Yesterday, I Walked on the Equator

A few times that I have updated, I have told about what I considered to be my best time yet in Ecuador. Once again, I will say that yesterday was the best day I have had thus far in Ecuador.

I took a trip with the group from Clemson. We met at the school around 9 yesterday morning and headed north of Quito towards the equator. On the way, we stopped at an overlook. I forgot what the name of the volcano was that we were looking at, but it was an amazing view. There is a picture in my photo album.

We left there and headed towards the equator. We first encountered the equator at a museum we visited. It was a museum that demonstrated how the Incas lived. It was very interesting. In this museum is where the equator passed. It is where all of my pictures of the equator were taken. There were many neat instruments they had placed on the equator to demonstrate the forces of gravity and the sun telling time and seasons and such.

We left there and visited La Mitad del Mundo, or, the middle of the world. We ate lunch at a nice little café and then visited an ethnographic museum that explained all the different peoples that live in Ecuador. It was very interesting. Even though most of the day was spent learning stuff in Spanish, I got the general idea of what the guides were trying to tell us.

We arrived back in Quito around 4 yesterday evening and then we went out to a bar\dance place last night. It was fun. There was a ton of spanish music and all of a sudden...Usher came on. Of course, I danced a lot. Since it is dangerous to walk from my apartment to the ¨Mariscal¨, or club area of the city, I had to take a taxi by myself to the Mariscal last night. I got a taxi, told him where I needed to go, negotiated a price, and paid him...all in spanish! It was good. Even though it may sound simple, and it was, I was proud of myself because I did the whole thing in spanish. At around 1230, I took a taxi back as well.

I stayed in bed until 1030 this morning which is different for me considering I have been waking up at 7 every morning. It was good to just relax. I don´t know what I´m going to do this afternoon. I may go the park not far from where I live and finish reading my book I´m on. I will have it done by this afternoon. That will make two books that I have read since I have been here. And, I only brought two. I´m going to have to seek out an english bookstore here in the city and buy a couple more to last the rest of the time while I am here.

I added a few new pictures from the equator to my album:

Ecuador

Until next time, Zach will leave it at that.