Standing on the middle

Our day begins with a simple breakfast at the hotel and then a gathering with the Me to We staff for an orientation to the organization, our time together, rules, safety and expectations. Then we don sunscreen and hats and head out for our morning in old Quito . The streets are quaint, and are filled old and new architecture, a variety of smells and sounds to awaken us to this city. We are being toured by Jesusa, an indigenous woman who is a traditional healer and one who wants to share the beauty and wisdom of the traditional ways . A translator is provided as she speaks only Spanish. Her passion is contagious and she draws us in instantly seeing the world around us through her eyes. Along the ways we sample a traditional healing tea and sweets .

From there we are escorted by Jesusa through the Casa del Alabado museum which has a very fine collection of indigenous artifacts that tell the story of their cultural belief systems and spirituality. From there we move to the main market square where we are invited to join in a tradition dance ceremony before we bid her goodbye.

The next part of our walk takes us uphill to a basilica where pictures are taken and we meet our bus that takes us to the hilltop that overlooks the city. There we have a picnic lunch and a bit of free time to take pictures and take in the view of the enormous expanse of the city.

Back on the bus we go and head to the equator, about an hours bus ride away. This spot had to be moved about 20 meters to its present location after the Invention of GPS . The Mitad del Mundo center is there and we are escorted on a tour which again shares some of the indigenous history of the area and then we are shown a variety of cool science "tricks". These included watching water drain in opposite directions on either side of the equator, shadow casting and exacting time dials, balancing an egg and walking along the line to sense the pull to either side.

We make the hour long trek through rush hour traffic, narrow and steep streets to our hotel and then head out for supper at a Ecuadorian restaurant. Lots of people, sellers etc are everywhere. At the restaurant there is some great entertainment featuring a man, his guitar and a pan flute. Several buy his CD and even a pan flute is purchased ! We return to the hotel for some group building and more orientation to what comes next in the amazon. Our bus ride there tomorrow starts very early as it is 8 hours of driving and then a short boat ride to the lodge we are staying at. We want to be there before dark.

A full first day. But a great one. The adventure has just begun.