Standing on the Middle of the Earth

Today, we stood at the middle of the earth (not to be confused with Middle Earth). Our pal Washington picked us up at 9:00 and we headed north (Quito is in the Southern Hemisphere) to the Equator. We stopped by at some Inca ruins along the way. Clever people, those Incas. The village was built high on a hill and made of volcanic rock. It is estimated that the ruins date to around 1450. Not terribly old, as ruins go. Next, it was off to a volcano that blew its top about 200 years ago. The explosion cut the volcano in half (still really high) and filled in a valley (pretty low) with the rubble. There were also some people selling varrious crafts. The vicar tried, with limited success, to barter for some gifts.

Then, it was off to the middle of the earth, at least according to GPS satellites. Here, we saw all sorts of cool stuff. We both managed to balance an egg on a nail (the second time for me) and we have the documents to prove it! We also saw a couple of shurnken heads (it made me think of a couple of former parishoners...). What this has to do with the equator is really beyond me, but it is pretty cool in a sort of sick way.

After our fun with the egg, and the begining of a good sunburn. we were off to the middle of the world national park (hey, if you got the middle of the world in your country, I bet you'd build a park, too). Here, we not only got our picture taken holding up the world (thanks, Washington), but we also finished our gift shopping. It was a fairly clear day, so in the distance you could see the only mountain in the world with snow on the top that lies on the equator. Kilimanjaro has snow, but it is a bit south of the equator.

As an aside, if you ever have a chance to come to Equador, you simply must meet up with our pal Washington. He is absolutely the best guy. Not only a great driver, he's a superlative tour guide, clever and smart, too. Besides, he puts up with us jokers.

After this we shot back down the Quito (about 45 minutes0 to a cable car that took us up several thousand feet. We couldn't find a sign telling us how high we were, but we were well above the city and well above the 14,000 we were at yesterday. You could really feel the effects of the thin air, as well as stand in the clouds and look DOWN on an airplane coming into the city.

We left the cable car and zipped back the the Refugio to bid farewell to many of the kids and the ladies who work there. All-in-all, it is sad to say goodby to them. Everyone is anxious for our next return. Too, we left our buzillion pens and pencis behind to do lots and lots of schoolwork,

As we left the Refugio, we stopped by the home of Adriano. Adriano is kind of a wild child, but a great kid. he has 4 other brothers and sisters. His older brother has severe health problems, and the man living at the house only stops by to sleep and beat the mother. We left some groceries behind to help them out a bit.

We probably won't have a chance to post tomorrow. Tomorrow, we head on over to the church for a 12:00 liturgy (1:00 your time) celebrating confirmations and baptisms. It should be a great day. Afterward, we have been invited over to one of the children's (Monica's) home for and after-Baptism celebration. Then, it is waiting around for our plane to leave at 11:05 pm. If I don't get a chance, I'll wrap up with a last post once I'm back in the United States.

If we don't speak again, a blessed Reformation Day to all of you!

Peace to all of you from the sunburned pilgrims