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Published: March 10th 2008
Mitad, from the west
You should be able to see a foot in each hemisphere. Remember, the "O" stands for Oeste, or West.This blog actually covers two days, Saturday and today, Sunday. I actually wrote lots in my journal, but will try to condense it here for you. That said, email me if you're interested in the longer version of my journeys...
Saturday's big event was to go to the Middle of the World, or Mitad del Mundo. It is here you can stand on the literal Equator. You can do the dorky things like have your picture taken with each foot in a different hemisphere. Yes, that picture is included in this blog with me in both hemispheres, just like I have the pictures of me in four US states at the same time (Four Corners, USA). The journey to Mitad isn't all that bad; it's about 20 km (I think) outside of the city proper. I know I saw buses on Avenida Rio Amazonas with the sign "Mitad del Mundo" on them, plus a bunch of smaller signs that are probably meaningful but I couldn't tell you what they mean right now. Anyway, I walked to Amazonas and got on the bus asking in my best Spanish (which isn't yet all that good, I feel like I'm a two or
What time is it?
If the sun was out, I would have known...on the top of the blue thing (you can sort of see in the pic) is a slit the sun goes through and then shines on the mark to note what time it is on the Equator. three year old learning to talk all over...I can say basic phrases that may or may not be understood, and I so far am catching about 1 word in 10 when people are talking to me. It will get better, I know...I just wish it was better right now!) if he was going to Mitad. Apparently, he was telling me he was headed the other direction first but let me ride along. We roamed through some neighborhood and then started heading north through the city. Eventually, we got to one point and he motioned to me. When I got up there, I thought he was saying to come back to this spot when I was done seeing Mitad to catch the bus back. What he apparently was
actually saying was wait here for the next bus to
take you to Mitad. Anyway, I got off the bus and saw a directional sign for Mitad, so I started walking. When no monument showed up and more Mitad buses kept passing me, I figured out what he apparently was trying to tell me.
Anyway, I made it to Mitad and saw the sights. It's a little touristy, but not overly
so. Besides the monument itself marking the Equator there were some small basic museum type buildings, plus shops and restaurants. Frankly, it would be a little boring to have just the monument...you drive or bus all the way there walk up and say, "whee...here I am at the Equator. Okay, let's go". Anyway, I looked at a few shops with nothing much you can't get elsewhere (other than perhaps items specifically mentioning Mitad) and ate lunch there. I ended up choosing the "Combo del Dia"...a piece of sliced and grilled stead, rice, beans of some type, a plantain, plus some picante sauce that I found rather tasty. This plate that was a pretty decent size lunch set me back $2.50. Note I could have chosen the "cuy asado" but I decided I just wasn't ready for cuy yet. Perhaps I will have to try it...I hear it's really not as bad as you imagine.
In Mitad, there is a plaza area and a stage. While there, there were folk dancers in presumed traditional dress doing various dances. While clearly a performance for the gringo tourist groups, it was still a treat to see. The music was very latino (as to
Folkdancers
I took a fair amount of pics, plus used my cool MacBook to edit some, here's just one of two of many... be expected) but was a lot of fun, especially in the park at 9300 ft high. It made for a nice afternoon, even if it stayed cloudy... It was about this point that I really felt already I'm a pretty lucky guy to have the opportunity to do these things, reminding myself it came from a lot of hard work and long days at two jobs.
Soon enough, I realized the tour groups had left and there were now just a few of us gringos. The music started to change from "performance" folk dance music to more local music with a lot more Spanish. I'm glad I stayed though as I got to see a glimpse of life with a plaza area, much like the town squares we seem to have given up on back home. Families were there, couples young and old, some people dancing, some people just enjoying the afternoon. There was definitely a sense to enjoyment and contentment in the area.
I decided as the afternoon was wearing on it was time to head back. I went back and caught the bus with a couple - he was American and she was Singaporian. They provided
Me on the Equator
I managed to get another gringo to take my picture. There are probably other pics I would've liked to have taken, but this works.... some nice conversation and mutual moral support. We caught the bus and asked if it went near Amazonas as their hostal was nearby too. The driver said "cerca" (near) and off we went. We really didn't recognize the streets we were on but they motioned to us when we were apparently "near" Amazonas. Turns out the driver steered us well as we walked a few blocks and I recognized a hospital in the area. Soon we said goodbye as we went to our separate hostals.
I ended the evening with drinks and beers at Uncle Ho's, a Vietnamese restaurant/bar half owned by an Irishman (the other half is Vietnamese) who set up shop in Ecuador...go figure...it was a great night of talking with expats and other gringos traveling or working in Quito. There was another American who owns the bar down the street and stopped in to say hello, there was the grad student from Maine doing some work regarding a road being worked on to connect Brazil to Ecuador for transporting goods more quickly than through the Panama Canal. There was also the Brit doing teaching here and a Sicilian doing whatever Sicilians do in Quito. Ultimately, my
dinner and six beers over the course of the evening set me back a relatively pricey $13.00 (well, pricey for Ecuador...Uncle Ho's is in Gringoland so prices are inflated). Thus ended Saturday...
Sunday is a quiet day in Quito. Of course, Sunday is generally a quiet day but as to be expected in a heavily Roman Catholic country probably all the more so. Amazonas was closed to traffic and only pedestrians and bicyclists were allowed on the street, at least in the morning/early afternoon. It was very interesting to see this main road so quiet, especially with almost all stores closed. I walked up Amazonas to Parque Elido. I'm glad I did walk there as I found in the park on Sundays many artists come set up shop for the day. While there are many things there you can get in many other venues in Quito, there was some interesting artwork and artists there. To add to the atmosphere was a band performing Latino music. They have a website but right now I can't figure out the name is it was written in some type of cursive. That said, I'll hopefully figure it out someday. I spent some time
Quiet on Amazonas
Normally, this street has cars and buses going down it constantly...not on Sunday. here and talked some with one of the artists who had an interesting piece. This actual piece was a reproduction, but from what I understood he is a student of another artist who pioneered the type of art. If I could find a way to get it back home, I likely would have thought about buying some of the artwork. I also think it might be a sellable item back home, just figuring the logistics of working with the artist and getting reproductions half way around the world. Other than a language barriers, it's able to be fixed. I took his phone number but will have to figure out how to talk with him.
From there, I took the Trole (light rail train/trolley) that was VERY packed back to Ciudad Viejo. CV also closes their roads to traffic on Sundays so there's a nice feel from that aspect. However, it is FULL of people with the same idea of stolling the streets and CV in general. While it was nice and CV is a great place to visit, I saw the Virgen from afar. I realized I hadn't been up the hill and not only wanted the close up
In Parque Elido
The artist putting out their creations in hopes of selling a piece or two (or maybe more). pics of the Virgen but wanted the views of the city. I hailed a cab, made the cardinal error of not asking the fare upfront or insisting on the meter box being used and went up to the hill and Virgen. Cab fare set me back $5, which I found out later was about $2 too much. Well, $2 isn't so bad of an education price to ask ahead of time. In any case, it's nice to see the view and get the close up shots but I don't think you need to spend too much time there. I saw buses were going up there, so I took the bus back down with another young couple. Get ready to sing, "It's a Small World..." as the couple was from St. Paul (though they were originally Sconnies...) We took the bus across town and this bus was apparently on the more or less express route to Mitad. The couple wanted to see Mitad but when I got to the point where I previously was told to "catch the next bus to Mitad" I jumped off and said goodbye. There was then an adventure of trying to figure out what buses I
Ciudad Viejo, Sunday
This was one of the streets near Plaza Grande. Again, normally cars and buses on the road. Not on Sunday... needed to take to get home as it wasn't enough to catch a bus in the direction I was going. I ended up at some big bus station north of the airport. However, I used some basic Spanish and asked for help. They got me on a bus and that driver helped me get reasonably close to home. I think he had other directions of yet another bus I could have taken but again I'm still catching only about 5-10% of the words being spoken, not to mention putting them together to make a sentence. Anyway, I was close enough to walk and did so back home.
So there's some more sights I've seen and adventure I've had getting "sort of" lost. The whole getting sort of lost thing is a huge lesson over and over. Just be calm, trust your instincts, have a little faith...you will be okay. Don't worry if you take a less direct route as in the end you'll make it...
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kari
non-member comment
yo
ok, i may be a dork but i think standing on the equator would be cool.