National Census

Today, Liz and I had to take the Colombian National Census. It has been a while since I last remember a census. In the States, I remember that my family received a packet with a scan-tron answer sheet that we bubbled in and sent back through the mail. It didn't seem that hard. Well, in Colombia, they send you a notice of when a person will stop by your house to ask you questions. Our census was today, and the rule goes that you are not allowed to leave your home until the census is over which could be anytime that day from 6:00am to 7:00pm. Some of our friends had their census on Sunday or even on a national holiday. Ours was today, which means we could not go to work.

We enjoyed our morning of rest and reading. The census lady came to our place at about 10am with her Palm Pilot. We answered all sorts of questions about our legal documents, age, race (Can you believe they have North Americans as a race?), profession, and even how many books we have read this year. It was quick, easy and painless. We even gave our census lady an Apple Cinnamon Muffin we just baked for breakfast.

The rest of the day, from 10:30am on, was restful. Now Liz and I have to go to work tomorrow and then we have a three day weekend for another national holiday. So enjoy your weekend and read a book as will we.