Jewdar

A student at La UPSA (where I teach) a few months back was directing me to a bookstore downtown.
"It's called Levy Libros," he said (in Spanish). He then paused for a second and said, "The owner is a Jew."
I spent the last couple of months wondering about this Jew of Santa Cruz. What brought him there? Is he religious? Where does he come from? Is he the only one (other than me)? I figured so, since it is so well-known that he is a Jew. If there were lots of Jews in Santa Cruz, I imagine it wouldn't be news. (It's kind of like the gay couple who run a bar we go to frequently, Lorca Cafe. My students all wanted to do stories on the "tipos gay" --gay guys-- from Lorca as if they were some sort of rare discovery. They were incredulous when I told them that at least one of their classmates is gay, statistically speaking.)
With two days left before we leave Santa Cruz, I experienced a nice bookend moment. I was meeting with a student activities coordinator about starting a student magazine. A man knocked at the door who looked like people I know back home. Gray curly hair, a moustache, thin, glasses, light skin. I knew deep down that I had found the Jew of Santa Cruz.
But I didn't think it was appropriate to ask him if I was right. He talked to the professor about a book fair, left a business card and walked out. While the professor answered the phone, I picked up the card and confirmed my suspicions. That I had just been in the same room as Peter Levy, the Jew of Santa Cruz.