Here is how it’s supposed to go:
- Everyone in Ecuador must stay in their homes today from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM. No going out of town this weekend and no leaving home today. All businesses are closed.
- La ley seca, or a dry law, is in place from Friday night at midnight until Monday at noon. No selling, buying, or drinking alcohol.
- Ecuadorean high schoolers, trained by their teachers earlier this month, go door to door to collect answers to 74 questions.
- In addition, it is advised to tie up your dog, make sure the high schooler has proper credentials and, if you arrived in Ecuador today, stay in the airport until 5:00 PM when transportation will resume.
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| The dead street as seen from my door. |
Here’s how it actually went:
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| This sticker goes on doors of homes that have been censo'd. |
- Will, Kevin and I stayed in the apartment all day except when we went next door to eat breakfast and lunch. I wasn’t even sure if we should leave in those instances but I was the only one; three additional guests, unconcerned about patrolling police, also showed up for lunch from a few streets over.
- Last night we had beer with dinner when we ate out, despite la ley seca. Today the guests arrived with a bottle of wine, which we all drank at lunch. Furthermore, Will, Kevin and I took this day indoors as an opportunity to get to know Zhumir, the local alcohol that sells for $1.75 per pint, which we bought earlier in the week.
- I answered a gajillion questions under the eaves of my apartment roof in a complete thunderstorm to a uniformed kid from a nearby high school. It probably took near 20 minutes. (What’s your name? How old are you? Are you a man or a woman? What is your roof made of? What is the quality of your floor? Where do you get your water? How many light fixtures are in your home?)
How's the ice cream in Cuenca?
ReplyDeleteLindsay, your description of the Ecuadorean Censo made me laugh, it sounds very familiar to me as it is the same way south of your new border!! You are a very good writer; your descriptions are insighful as well as with much understated sense of humor...
ReplyDeleteYo yo yo. I've been through the census too, but I was in Quito when it happened. I was staying at the Casino Grand Royal, I believe was the name of the place, with Rojo. We partied like it was 1999, even though it was 1974. However, we did not follow the rules, and had plenty to drink as well as other party goods. The Casino Grand royal was a residencia, where all the hippys and backpackers stayed. The night before, we went to the central park, and cut down a few peices of San Pedro Cactus, and cooked it up, thinking that we were going to drink the tea, and get buzzed. It was awful, but we had lots of fun.
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