Balancing on the Equator

Jordan and I met this gentleman at the Middle of the World or Mitad del Mundo. He may be of the Otavala tribe. We did an ancient dance together. It must have been a rain dance because it rained soon after.

This little puppy reminded me of Lux which reminded me of you and I smiled. Do you see the statue on the hill? That is the Mirador de Panecillo.It is a statue of the Virgin Mary made of aluminum. It can be seen from miles away because it is high on a hill and is very large.

Good Friday Jesus Almighty Procession Centro Historico Quito

Notice his feet. What is he wearing instead of shoes? Why would a young man march like this during an Easter celebration? These men are called Cuchuruchos. Some of them beat themselves with thorny weeds and wear crowns made of barbed wire. Their robes and hats are purple. If Jesus died to forgive our sins then I don’t think we need to punish ourselves for our sins. What do you think?

Fanesca is a special soup prepared in Ecuador during  Easter. Does it look good to you? It is typical of the food here. It has rice, potatoes, beans, and eggs. The people here do not eat spicy food as much as we do in Texas. They serve a dessert made of figs that is delicious. There are many fruits here. Bananas are the number one export. They also grow a lot of avocados.
Coffee grown on the equator is the best.

This restaurant I went to with Jordan served a dish called Cuy. It is deep fried guinea pig. I did not try it. I had the fried chicken instead. I would eat Cuy if I was really hungry. Would you?

There are a lot of statues in Quito. This one honors a hero from the country of Uruguay. His name is Jose Artigas. Like our George Washington he fought for independence for his country. He has a nice view of Quito and the mountains beyond.

The clouds are pretty.
El nubes son bonitos.

A Spanish Conquistador named Francisco de Orellana took this pass through the mountains to the Amazon River in 1541.  He fought many native people who felt he was an uninvited guest. Many of the warriors he fought were women. The Amazon is named after these fierce females. 

Do you see the church? It is also a convent. That means nuns live there. Do you know what a nun is? I think it is also a school. The church is called El Iglesia y Convento de Guapalo. The church was founded (started) in the year 1596. That means it is over 400 years old.

The clouds in the distance hide volcanos named Cayambe and Cerro Puntas. 

This is me in front of a statue of the Conquistador Orellana. We are looking down the valley towards the Amazon. Do we look similar?

Orellana made two trips to explore the Amazon. He did not return from the second one.

Street scenes

This is a day-care center. Look at the tiles on the roof. It is surrounded by modern sky scrapers. They remind me of Dallas where you live. Whenever I see children I think of you with love.

My tall shadow enjoyed this street art. “Thanks for the support” it says.

My favorite park is called Carolina. It has fun trails to ride bikes. It also has this barrel and a long half-pipe for trick bikes and skateboarders. This picture shows a bike rider jumping over 4 children your age and younger. Many people watched and cheered. I’m glad no one got hurt. The half-pipe is full of colorful graffiti.

Mindo Cloud Forest and Butterfly Garden

Can you tell what these are? What do they look like to you? Here they are called Mariposas.

Evidently butterflies (mariposas) begin as a tiny egg attached by their Momma to a leaf near caterpillar food (They must like salads.)   They become squirmy, colorful caterpillars and then they become a string-bean like chrysalis as shown in the picture above left. Each chrysalis has unique colors that reflect their surroundings. It’s like when you wear camouflage pants and you blend in with the bushes. I wonder how they can do that?  They can’t go down to the store for new clothes like we can.  Somehow they squirm out of the chrysalis and magically they have wings with colors that also reflect their surroundings. 

The slime has to drop off into that pizza box. Once their wings are dry they can flit about looking for flowers and fruit.

In the Butterfly Garden or "Jardin de Mariposas” they had may butterflies with owl’s eyes on their wings. I took a funny picture of one on my finger. They like bananas and I put a little on my finger so he would hop on. It tickled. I call this picture "el Gafas de Mariposa” (the Butterfly Glasses)

That small yellow box is called the Tarabita cable car. It takes you across a jungle valley to some hiking trails where you can find many beautiful waterfalls. The next picture is a stairway to the falls built on a fallen log.

This is a plant in the jungle. The new young plant is in the front and the next one is a little older and the last one has passed away.

This is the engine that pulled the “Tarabita” across the gorge. It looks like a car engine.

Hola JUDE! The water is cold but I know you would get in it.

It says: "Toda lo que le ocurra a la Tierra, le ocurrira’ a los hijos de la Tierra” Jefe Indis Seattle

“All that happens to the earth, will happen to the children of the earth.” American Indian Chief Seattle

A mural on a wall in the Ecuadorian town of Mindo.

What do you think that means?

Una mariposa bonita.

There also many hummingbirds (colibris) here. They move their wings very fast. Have you ever seen one in Texas?

When I was your age I read a book called Ferdinand the Bull.
It was about a bull who didn’t like to fight. He liked to smell flowers instead.

They still have bull fights in Ecuador. They are very mean to the bulls. I do not want to see a bull fight.

The matador fights with the bull in a stadium. It is very dangerous for the matador because the bull’s horns are very sharp and he is angry.

Before the fight there is a lot of music and ceremony. It is an old tradition brought to the New World by the Spaniards. I believe it is becoming less and less popular.

I hope you enjoy reading about Ferdinand.

This is Mitad del Mundo. It is called the "middle of the world” because it is located on the 0 degree latitude line that circles the earth. This line is called the EQUATOR. Do you think they named the country of Ecuador after the equator? Do you see the yellow line passing through my brain? It gave me such a headache. See if you can find Mitad del Mundo on a map. I live a few miles south of there in the ancient city of Quito.

The natives here were the first to grow corn and the first to make pottery in America. They were conquered by a great tribe called the INCAS. Soon after that the Incas were conquered by soldiers from Spain. That is why everyone here speaks Spanish.

We are in a valley in the mountains called the ANDES. Do you remember learning to ski in the Rocky Mountains? Our altitude is very high. That means we live near the clouds. Sometimes I climb an old volcano and then I am above the clouds. It is kind of like being in an airplane except you are standing on the ground. It makes my ears go pop. Is that why you call me Popop?

Below is a picture I took above the clouds in a country called Guatemala. It is in Central America. See if you can find Ecuador and Guatemala on a map.

Puesta del Sol, Playa de Canoa, Ecuador Pacific Ocean near O degrees latitude

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