"¡Que viva la tarde del censo!"

Yes, today was census day.  No one could leave their homes from 7am-5pm.  High school students would be going to all houses to count and ask a series of questions.

At around 9:30, during breakfast, two high school girls were walked to our door by Don Manuel.  They came in and already seemed tired of the process.  They asked a lot of questions to my host parents about the house.  Then they needed to ask questions to each one of us.  They started with my host dad and asked, "¿El sexo de Carlos Polit?"  There was a moment of silence and I just looked at the girls and my host dad.  He responded with a, "¿Pues que no es obvio?"  Everyone laughed.  They explained it was protocol.  While they interrogated him I went upstairs to shower and when I got out, Juan Jose knocked on my door to let me know it was my turn.

They asked for my name, my birth date, what language I speak the most, what level of education I'm at, if I've completed any degrees, what kind of ID I have here, yadda yadda yadda.  They also asked for my sex.

After they left I finished getting ready and at 1:30pm we were invited to go over to the Zabala home to have hornado.  The lunch was good.  We also had arroz de mariscos at the table, mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables and I had coke.  We had a good talk overall... but it was a bit tense when my host dad mentioned to Yonseili's host mom that they must keep the gate closed.  It really is not safe but she still got defensive.  Fortunately no argument came out of that and Don Manuelito brought his huge accordion out to play it.  I loved watching him play it with such passion.

Yo soy el chullita quiteño...

Because of yesterday's lack of shades at the volcano, I had a hard time shutting my eyes last night.  They were burning but thank God I was tired enough that my body just took over and I knocked out.  I woke up and my eyes were a bit watery and a bit swollen.  They were sensitive.  I believe Yonseili noticed I wasn't feeling too good so she offered eye drops to me.  We went up to her room and she put them in.  I stayed resting in her room and slipped into sleep.  It wasn't a deep sleep but a good rest for my eyes.  I would hear the accordion in and out and then heard Don Manuelito yell, "¡Que viva la tarde del censo!"  I heard everyone else laugh and clap.  My host family went back to the house and I slept on Yonseili's bed while she worked on a few things on her computer.

The rest of the evening we pretty much just rested and figured out how tomorrow will go down...