Quito: La Mitad del Mundo & El Museo de Guayasamín

A foot in each hemisphere
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January 14-15

(Matt)

My 33rd birthday was spent in Quito, as was my 23rd birthday. I received some very nice happy birthday emails, and Amber gave me shortbread cookies that she transported from Texas. That is pretty much where the excitement ended on my birthday.

We arrived in Quito from Otavalo in the late afternoon and ran around town on a wild goose chase trying to mail our purchases from the market back to the States. The goods were not mailed, and Amber was sick all day. She had some stomach issue that required that she remain in bed for about 15 hours starting at about 7pm. So I also elected to stay in my neighboring twin bed for fifteen hours, but  I was hide awake. The beds at this hostel are the hardest that I think I have ever slept on in my life. It was pretty miserable. So that was my birthday.

Hot dogs and beer
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Interestingly, I saw Gustavo, the son of the woman who I stayed with ten years ago while I was studying Spanish here. He was working as a clerk at the post office we went to yesterday. He actually assisted us for a while, but he didn´t recognize me. I chose not to say anything to him because he didn´t really like me that much when I lived with his mother. He couldn´t quite conceal his irritation at having to deal with me and answer my questions. The only time he ever acted friendly to me was once when his next door neighbors invited me to a house party to which he was not invited. It was pretty incredible in a city of this size to see one of the first two people that I saw upon arrival a decade ago. I was also surprised to see him because he was studying to be a lawyer ten years ago, and it doesn´t appear that he finished his studies.

Guayasamin wasn´t a fan on Pinochet
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Today we got up early and mailed our stuff at a closer post office. The lady serving us didn´t instill a huge amount on confidence in us. So we give it about a 50-50 shot that our purchases will arrive.

Then we visited--and you really have to do this while in Quito--La Mitad del Mundo, which is a monument constructed at the equator about 45 minutes North of Quito. So we took a few pictures of us straddling the northern and southern hemispheres and ate a hot dog prepared as follows: hot dog, bun, ketchup, mayonnaise, and crushed up potato chips sprinkled over the top. This is all the rage here.

It was rainy and cloudy at La Mitad del Mundo. So we decided to forgo the trip to a crater that is a few kilometers further North, and we caught the bus back to Quito. It was wrong bus, however, and it took us far away from our next destination. The rain picked up after reaching the end of the line. We caught a cab to El Museo de Oswaldo Guayasamin, which is in a very high end residential area. I visited here ten years ago, and it was very inspiring, then and now.

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