city of thieves

my camera was stolen on friday. just as i was walking along the street in the middle of the afternoon with about oh, 100 people watching. literally, people saw it happen and just stood there. everything is a "non event" in china. people under react, are aloof, irritated.... if there is one thing in the world that i own that i would miss, its my camera.... i had just gotten it for christmas after going 5 months here with no digital camera. my other camera takes advantix film, which i can't find anywhere, so it was such a wonerful addition to my life. if one more person tells me to "just go buy a new one" i'm going to freak out. i don't happen to have money flying out my ass. so, if that is anyone's advice, keep it to yourself.... i am currently thinking of a design for a bag that zips,locks,double locks, and then shocks anyone who tries to get in without the secret code. also, it is going to be knife proof, so that no one can cut it off one's shoulder. so far, that leaves with me huge piece of metal strapped to my shoulder and its not so practical..... i will find a way.... in the meantime, i'm not carrying anything with me and my money will go in my smelly ass shoes and no one will want to touch it.
one thing that makes me feel better is the camera i had is only sold in north america... of course its made in china, but only sold in north america. it doesn't take regular batteries either and needs to be charged quite often. its not worth much to whoever tries to sell it. there is a huge electronics market here with everything!! parts, whole things, broken things, new things, used things, and most of all stolen things.... i'm sure this is where my camera now lives and the next time i'm there i'm going to look for it.... where i'm sure it'll easily be found, because i'm pretty sure its one of maybe 2 in all of shenzhen.....then i'm going to ask all kinds of questions and ask the seller to show me how to use it... then when it comes on and is only in english and he doesn't know what to do with it............. ok, so that is a huge exhausting fantasy and really i just to need to get over it, but i'm soooooooooooo angry. mostly because i knew it was happening and i went after them and they just "disappeared" and because there were at least 15 people who saw it happening and they all just stood there and watched it happened..... nothing stirs the attention of a chinese person.... nothing.
i have to go now, i'm getting pissed off just thinking about it. in the meantime, there will be no more pictures....
total loss this year:
-one purse with 200 rmb and precious american chapstick (stolen from a wedding i might add)
-one cell phone worth $100
-one digital camera (not sure monetary value, but it sure was a lot of fun)
-one attempt to steal something, i have been lucky enough to catch one guy. once again there was about 10 people around me as i was getting on a bus. i felt him feeling in my bag and tried to get his hand out of my purse. when i couldn't, i had to turn around and push him..... not as hard as i could, but just enough to get him to go away.... of course he just disappears and no one says anything, offers any solace, or has any kind expression really. i guess, like my mom said i should be thankful they didn't try to hurt me.... that doesn't really happen here though, there isn't violent crime, just thousands and thousands of thieves... a chinese teacher told me today that the police have no way to stop them...... saving face is so important, they even protect the thieves..........agggghhhhhh!!!
peace,love, and the city of thieves