Day 45: The Equator!!! (Quito)

3/9/2017

The day finally came that I got to stand with one foot in the northern hemisphere and one foot in the southern hemisphere!!! I was pretty excited. Especially to do the tests to prove it (the scientist in me.)

We started out today with a leisurely morning and breakfast, then met our tour guide. We drove from the southern end of Quito to the north end and up to Mitad del Mundo (middle of the earth.) On the way, we talked about various things such as getting to know each other, the upcoming election, and how cars and car parts are expensive here but gas is very cheap ($1.5/gl.)

He brought us first to the monument for the equator which was created before the invention of GPS. However, this is the "old" or incorrect equator. Now, with the use of GPS, the correct equator is known to be close by. We knew that there were two places to go to. 1, the old monument, and 2, the new line which is basically a museum in someone's back yard. We looked at the monument, then moved onto the museum. I was expecting it to be all about the equator, but there were also little huts where the guide explained some of the cultures found in Ecuador. For example, there are 12 indigenous tribes found in Ecuador. In one, the men are naked and the women are not. Whereas in another, they are known for shrinking heads. Now, onto the equator. It's false that toilets flush in opposite directions in the northern and southern hemisphere - because they're machines. However, water does spin in opposite directions naturally! This is due to centrifugal force. It starts at the equator and goes outwards. In the southern hemisphere it spins clockwise, and counter clockwise in the northern. The guide even proved this with water to the north, South, and on the equator. I was impressed that even going a few feet off of the equator has such an impact on it. Next, each person tried to balance on a line with their eyes closed to feel gravity in each hemisphere pulling you in opposite directions. It was like a difficult DUI test, but sober. I could feel the centrifugal force pulling me both ways which caused me to sway side to side. Last of all, was the test to balance an egg on a nail head. (This was my favorite.) The scientist in me came out, and I was determined to balance the egg; and I did! I was actually the only one in the entire tour group to do so. The egg can balance on the equator because there is no Centrifugal force pulling it in either way. All of these tests proved that we were on the true equator. After the tour, my dad and I did another walk through of the museum while it wasn't crowded. He was determined to get the egg to balance, so he redid the test and succeeded!

After the museum on the way back to Quito, our guide brought us to a local ice cream shop. He explained how it's prepared here in a traditional way with a bowl from native fruits. We tried all sorts of ice cream flavors (as shown in the picture below.) Even after we had selected our flavors, they continued to serve us more samples of the other flavors. By the end, we had tried nearly every single flavor. Our guide was also very knowledgeable and able to explain the various fruits as well as the process used to make the ice cream.

Back in Quito, we went to El Panecillo, where a large statue of the Virgin Mary stands with a dragon wrapped at her feet on a tall hill in the historic district. It is said that she helped protect the city and this is the hill where Ecuador won its independence from Spain on May 24, 1822. From here, there are spectacular views of the surrounding city. It was beautiful to see all the various colors of buildings and styles of architecture.

Afterwards, our tour driver dropped us off at the Plaza Grande. We found a small cafe for a late lunch, then wandered around town. There is the Presidential Palace with several churches surrounding the main square. We tried to tour the Presidential Palace, but it was too late in the afternoon by then. So we went into the San Francisco church which was beautiful. It was one of the first church's built in Quito, around 400 years ago. By then it was getting dark out, so we headed back to the hotel. 

Then tonight we had plans to meet friends that we had made in the Galapagos, the Evans. They are from the midwest and have a daughter my age. They met us at our hotel to go out for dinner. We went to a nice restaurant that our hotel had recommended. The food was delicious, and it was wonderful to see them again. Afterwards, Natalie and I went out. We found a small restaurant that had a guitarist in it, and got a drink. It turned out that we were the only ones there. But the guitarist was amazing. He was so personable and would talk to us between songs. Some, we even sang along to. He would practice his English and us our Spanish. By the end of the night, we had made a new friend.