Colonialism Revisited and Politics abroad…

(Proud local fan)

Cartagena is by far the colonial city par excellence of Colombia. Ornate, colorful, well-preserved buildings line the streets; and what is more stunning than a city on the sea? Over the past few days we’ve been hanging out in what’s known as the ‘second colonial city’ of Colombia, Popayan. Despite partial destruction due to earthquakes over the years, the whitewashed walls and old architecture are still incredibly well preserved. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to get into or take photos of the stunning main plaza as it’s currently blocked off for restoration. While Cartagena’s romantic feel cannot be beat, Popayan has a different soul to it. Instead of being preserved for tourism, the whole city is used- old buildings currently house banks, small restaurants, apartments, and businesses throughout the city, making it a bustling and lively place.

(view from our window in the hostel)

Popayan is in a valley; surrounded by the original indigenous groups that maintain their traditional lives up in the mountains. We went to the Guambiano Indian market held every Tuesday in a nearby town. It’s less of a craft market than what we’ll find later in Ecuador or Peru, but instead a place where the Indians come to buy and sell food and other necessities. It’s an amazing sight- visually bright and vibrant, yet the market seems subdued and calm. The men wear royal blue- almost purple skirts, dark boots, black cloaks, and a small top hat that sits right on top of their head. The women wear almost the same thing but in a different color scheme: dark skirts, a royal blue cloak (sometimes with pink or yellow weaving on the inside, and the same little top hats. Children have either little red knit caps or flat straw hats. We unfortunately don’t have any photos from the experience, as they extremely dislike cameras and we wanted to be respectful. It was an amazing sight to see though.

(Photo from El Tiempo, Colombian newspaper)

Our return to Popayan after the market was unfortunately less tranquil. The indigenous groups throughout Colombia are fed up by what they consider mistreatment by the government that controls their homeland. In order to make their complaints heard, they are using the week after Columbus Day to protest and have blockaded highways throughout the country, primarily in this region. We had to get off of our bus to walk around a roadblock and eventually catch another ride back to town. There was no danger to us or other tourists in the process, just inconvenience for anyone trying to travel, although there has been violence between protesters and police. There isn’t much public sympathy for the Indian’s demands, as thousands of people throughout the country have lost their homes in the conflict over the past 50 years. Apparently these protests go on from time to time, occasionally shutting down major travel routes. Luckily we’re in a great place to wait until things pass over.

(Graffiti support for the protests)

(Road's blocked for a loooong ways...)

(We squeezed into the back of one of the few buses available)

(I'm happy to get off the bus and walk, with a little friend on my hat)

The other night in our hostel we caught the third presidential debate. We’ve tried to follow them all closely, although we did tragically miss seeing Biden-Palin. I won’t get into the politics of the thing, but it’s amazing to see the interest these debates evoke in an international setting. Everywhere we go people are curious to know what’s going on and it’s interesting to hear the variety of opinions along the way. We don’t have cable here so everyone sat and watched the live stream over the web. In Bogota and Medellin, despite the party atmosphere, people would walk into the room, sit down and get sucked in to the debate. The commentary is fascinating too: “Do you think America will elect a black president?” “With the international consequences of this election, don’t you think the rest of the world should get a few votes that count as well?” I think a group of people we’ve met along the way will try to reconvene in the same city for an election watch on Nov. 4.