End of Ecuador

As mentioned, on Monday (over a week ago now) we began our task of being tourists. We started out being educational by meeting with reps from the Benson Institute. This organization (from what I gathered) teaches qualified families about how to effectively farm, raise animals, etc to support themselves on. They provide the initial equipment necessary and then help the people become self-sufficient. So we were able to go through several homes that have benefited from the Benson Institute. Almost all of the families had gardens, animals, and a source of income (such as a store, a homemade product, etc).

One animal common to all the families was cuy or guinea pig, which is a delicacy here in Ecuador. Some of the students ordered one for lunch later that day. Yummy (I guess?)!

The families were eager to tell us about their little farms and way of life. One woman was an 89 year old midwife. She had so many cool things to tell us about fertility and pregnancy. The women give birth on their knees and have their husbands hold them up. The position is supposedly the best for positioning the baby and pelvis for birth. All of us curious nursing students had to give it a try.

The culture of the people of Otavalo is very different from that of Guayaquil. It’s almost like two different countries. Many of the women wear traditional dress and many of the men have long braided hair, very Indian style. The air is cool in the north, so many people also wear the alpaca ponchos and knitted goods. The streets of the community are so much cleaner than in the south, even among the poorest people. It’s really a beautiful place.

Monday afternoon we went out to a lake (forgot the name already) in Cotacachi. We took a boat ride around it. The lake was formed by a volcano, so the walls are very steep and it doesn’t have any apparent connections with any other body of water. Since the volcano is still considered active, we could see gas emissions rising in the water. It was just bubbles every once in a while, but still cool. It was absolutely lovely! Unlike in the states, there were no homes lining the shores, so all the natural beauty is preserved.

Monday evening we made the trip back down to Quito for our last few days. Our hotel was again very nice (minus the poor supply of quality internet). Quito is a nice, clean city, and is considered to have fairly low crime.

Tuesday we really got into the tourist mode. We even drive around in a bus that says “tourismo” on the side. We might as well paint big L’s on our foreheads, I swear. Haha, we had an awesome day though!

We started out by visiting the Center of the World! First we were taken on a little tour of the museum. Our guide told us about some of the Amazonian tribes, cultural practices, and plants and animals of Ecuador. Several interesting facts: First, there are anacondas in the amazon and they can grow up to 20 meters! We saw a skin and it was enormous! Second, there is a tribe here who run around totally naked. There were life-sized pictures as evidence. Gross. Third, there used to be a practice by warriors of cutting skulls etc out of heads and then shrinking the remaining portion of the head and wearing it around their necks. They had an example and I’m pretty sure it will give me nightmares. Finally, the Amazon River has a fish that will swim into your bladder and stay there until removed surgically. Basically, don’t pee in the water and you should be fine.

So after our little tour we got to play on the equator. I never thought it would be so interesting! Along with our usual photo shoot we were shown some sweet tricks on the Middle of the Earth! Here are the facts:

1. On the equator you can balance an egg upright.
2. You weigh 1 kg less than usual
3. A sundial clock is used to indicate time. The little shadow will point to the time of day from 6am to 6pm (the 12 hour day that’s the same length all year)
4. For some reason that I haven’t figured out, you are weaker on the equator! We did a little experiment of strength by having another person push down on your outstretched hands away from the line and then again directly on the line. It was easy to resist the first time, but when on the line it was way hard to resist the pressure from the other person. It was really weird, but I tend to believe that one was the placebo effect.
5. When a drain is pulled from a basin of water on the equator the water will drain straight down (no funnel will form). Well I thought that was cool, but what’s even more interesting is that only 2 feet away from the equator to the south the water will always funnel clockwise and about 2 feet north the water will always funnel counterclockwise! They did a little demonstration. Perhaps I’ll post the videos. We were a little disappointed to be surrounded by nothing but nursing students when we really needed some sort of physicist or geologist to explain why this happens.
6. I can’t walk a straight line with my eyes closed. I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with the equator.

After we visited the “Centro del Mundo” exhibit we went to the equator monument. It turns out that when they first calculated where the equator is they were off by 2.5 miles, so the big monument is not actually the middle of the earth. Rather anticlimactic to visit after seeing the real thing.

So if you’re ever in Ecuador I suggest visiting the line. It’s an awesome experience.

After the center of the earth, we visited the largest cathedral in South America. It was enormous! The inside had beautiful stained glass and vaulted ceilings. I felt like it was straight out of a movie. It had a very cold, dark feel though.

Our next stop on Tuesday was the President’s Palace. That’s right; we toured the home/office of the president of Ecuador! We saw inside the historical items room, banquet halls, and press conference room (where he was to hold a meeting that very night). A little different that the way the U.S runs things I’d say!

Our last tourism stop was the top of the city where a huge statue of Mary watches over the city. Quito is huge and a very lovely city. We had fun taking pictures overlooking the main part of it.

Tuesday night we went to a fancy shmancy dinner at Hotel Quito. It was probably the ritziest dinner I’ve ever had. The “salad” consisted of a single scrap of lettuce, a half cherry tomato, a dab of avocado, and a half of a shrimp. Yes, a half. The main course was a little more filling however, and quite delicious.

Wednesday was our last full day in Quito/Ecuador. It was pretty much the best! We headed out to the rain forest (Mindo?) to play on some zip lines! It was seriously the best thing ever! There were 13 lines across valleys, trees, rivers, etc. Between lines we hiked to get to the next one and let me just say that the high elevation doesn’t agree with us. We got so winded!

On some of the lines we got to do tricks. One was the “superman” where you wrap your legs around a guide (yeah, we got pretty close) and then go down the zip line face first. The other is the “butterfly” where you go upside down and have the guide ride behind you to hold your legs (again, we got a little close). It was awesome! It really wasn’t scary at all, but it was a rush for sure. We only had to pay $8 for over an hour of running zip lines. Way cheap! Anyone who goes to Ecuador really needs to try it.

After the zip lines we went across a HUGE valley in a rickety little mettle box connected to a big cable. It was a beautiful sight to overlook the rainforest valley from such a height. On the other side of the valley were hiking. We climbed to 4 or 5 of lovely waterfalls. During this hike I got more bug bites than I have in my entire life all together. I don’t think I’m joking. My legs itch SO bad! My friend has pretty bad swelling from the bites. Pretty much our entire legs are covered. Yeah, it sucks.

Wednesday night I went with a couple girls to visit people that one of them taught on her mission. They gave us the best hot chocolate ever and I got a headache from listening to too much Spanish. It was fun to see my friend and the family she taught. It makes me excited for my mission.

Thursday was our last bit in Ecuador. We rode gondolas up a big mountain above Quito to overlook the city. It was really pretty, but altogether not terribly exciting. In the afternoon we ate food and got ready to leave Ecuador forever.

While at the airport we were offered a Delta voucher for $400 to give up our flights and wait ‘til the next night. Some of our group decided to go that route, but I did not. Well it turns out that my flight has not yet been successful in returning me to Utah. We were first delayed for about an hour in Quito last night because of baggage mal-distribution. Then we had to make an emergency landing in Orlando which they called a medical emergency. We waited for over an 1 ½ hours and were all a little peeved because the woman was totally fine! She was just throwing up and had some sort of kidney infection (previously known about) and we were only 45 minutes from Atlanta (where our connecting flight was). Anyway, we missed said flight and are now waiting around in the airport for our flight to Salt Lake. None of us have slept more than 3 or so hours, so needless to say we’re exhausted. Night flights and delays are lame.

So I’m officially out of Ecuador. My plans are now to stay in Utah for a couple days, just enough to get my shopping done for the mission. I’ll be home all of June and then off to Uruguay! It’s going to be the best June ever because there’s not enough time to get a job. Lots of horseback riding, swimming, and having fun with the fam for me!