The Travel Chica

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I Am the Egg Master

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I went on another afternoon excursion yesterday with the Spanish school. We took a van to El Mitad del Mundo (translation: The Middle of the World). Being on the equator is Ecuador’s claim to fame. Just north of Quito (about an hour drive from the center), is the place where Charles-Marie de la Condamine made the measurements in 1736 proving that this was the equatorial line. Yes, it was a bit touristy, but it was pretty cool to learn about some of the indigenous tribes and to see the demonstrations. Here are some of the tidbits of information I learned.Head Shrinking Drawings

Fact #1 – The Shuar Indians live in the Amazon Basin of Ecuador. They practice head shrinking, and we actually got to see real artifacts. Although it is now illegal to perform head shrinking on humans, they still do it on other animals. These drawings show how they actually would go about shrinking a human head. First, they cut the head off, pulling the skin inside-out and removing the skull. Then they boil it in their secret recipe of herbs. Next, they sew the mouth and eyes shut. Lastly, they place a hot stone inside the head, and the skin is seared from the inside and shrinks further. I loved these drawings.

Fact #2 – The Huaorani tribe doesn’t wear clothes. I’m sorry to say I didn’t listen to many more facts about them… I was too distracted by the replica of a naked tribesman. I mean, how do you run around hunting things and trying not to be eaten by wild animals when you’re delicate bits are flopping around? On a more serious note, the Huaorani are currently fighting against the oil companies destroying their land.

Fact #3 – In the Amazon, you can find anacondas that are 15 meters long. We saw the skin of one that was 7 meters long. You can also find the penis fish (never pee in a river in the Amazon if you’re a man) and spiders larger than my hand.

Fact #4 – At the equator, we saw demonstrations of the Coriolis effect.  On the red stripe drawn across the dusty ground, we saw water fall straight through a sink drain without any swirling movement, but just a few yards south it swirled clockwise and a few yards north it swirled counterclockwise.

Fact #5 – At the equator, you can balance an egg on its end. It’s not easy, but it can be done. And I was the only one in our group that was able to do it. I was therefore declared an Egg Master, aka Maestra del Huevo. I even got a diploma for this grand achievement. Well worth the $2 price of admission to El Mitad del Mundo.

To see more pictures from El Mitad del Mundo, click here.

Comments

  2. I’m glad you started taking out your camera, too. I wish you would have someone in your group take a picture of you & the others : ) I’m hoping to get skyp set up this weekend.

  3. The equator is touristy?
    Who would have guessed?
    If it was in America we would figure out a way to use it as an excuse for drinking.
    You’re updating way more than I expected you too, awesome blog, I hope you can keep this frequency as you go.

  13. You really are the egg master! I’m impressed.

    And unrelated: Have you read State of Wonder? It’s currently on the NYT bestseller list and is about an Amazon tribe in Brazil and is a very interesting read!

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