11/19/2019
This is José, José is a proud Colombian living in the town of Popayán. A town well known for its colonial architecture and its contributions to Colombian cultural and political life. Popayán has been home to seventeen Colombian presidents, as well as noted poets, painters, and composers. The University of Cauca (est. 1827), is one of Colombia's oldest and most distinguished institutions of higher education, and is part of the reason why Popayán is known as the "University City”, as well as the “White City” due to the color of most of the colonial buildings in the city center, where several churches are located. I encountered José twice, during my 34 hour visit to the city. Both by pure coincidence. With the little Spanish I knew and the help of a translation dictionary, we found ourselves talking whilst walking through the city centre. With him wanting to know what brought me to the city as well as where my red beard came from, myself wanting to practice conversational Spanish and (hopefully) find a local food joint. Afterwards I asked him if I could take a photo and he happily obliged, leaving me at the doorsteps of his favorite restaurant. The next day as I was finding my way back to the bus station, (deciding to forgo the Google maps and seeing how well I could remember the way) I encountered Jose again, much to his delight. He had his phone on him and asked if he could take a photo of me as well, attempting to continue our conversation as he walked me to the bus station to make sure I was headed in the right direction. @ Popayán, Cauca, Colombia
