The Quest for the Camera

As you may know from previous blogs, I have been searching for a working camera for a since I discovered the distortion problem with my Kodak camera. I'd searched the web to find I couldn't use a credit card, most cameras were cheaper in the US and didn't ship to Indonesia, and many other problems. So about two months later I ended up going with a friend to buy one once and for all. I've changed my mind as to what kind of camera I want from a point and shoot to a DSLR because they seem to be more reasonably-priced here. I cut a deal with my parents to sell it once I came back to the states, and I was ready. I left at 1:00 PM for a store that is famously cheap and good. I thought it would be an in-and-out trip. WRONG! I got to the store, a little hole in the wall with white walls and cameras everywhere, and as it turns out you can't buy Canon cameras for under $400 and they were out of the best alternative, the Sony α230. We hopped in a car and drove to another photography store, this one was more of a studio that also sold cameras. What do you know, they were out at that store too. As were many of the other stores we visited in the local electronics mall. Finally we found one that sold my camera, it worked, I couldn't wait...that is until the salesman found out his machine didn't work with foreign credit cards. Back to square one.
At lunch we figured it out—Sanya would use her credit card and I would pay her back in cash once my parents put more in my account. I am now an Alpharian. On my way home, I hugged my camera tight as I rode on the Angkot. I don't know what I would have done if my camera had gotten lost, stolen or broken on my first day. The next day, I had a few more problems...I'd taken a lot of photos, none of which wanted to upload to my computer. Oh crap, not another faulty camera! I thought. I'd been plagued with two already, and I did not want to go back to the stress that was the Bandung Electronics Mall. Negotiating sales involving hundreds of dollars is not easy in a foreign language, even if you have a translator. I tried a card reader...no luck. Finally, I rebooted the computer and got it! Soon I will upload some photos I have taken with it to my blog.