Today was our first day in Quito, Ecuador, and we spent it exploring the city and learning its history.
This morning our first stop was…the equator! We went to a museum that marked the
equator – we walked along the line, we watched water going down a drain on either side of the equator, and we tried to balance eggs. We also learned about Ecuadorian culture. We saw preserved specimens of creatures from the Amazon (spiders, anacondas, boa constrictors, deadly fish and caecilians), and we learned about the original practices of head shrinking. Interesting fact: the original inhabitants of the area, the Quita (before the Incans), knew that the Earth was round and that they were at the center of it because of studying shadows throughout the year.
In the afternoon, we went to downtown to see historic site, such as the original town square and the historic buildings surrounding it. Much of the original architecture from when the Spanish first arrived here is still standing, and its amazing to see such beautiful buildings with the Andean mountains in the background (Quito is quite high in the Andes).
Throughout the day, our transportation was on public busses. With 54 people travelling together, this resulted in some very crowded busses. So crowded in fact that Rachael successfully crowd surfed down the bus. Yes, our squad is that awesome.
