Boa Viagem, Querida!! Ami, Have a safe trip back. Can't wait to see you and hear all about your adventure. I love your captions, by the way; and the Devils' Nose train sounds interesting! Love you, Tracy
the whole hog? aargh. there should have been a warning up top. the rest is lovely and though you'll be sad to leave, I'm glad you're coming back, chica. --chhav
too cool Very pretty views. You're going to hate being back. We had our first snow yesterday. Kinda late, but ... it aint beauty pageant weather at all! -- C*
Happy Thanksgiving, girl! Hey Zeekie! Great blogs and fabulous photos. It's comforting to know you're having an exciting adventure out there, and spending time with newfound friends. I'll be thinking of you tomorrow, and hoping you're having a good Thansgiving Day in Ecuador (which I assume does nto celebrate it as a holiday). Anyway...have fun during the rest of your stay and I can't wait to see you back home! Love, Tracy
Just like Quincy Very nice! This is kind of how I imagined that all of Ecuador would look like. The centipede (or is it a millipede?) is the best. I'm looking forward to more pictures of exotic animals and plants.
ooh! pretty!! I'm getting more and more envious of you -- cavorting in waterfalls and chasing butterflies while it rains down on us desk jockeys back home :(
mwah!
Bad Coriolis Clockwise. Counterclockwise. Bah humbug! Your friend is wise Amisita. The observable difference in force exerted in the northern vs southern hemisphere is too small to impact the direction of swirling water. Air masses, yes. Toilet flushes, not so much. Or at least so says the library of congress, discovery online, snopes and me. (I'm not a scientist, but I play one on TV). Because our real fact checker has gone home, I will simply paste the relevant stuff below. (in a related matter, seems that maybe the egg balancing thing has nothing to do with the equator and everything to do with being patient. which reminds me: why do the french make such small omlettes? because .... one egg is 'enough/an oeuf') sorry.
More importantly, keep the entries coming. it's self-serving and greedy, but we're depending on you for the travel fix, and are quite appreciative in spite of the selfishness.
safe travels!!!!!!
/snip/
Because the Earth is a globe spinning on an invisible axis, a point at its equator will make a circuit of 25,000 miles in the space of a day, but any point not on the equator will make a shorter round trip; the closer that point is to either of the poles, the shorter its trip will be. Put another way, a pencil at the equator travels 1,030 miles an hour, whereas another at Sarasota, Florida, moves at 930 miles per hour, and one at the North pole doesn't move at all.
This apparent difference in speed results in the Coriolis force, an effect that imparts a twist to largish events happening away from the equator. Best known is its effect on air masses: as they move away from the equator, their speed (which matches that of where they started from) appears to be faster than that of the surface over which they are traveling. This sets them turning in a clockwise twist in the northern hemisphere and a counterclockwise twist in the southern. (Before you complain we have that backwards, please click here.) Likewise, a cannonball fired due north will veer a teeny bit to the east, and one fired to the south will deflect ever so slightly to the west, something a skilled gunner would make an adjustment for.
The twisting effect of the Coriolis force is real and does influence certain large things like the movement of air masses, but the effect is so small that it plays no role in determining the direction in which water rotates as it exits from a draining sink or toilet. The Coriolis effect produces a measurable effect over huge distances and long periods of time, neither of which applies to your bathroom. Toilets and sinks drain in the directions they do because of the way water is directed into them or pulled from them. If water enters in a swirling motion (as it does when a toilet is flushed, for example), the water will exit in that same swirling pattern; as well, most basins have irregular surfaces and are not perfectly level, factors which influence the direction in which water spirals down their drains. The configuration of taps and drains is responsible for the direction of spin given to water draining from sinks and bathtubs to a degree that overwhelms the slight influence of the Coriolis force.
The belief that the Coriolis force influences the direction in which water drains from plumbing fixtures is widespread and has been repeated as fact in a number of venues, including popular television shows (such as world traveler Michael Palin's Pole to Pole) and even in textbooks. We can only speculate on why people are so enamored of this snippet of misinformation, guessing that it has something to do with the desire to find some of the mysteries of science in the realm of the everyday.
appetizing I don't think I'm enamored of the pig skin and pigs heads (a bit unsettling!) but mmm, plantains and woollens and houses in the hillside -- I so wish i could visit. I think I would like my own saint as well. Can I get one customized? (ok, sorry.) I also like the Otavalo "superman" (Behind Castro?).
You are brave Thanks for the pictures and for tasting the pig skin. Are the pig heads some kind of festive food or election special? I hope you'll have a chance to taste cuy soon.
You go, girl Spaz, I love love love the blog. You've taken some incredible photos, and I'm really starting to feel like I know the country. As another commenter said, I can hear your voice through your writing. Thank you for letting me travel vicariously through your blog -- keep it coming.
Much love, Katie (and Flo and Evie and Iggy)
Interesting Election! Hey Ami! I love reading these blogs of yours because your voice and your dry humor come through so vividly! And I am enjoying the pix also. I know it's a very different country, but your pictures remind me a lot of my time in Ayacucho, Peru. Anyway...What an interesting election-- a Bush basher vs. a billionaire banana magnate who hands out cash. That's a tough one, but I think I"d have to go with the Bush basher..those people are close to my heart. ;) And I kind of like the mandatory election-- and the no drinking on election day just kills me! Anyway, girl..thanks for sharing. I look forward to your next entry. And email me at my account and let me know your Ecuadorian phone number, and I can call you for a few minutes. I know how nice it can be to talk to a friend when you're so far from home for so long. Love you!
Gotta love the boobies! sorry Mrs. A. But really, how cute is that little blue-footed family? And speaking of feet, how cute are Felix and the salsa instructor? ooops ... sorry Mrs. A.
Isla de la Plata looks gorgeous -- a little big sur-ish even. And I dunno if the torito is at the tipping point or not, but the last pic from Montanita -- the church -- looks so flat it reminds me of the fake set they built in blazing saddles. great stuff. all of it.
I don't know how much fun you're having writing this stuff, but it's a blast reading it. Keep it coming! Safe travels Amisita ...
Cuy Quito seems like an incredible place. Your blog is a joy to read and I'm looking forward to new entries.
Is there a hotpot restaurant where you can boil your own cuy? I read that not only are they tasty but the animal can be passed over a sick person, and then split open and examined for clues to the illness.
te echo de menos Sweetie, you're truly living la vida latina down there already. So glad to hear it and to see that you're alive and well. Enjoy it, and I can't wait to read your blog more often. Muchos besos...
James
(And in the interest of your mother indeed reading this, allow me to say this: You have one hot mamacita of a mother back in Westport!)
You made it I just wanted to say hi and that I am happy you made it safely. I hope all is well. What a great idea to keep the blog. Keep in touch and have a great amazing trip!!
L, Ali
Hey, girl! Hey, Ami! It's great to hear from you, and I love reading your blog. I laughed out loud at a few things because I got the visuals in my head, and I can hear you speaking through the computer screen. Looks like you're having an adventure over there. Have a great time, be safe, and enjoy! I've subscribed to your blog so I'll be keeping tabs on ya, girl. Love and miss you! Tracy
Tracy Branco Medeiros
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Boa Viagem, Querida!!
Ami, Have a safe trip back. Can't wait to see you and hear all about your adventure. I love your captions, by the way; and the Devils' Nose train sounds interesting! Love you, Tracy