.  The two thiefs dissappeard into the crowd.

So for about 5 minutes, while I was recovering from the shock and adreniline rush, I was happy.  The robbers didn’t get anything except bruises from falling!  Que Suerte!  My aunt and I retired to a restaurant to recover and decide what to do next.  I opened my bag to check everything and almost burst into tears when I noticed my camera filter was broken and smashed onto my lens.  “That’s okay,” I told myself, “It’s only a filter.”  But when I went to turn on my camera, I realized the damage was much deeper.  The electronic system was going nuts, not shutting off and refusing to take photos.  SOB!

So I’m debating what my next move will be, but I may have to send my camera back to the states to get it fixed – which if that is the case, I will be cameraless for close to 2 months!  I have no idea how I will survive, a professional photographer in one of the most beautiful places in the world without a camera?  Just the thought is horrible.  I am thankful that I was not hurt or injured, and that the ladrones didn’t get anything, but I still can’t help replaying the incident over and over in my mind. 

Ahh . . . what makes me madder is that there are such evil people in the world . . . people who will just grab your stuff out of your lap without a second thought.  I can still see the eyes of the man the second before he grabbed my bag . . . they were full of evil intention with only a glimmer of nervousness.

~ by number3263 on May 23, 2007.