It's the middle of the world as we know it...
Trip Start
Jul 19, 2006
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Trip End
Sep 19, 2006
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Quito,
Ecuador
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Breakfast was great. It consisted of eggs and some potato thing that was very good. We ate in the Arpi's dining room, with an excellent view of Quito right out the window. I took pictures, which I will hopefully get posted soon. This computer doesn't seem to understand the fact that I am using a USB cable. That's Universal Service Bus. Last time I checked, Quito was part of the Universe.
Anyway, I had a big day ahead of me. After a (surprisingly) warm shower, I got out on the road with Nelly and Rodrigo. We were driving around in his white chevy truck running some errands, while I got a convenient driving tour of most of Quito. We went to a ferreteria (no, it's not a shop that sells all ferrets all the time...it's a hardware store) and Rodrigo got some cement and some long metal tubing. I asked what the supplies were for and it turns out they are building a new house for one of their daughters (the construction site would be our next stop).
The house was amazing, although it was merely a skeleton with nothing inside really but marble-like floors and dirt. But it was a beautiful, blue skeleton. It had three floors and a roof deck, with an incredible vista of the city and the mountains from almost anywhere in the house(it seems like many of the houses here come with built-in vistas).
La Mitad del Mundo
I asked about the cost to do such a project there (doing some investigational research for my dad...maybe he'll buy a retirement home in south or central america...which would also be a wonderful vacation home for me). It turns out that sort of lot with a great vista is about $40k and then the actual cost to build such an amazing house on it is about $100k. Not bad.We then visited Nelly's mother. Keep in mind, I met Nelly knowing she was a grandmother. So this was a Great Grandmother. Great. She's 80 years old and was very energetic when we arrived. Immediately there was food on the table. She made this excellent soup (can't remember the name...I'll try to find out) and a traditional dish with some spiced meat and rice. Afterwards we had what appeared to be cornbread. I asked if it was made with maiz. First they said it was, but then they seemed to insist it wasn't and I didn't know what it was they were insisting was in it. The ingredients were lost in translation. This was actually a very large meal that really filled me up quite early in the day. We decided there would be no dinner. Nelly's mother earned her Great.
By this point I was getting very homesick. I had been in the southern hemisphere for over 12 hours! I had to get back up to the northern hemisphere to recuperate. So I got on the bus labeled "Mitad del Mundo" and enjoyed a 30 minute ride to "Middle of the Earth" where you can stand on the line that marks the equator.
A man came onto the bus with two very large translucent garbage bags.
La monita, Emilia
I couldn't tell what was in them, but from the looks of it I thought they were some kind of souvenir craft things. He sat next to me. He was not very tall, but his hair was very dark. He wore an ungroomed mustache that was achingly separated in the middle right beneath the nose. There was probably half an inch of space in there. For some reason it reminded me of the mustache Dustin Hoffman had as Captain Hook. This man, like many people I have met, also had some dental issues. He was very tan (from now on, it can be assumed that anyone I talk about, myself excluded, was very tan unless otherwise noted).I told him a little about my trip, how I'm hoping to travel through Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil. I mentioned how I knew it would be very difficult to reach the northeastern part of the Amazon in Brazil where I would be doing service work at an orphanage. He was difficult to understand. He spoke softly and every time I tried staring at his mouth to read his lips a little, I would get self-conscious for him and feel like I was staring at his teeth. From what I could glean, there is a tour company that will take you on a trek from Ecuador to Manaus, Brazil (not where I need to go, but close). I thought it was a car/boat/plane thing, and got excited and asked how much it cost. He said 95. That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it could be, so I had him repeat: "Noventa y cinco dólares?" "Si. Noventa y cinco dólares." A little later in the conversation I figured out it was actually a tour where you hiked the entire distance and it actually took 95 days, not 95 dollars.
La vista desde Rumicucho
I did not have time for this.The bus arrived at the stop for La Mitad del Mundo. I was the only gringo on the bus. The bus driver's assistant (the guy who walks up and down the bus and collects money) came over to me specifically and informed me that this was the Mitad del Mundo. I heard the woman sitting behind me chuckle. I knew why she was laughing. It's the same reason why my friends laughed when we went to a chinese restaurant and I was the only non-asian so the waiter brought enough forks for all of us, but put them all on the table right in front of me. I used chopsticks instead.
Anyway, La Mitad del Mundo is probably about the most touristy thing you can see in Ecuador. There's no real reason for it to be there except for our innate obsession with superlatives. I had to see it.
I turned back to the woman behind me who was holding her child in her lap and we shared a knowing smile. I commented "Ellos saben dónde quieren ir los gringos." She agreed with a smile and a wave goodbye.
The middle of the earth is apparently a tourist town filled with little shops and restaurants, none of which did I enter while there. I walked towards the large monument with a globe on top of it (strategically placed on the opposite side from where you enter so you get to pass through all the touristy merchandise). For a sense of scale, the globe is 5 meters in diameter. Although, being Americans, me saying this doesn´t really give you any sense of scale. I was intercepted by a young woman on the way there.
Southsa-heeed
She was blonde and not tan. She was there with her dad (also not tan). They were from Washington, the state and wanted to know if I would share a colectivo (taxi) with them to go visit some Incan ruins.Sure, why not.
We first took some of the touristy pictures, so now I am forever digitally immortalized as having straddled the equator, just in case anyone ever asks for proof. Then we got a colectivo. The Lonely Planet guide told me the taxi ride should be $4 roundtrip, including wait time for the guy to wait while we walk around the ruins. He wanted $20. We got it to $15 and gave in there.
It was a very bumpy ride to Rumicucho. At one point the three of us had to get out of the taxi so it could go down a sharp drop without hitting bottom. Everything looked deserted. Not like a desert. Deserted. This means there had once been something there, but it had somehow faded away into the impression of what once was. At the "gate" there were two young boys, about 10 years old. They came over and collected the $2 admission from each of us. It didn't look like we were anywhere.
These ruins are not very popular for some reason. We were the only ones there. We climbed up to the top and for the first time I noticed some effects of the high altitude. Did I just get out of breath by walking up some stairs? The ruins were nothing more than some remnants of stone walls, now only about 2ft high (now there's a number that gives you a sense of scale). There were very nice vistas of the mountains and of the city from up there, and the breeze was perfect.
The house Rodrigo is building for his daughter
We returned to our taxi after half an hour and made our way back to the bus terminal.Upon my return, I found that Rita (one of Nelly's daughters) and her two daughters were there. Emilia was 4 years old. Nelly told Emilia to look at the pictures on my camera, and then we went out on the porch and looked at the view. Emilia started climbing onto the stone railing and then sat on the edge. There was a substantial drop beneath her, but she didn't seem to care at all. Nelly told her to be careful and grabbed her when she seemed unstable. Emilia immediately and carelessly responded "Soy una monita." (I'm a little monkey). Emilia was very energetic and astonishingly thoughtful and intelligent for her age. I showed her how to use the diabolo (chinese yoyo) that I had brought and we talked for a while. She spoke of school and friends and travel. I told her I was from the capital of the US. "Si, conozco la capital." (Yes, I'm familiar with the capital.) This is a 4 year old girl. She was very interesting to say the least.
I had one more meal after Nelly's daughter and grandchildren left. I had something that was like very thin pancakes, and also something that was a combination of eggs, onions, and something else (I'll try to get the names later). She said it was a typical meal. That's all I needed to hear. Now it's time for some typical sleep.
Quantifiable Summary
Woke up at 8:30am and drove around Quito with Rodrigo and Nelly.
Visited Nelly's mother. Good food, stuffed stomach.
Took bus from Quito to La Mitad del Mundo. It cost 40cents each way for the half hour bus ride.
Took pictures on the Equator line.
Visited Incan ruins in Rumicucho. Nice vistas. Ruins were a little too ruined.
Late dinner with Nelly.
Still alive.
