Today we left Otavalo and began our travel to Quito. Along the way we stopped at the equator and were able to put each foot in one of the two hemispheres and take many pictures. It was hard to grasp that we were actually on the equator. After learning about how the earth really rotates and how the point that we were standing on was the exact center, the feeling slowly began to settle in. The mountains surrounding this spot help to identify the time and when the summer and winter solstice occur throughout the year. I was also surprised to find out that the Ecuadorian government does not support the program that educates people on the equator. After this stop, we made it to Quito and went to the museum of Oswaldo Guayasamin and were able to learn about his artwork. Most of his pieces were about despair and suffering of poor countries. I had never gone on a tour in an art museum and I enjoyed learning what each piece meant from the artist’s point of view. We then went on our walking tour throughout the city. We managed to walk up and down a steep hill and avoid the crazy driving. This city did seem very conservative and church oriented. We saw many churches throughout our tour and I was able to observe a group of nuns eating ice-cream. There were older women and very young girls as well. I did not see any middle aged nuns which surprised me. One of the churches that we entered looked as if they were made of gold, but in fact it was just wood and the architectures covered it with gold leaf. It was interesting to learn about the history behind many of the statues and architecture of the church. I enjoyed looking at the different styles on the walls and the French balcony. We then traveled to the top of the 10,000 ft mountain which had a statue of virgin Mary in labor and in chains. I never heard what was meant by the chains, but I found it somewhat odd that a statue like that would be made. Although it was hard to breathe and extremely windy and cold, the view was beautiful and it was well worth being cold. We finally left and made it to hotel Quito safe and sound
