My Camera´s adventure

This guy stole my camera...



Well, stole might be a strong term. He actually borrowed it for a few days without my knowledge or my permission.

I was out for dinner the night before I was set to leave Cumbuco. After dinner I went to a bar down the street where I realized I had left my camera on the table at the restaurant. About thirty seconds after my realization the owner of the restaurant walked into the bar to have a drink. I explained to him in hand gestures and broken Portuguese that I had left my camera in his restaurant and was set to leave the next day. He was very friendly and wanted to help so the two of us jumped in his car and went back to open and search the restaurant. Alas, the camera was nowhere to be seen. He made a couple of phone calls but couldn´t reach any of his staff. The restaurant was set to be closed the next day so he told me come back two days later to see if the waiter had it.

The next morning I thought about leaving Cumbuco and buying a new camera enroute. The
problem was that the Brazilians try to protect their domestic economy by slapping huge tariffs on imports. A digital camera is about three times as expensive as they are at home. So, I waited two extra days in Cumbuco because I didn´t want to press onwards without a camera.

Two days later I went to the restaurant at lunch time and the waiter who had served me was there. He immediately recognized me because I had eaten at the restaurant about eight times in the previous three weeks. When I asked him about the camera he claimed that he hadn´t seen it. He went to the owner, who also recognized me and we had a long discussion. Unfortunately, the entire discussion was in Portuguese so I had no idea what he was saying but it was clear they didn´t have the camera. I did hear the word "polizia" about a dozen times and they kept pointing out the door. I thought maybe they were getting mad that I was accusing them of taking my camera so I said, "no problemo" and sheepishly walked out.

I was now in a bad mood because I knew that I would probably have to spend about $700 for a camera that would cost about $250 at home. I packed up my stuff and was getting ready to leave town when the owner of my pousada came to me with a plastic bag containing my camera. He said the owner of the restaurant tracked him down and told him that they found it behind the table at the restaurant - it must have somehow slipped down while I was eating. Right on, I got my camera back and it looked to be in good shape except the battery was drained so I couldn´t turn it on. Hmmm, that´s curious because I rembered charging the battery the afternoon I lost the camera.

The next day when I reached Jericoacoara and had a chance to charge the camera I was treated to a great laugh. I turned on the camera and found about fifty pictures of the waiter and his friends partying and posing for pictures. There´s even a few shots of some random women ( I really hope it´s not the waiter´s girlfriend) in some sexually explicit positions. You should really check them out, they´re pretty funny.





I´ve had a few days to think about the whole thing. I´m glad he took the camera (now that I got it back) because he clearly had a better time with the camera for those few days than I would have. I also now have in my possession authentic pictures of Brazilians in thier natural habitat. After I post this blog I´m going to head over to the photomat and get them developed. I´ll mail them back to the restaurant so he, and the owner, can have a look at their photography skills.