More time in Quito

So yesterday morning it was cloudy once again so we decided to go the other Guayasamin museum, farther up on the hill, the chapel of man. It was pretty amazing also- huge paintings and it's at his house so you get to look around it a bit as well. Here's the website if you want to see some Guayasamin work. We went out for a traditional Ecuadorian lunch and the translation in the menu said that I was getting "Chicken Stew with Rice" (Seco de Pollo) but when it came it was this huge dish of like a fourth a chicken, a ton of rice, a tomato, potato and an avocado! And I had juice of tomate de arbol another fruit that we don't have anything similar to. Then we went to have pedicures! I used to think that I would never like such a thing, but I've discovered that I was very wrong. Then we came back to the apartment and took another afternoon nap/read. Allison and I decided to try our hand at cooking a traditional Ecuadorian meal Corn Sango with Shrimp. I will say that we did very well and it was excellent! I wrote down the recipe so maybe I'll make it at home sometime. They use this white corn here that is huge and all puffed up, that was the basis of the dish. We also tried baked tomates de arbol but alas, that was not so successful.

Today. . . you'll never guess. . . it was cloudy again! We went for breakfast at this little cafe and had cappuccinos- so I am not at a total loss here, I can still get coffee with lots of milk in it and we had humitas which are like a corn pudding (I thought it tasted like cornbread) wrapped in a corn husk. Carrie, a friend of Allison's had a tamale, and it's different from a mexican tamale, I'd say it was corn based also with meat and maybe some vegetables and wrapped in bananna leaves! We also had a Quimilito which was a sweet version of the humita and then we finished it up with chocolate cake! You have to try everything, right!?

We decided to try venturing out to the Mitad del Mundo- which is where you get to see the line of the Equator. But it's a bit tricky- there are two different places that claim this status. We went to the original one first. I guess the first people who tried to measure the earth claimed that the line was here. They have a huge sculpture and have marked the line and Allison named it the Disney World of Ecuador because it is very touristy. We took a few photos on the line and went into the Insectarium/bug museum where I let a giant beetle type thing set on my arm (not on my skin- no way- on my raincoat)- Ethel you would be proud. But then we went to the other place and I loved it! It's just 210 meters away from the original spot (so the old guys were pretty accurate) but this is the actual Equator as measured by GPS. They took you on a little tour and did little experiments to show you that you are on the Equator.
Which leads me to the learning section of the day, these are especially for Jason:
5 Ways to Know that You Are on the Equator
1. When you drain water in a sink, the water goes straight down and does not create the spiral that normally occurs. This can be demonstrated by placing little leaves in the water that kind of just stay where they are instead of getting sucked into the spiral.
2. An egg is easier to balance on a nailhead. I say easier because it was still impossible for me to do.
3. It becomes harder to walk in a straight line- making you look like you're drunk. Something about the two centrifugal forces of the earth coming together at the equator.
4. You weigh less and your resistance is less when exactly on the equator. I'm not sure that I understood why on this one.
5. And something about on a sundial on the solstices the dial creating no shadow for a period of time. This was very hard for him to demonstrate as there was no sun today.

We learned all sorts of things about the indigenous people of the area- how their houses were built, and about some of the animals in the area, which I would really not like to think about, but City Mouse he did describe how tarantulas will spring at you while you are taking their picture. And he told us about shrunken heads and really I never have considered that something that is real- but I guess it is, Gross. And I got to try shooting an arrow with a blow gun, and we saw some guinea pigs in a pen- because they eat them, and he talked to us a little about the plant life. A plant that looks like aloe vera but is bluer is what is used to make tequilla, who knew? And also he told us a little about burials and the indigenous people used to bury a person's family with them when they died, it may have just been the prominent people but they would give them this cactus juice that would cause them to hallucinate and then they'd put them in these giant vases and bury them alive. How terrible!
But I think that little place is my favorite so far in Quito. Our tour guide was fun and he spoke english so it was a good experience for me. We also got our passport stamped at both of the Equators so now I have some new stamps.

I tried some empanadas this afternoon, with cheese- excellent! And they flavor (with orange in this case) their soy milk which I also have found that I enjoy.

One note on the driving. I wouldn't make it one day. I really don't think they have rules and sometimes in the taxi I have to close my eyes. Our taxi driver was so nice today- he drove us all the way out to the Equators and waited for us for like two hours while we were there. And he wasn't mad at us or anything for making him wait. Good guy.