By Maryanna Gabriel
My purse. Oi. Where was it? I had just been admiring it and thinking how long I had owned the beautiful wallet that was hand-crafted, a gift from my ex-husband for a birthday. Had I Ieft it in the camper? I had walked away from the camper with it on the bed, door unlocked. Oh no. Or had I left in the washroom? I didn't know. It was hard not to panic. I raced to the Canyon de Chelly Guest Center thinking surely someone would turn it in. Nope. Day two. Nope. Day three. Nope. I came to understand that this was a frequent occurrence. Signs were up warning visitors about their valuables. It seemed there was a kind of retroactive karma happening and I was payback. Visitors were marks.
Nothing is more heart rending than losing something like this in a foreign country. I spoke with a young Navajo woman who talked to me about her own experience of having silver jewelry that she had made that was stolen. We commiserated. I knew what I had to do. I went to the Navajo Tribal Police in nearby Chinle and made a report. The law enforcement officer with the email handle "devil dog" was very nice. I would need the paperwork for when I crossed the border to my island home in Canada. It was time. I had no choice. While I was able to cut off my credit cards I was now without means. I was due back at work shortly. This wonderful trip was coming to a close.
Nothing is more heart rending than losing something like this in a foreign country. I spoke with a young Navajo woman who talked to me about her own experience of having silver jewelry that she had made that was stolen. We commiserated. I knew what I had to do. I went to the Navajo Tribal Police in nearby Chinle and made a report. The law enforcement officer with the email handle "devil dog" was very nice. I would need the paperwork for when I crossed the border to my island home in Canada. It was time. I had no choice. While I was able to cut off my credit cards I was now without means. I was due back at work shortly. This wonderful trip was coming to a close.