So much has been happening. I think three days is the longest I've gone without internet in a long time. That is an interesting and slightly scary realization. To recap this weekend:
Viernes: I visited a vivarium and got to hold a gigantuan snake. I also found the panaderia (bakery) that my teacher told me sold all sorts of younameit-free (ex. gluten-free) bread. Not so much. However, there was pan de maiz, which I asked about and was told it was indeed sin trigo (w/out wheat). I don't think this was true. Or maybe it was just baked with other glutinous breads which seeped over. Anyway, tengo dolor de estomago.
Sabado: I went with my host family to Cayambe (north and a bit west by an hour of Quito) where they have a second house. (They said “our poor house,” but my standards just the fact that they have two houses says quite a bit about their financial situation...especially here.) On the way we stopped at “the real” mitad del mundo (middle of the world). A tall cylinder marks the spot, and for a few minutes twice a year the sun shines directly down, creating no shadow of the tube whatsoever.
Fun facts: Ecuador is the best place to determine the exact middle of the world because of the Andes mountains (mountains don't grow like trees in a forest do, hence easier determining). Also, Volcan Cayambe is the only place in the world were temperature and latitude reach 0 simultaneously. It's not only the highest point on the equator, but, according to some, also the farthest point from the center of the earth due to the equatorial bulge (Moon).
The family's “poor house” is a long and low one room building partitioned into three bedrooms, add one TV. Also a separate building for cooking and an “outhouse” with a flush toilet. They have potatoes, strawberries, cabbage, lettuce, and a bush that produces what looks like tomatillos, but which tastes slightly sweet. Animals include four dogs, ducks, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, and cuy (guinea pig: the specialty of Ecuador. I'm told it tastes like fatty pork, but I don't know if I can bring myself to verify this as I owned guinea pigs as a kid). When the family is not there on the weekend, a neighbor is payed to take care of animals and plants.
I basically spent saturday weeding a strawberry patch...a quite enjoyable task when the earth is so moist (nothing like the clay of WNC). My thighs are still tight.
Domingo: I visited the second, and allegedly incorrect, mitad del mundo with two students (Netherlands and Australia) from the language school.
the second and incorrect equatorial line
The museum claims that the “real” equatorial line runs right through their museum and we performed several science experiments to prove it (although I'm not sure science would be the right word). We:
Balanced a raw egg on the head of a nail.
Tried to walk on the equatorial line with our eyes closed (supposedly it's harder to keep your balance directly on the equator as the pull of south and north are strong and opposite...although I think I would have a hard time walking on a straight line with my eyes closed anywhere).
This one is hard to deny: first we stood off of the line and our guide tested our arm and finger strength. Then we stood on the line and were tested again. It was absolutely impossible to resist the second time. Now granted, he tested us on the line second when we were not completely fresh, but the difference was really remarkable.
Somebody PLEASE explain this one to me definitively. I read in Lonely Planet, and on the internet, that water swirling different ways down a drain depending upon which side of the equator you were on was false. BUT. Our guide had a basin full of water with a plug in the center and some leaves to show the flow of water. He put the basin first on the line and pulled the plug. The water flowed directly out of the basin with no swirl. Then to south: the water swirled clockwise. To the north: the water swirled counter-clockwise. I watched very carefully to see if he was influencing the water with the motion of his hand, but could not detect anything different about the three times he did it. WHAT HAPPENED?
A very interesting idea that both the museum guide, and the real mitad del mundo guide (whose lecture I spied upon) presented, was that our current maps and globes are ridiculous. The equator should not divide the northern hemisphere from the south, but rather should be a vertical line uniting both hemispheres. (Imagine a globe and turn it on its side, to the left.) Just like so many things which are stupid or wrong, but will probably never change (US measurements and the charge of electrons/protons just to name two).
How to shrink a head:
Lunes: I woke up late and depressed with nothing planned except to wander and finally check email. Not soon after I awoke however, there was knock on my door and I was told everyone was leaving in twenty minutes for the entire day and I should come too. (They don't have a key for me!)
Not knowing what to do or expect, I piled into their five person car with nine other people. It's honestly a miracle that anyone survives in Quito (pedestrian or in an automobile) considering their attitude regarding driving. I won't go into it now, but suffice it to say: terrifying.
Well, the outing turned out to be going to another piece of property this family owns (not just my host family, the entire family) that needed serious weeding (with axes) and which had upwards of 15 beautiful avocado trees. I had stupidly thrown on sandals. There were quite impressive spiders of all varieties.
Nothing gets done with any speed (especially when it involves moving from one place to the other...like getting in the car) so something that could have taken several hours took the whole day. It was very nice though.
I did not have Spanish class because it is a national holiday celebrating the battle of Pichincha. Not being in Quito, all I missed were military parades. Because there´s no class on monday, that means an extra hour of class every day this week. Five hours a day! Aie!
Martes, hoy: Went to class as usual, couldn´t concentrate because I didn´t have enough breakfast. Got back to the house an hour later than usual to find another traveler is staying for about five days. She is from Alaska, doesn´t speak much spanish, and I believe she is 16 years old. I invited her to go to an open market with me, but I don´t think she is supposed to do anything without her teacher/supervisor/jailor. I also can´t find my ipod, which I´m really hoping doesn´t mean that somebody took it while I was out yesterday. Silly of me to bring it, but such a comfort as well.
Missing home.
processed meat in Supermaxi...terrifyingly mono-colored
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