Pachamama

So I threw some pictures at you yesterday. I wasn´t feeling much like writing. But now...

So many things have happened in the last few days that I will be lucky to remember them all, much less share them with you. But I will try. Because you more than deserve it.

The other day (I really can´t keep track of the days any more) I visited the center of the earth; both the fake center where there is a large monument, and the real center, only recently marked with a GPS and fully equipt with the coolest little museum ever. Here I learned that the native people of Ecuador, before the Inca came up from the south, were called the Quitu. The Quitu knew that they lived in the center of the earth because of the movements of the sun and the stars. Quitu means middle of the world.

There are a million little tricks that you can do on the equator line. For one, it is very easy to balance an egg on a nail, the gravitational forces are stronger than anywhere else in the world, so the yoke is pulled to the bottom making it heavy and easy to balance. It is also very difficult to walk in a straight line because strong physical forces are pulling you to both the north and the south. Very cool. We watched water being drained from a basin on the line, and guess what? No whirlpool. The water went straight down. Move the basin to the south a few feet, and the water will flow and drain clockwise; counter-clockwise in the north. (Ken if you are reading this, I completely understand now. The Coriolis effect was always a little difficult to understand through diagrams, but now I get it!)

The museum en la Mitad del Mundo taught a few other important life lessons. I learned the technique of shrinking heads (you always thought this was science fiction huh? It´s real and still happening! Mostly to animals now though...) The Waorani people still live in the jungles of Ecuador, not willing to succumb to western culture, and still practicing age old traditions. They are being threatened right now by the oil industry. You can support them and help save their rainforest by going to yasunisupport.org. If you aren´t really crazy about the idea of supporting head shrinking, let me sell it you a little more. In one acre of the Yasuni rainforest there are as many trees as in all of North America. There are over one million acres in this rainforest. A huge percentage of the oxygen that keeps us going comes from the Waorani´s home. Just think about it?

We also learned about traditional death rituals in Ecuador. Before the spaniards came, when someone died, they were buried in a womb-like tomb. The people thought that they should enter the afterlife in the same way that they did this life; in the womb of their mother. In this case it is their mother earth-Pachamama. I love that. This whole country is devoted to saving their earth; nobody wastes anything, and there are signs everywhere that are warnings of the disasters that will come with global warming. Maybe if everyone could come see these mountains and these rainforests, they would feel the same way. I´ll send the whole world pictures.

If you are still reading this, I am impressed. I feel as though I should get it all down here, if not for you then for me in a couple of years.

The day before the day I visited the middle of the world, I roamed around Quito, the capital of Ecuador, named after the Quitu people, and was really blown away. On the Basilica del Voto Nacional, the most famous and one of the oldest cathedrals in the city, there were many stone animals; all of the animals that are found in the different regions of the country. I have never seen a church with any sort of ecological display before. The biodiversity of this area is so embedded in the people´s history, it is incredible.

We walked through the presidential palace and tried to get the guards to smile (one did, the others were very stern). We marveled at the gold leaf that adorned all of the Jesuit cathedrals. These churches really are works of art. I was happy to see them, but also felt as though I was intruding on some very personal moments of prayer. The trouble of being a tourist.

In other news I am drinking coffee again, which I couldn´t be happier about. It feels appropriate, especially since my first glass was in the rainforest; hummingbirds were zipping around my head and all I could see were miles of green. It was all very romantic. I am also eating meat again, which is going well. I thought my tummy would yell at me a bit more since it has been at every meal (except breakfast). But my tummy is fine. She is simply happy to be here.

In other big news, I met my host family and will be spending my second night with them tonight. They are fantastic, por supuesto. I walked to school this morning, along the river in Cuenca, which is also fabulous, por supuesto. I took a placement exam in Spanish and it was very difficult. I have not thought about the pluscoimperfecto subjunctivo in many moons. But that is why I´m here. To get comfortable with the pluscoimperfecto again. Among other things.

I will not bother you with anymore today. Know that I miss you all very much and think about you often. Tomorrow is my niece, Olivia´s, first birthday. I am so very proud of her. She is a ball of sunshine. Next Saturday is my novio´s birthday, Matthew. He is also a ball of sunshine. Please send them your best.

Ciao