La Mitad Del Mundo

Today, after orientation at the University, our group went on a trip to the equator approximately 13 miles north of Quito. Let me tell you, the equator is in the middle of nowhere. The people who live there  work doing one thing: making cinder blocks. And then, out of the dust rises this crazy monument with tons of shops and tourist-y things. Weird? Yes. But pretty cool.

This is a picture of the Volcano Pululahula. The bottom of the valley has the same elevation as the top of Quito, so that makes the top of the volcano over 11,000 feet. The last time it erupted was sometime in the 1500s, but before then, it completely destroyed the Yumba tribe (they were the natives that inhabited this area before the Incas). It was pretty "chevere" ("cool", named after Chevrolet cars...), especially with the clouds in the background.

This is a picture of the real equator. Here's the story: about 10 years ago, a bunch of French students realized that what the Ecuadorian government was calling the equator was not at all correct, and that the true equator lay a mere 100 meters away. So, they left the big monument and the fake tourist-y things there and made the real equator more educational. There, we learned things about how the globe works and what makes the two hemispheres different. And, the question that you are all asking: does water really spin the other way in the southern hemisphere? The answer is yes. Yes it does. When you drain water in the Northern hemisphere, it drains counter-clockwise and in the Southern Hemisphere it drains clockwise. On the actual equator, it drains straight down. Weird, I know. But because all the toilets are mechanically engineered, you can't see the effect when you flush a toilet. I know you are all wondering.

This is the monument that marks the fake equator. Chevere, no? It's a bad picture, but whatever.

The Andes, food, and traffic.

This is the view from my front door. The Andes are the mountains in the background, and the building front and center with all the mirrors on it is the "Casa Cultural" or the Cultural Center. There are things like a theater, a movie theater, restaurants, art exhibits, etc. in it.

I guess the thing that has made the most impact on me these first few days is the poverty. There are children (yes, like 6 years old) who are selling things in the street so they can have something to eat that night. It breaks my heart, but I've been told numerous times to not buy anything from them because it is unsafe and maybe even unhealthy. But it's fine because all we do is eat. I eat breakfast at home (some sort of egg or potato called "yuca"), then we have snacks in the office, I return home for a lunch (a soup and some sort of meat or vegetable sauté) and a siesta, then we go back to the school office and have more snacks, where upon return home we eat a brief snack consisting of bread and cheese around 6 o'clock, and finally a pretty big dinner around 9 or 9:30. So. Much. Food.

Also, the buses that I have to take to school don't have bus stops. You literally jump on and then jump off whenever you can. It's crazy! I'm terrified that I will get hit by a car, but hopefully that won't happen. And the cars are equally as crazy. No one stops for pedestrians, there are no designated lanes on the streets so it's a free-for-all, and everyone is very aggressive. It's really scary.

I'm Off!

I have two suitcases that are barely full (shouldn't I have more stuff?) and am leaving SUPER early tomorrow morning. Hopefully the hurricane won't interfere with my travels, so keep your fingers crossed.

But here's the craziest thing: the only way you will be able to contact me until DECEMBER 18th is by the Internet. Email, Facebook, Skype, whatever.  Don't try to text or call me, because I won't respond.

See you soon!


PS. The two biggest pieces of advice that I got from people were these: 1. take a stuffed animal, and 2. keep a journal. So, of course I'm taking Dog the Golden Retriever with me, and a journal too.