Day 9: Journey to the Middle of the Earth

by Joe Caparelli ‘15

After several days of hard work we decided that we had earned a day of recreation. After treating ourselves to an early lunch at KFC, we boarded a very overcrowded bus to Mitad del Mundo, or, the Middle of the World: Latitude 00 00’ 00”.

First we stopped to take a photo by what was once calculated to be the center of the world by 18th-century French cartographers. Thanks to the wonders of GPS, the “actual” middle of the world was found to be a few blocks down the road, complete with funky exhibits and activities!

Men for Others, across the world.

At this “unofficial” Mitad we were exposed to the culture of the Indigenous tribes of Ecuador, who worshipped the sun and developed clever ways to measure its movements. We saw totems from all over the world and passed through authentic huts made by tribesmen of the Amazon.

We were finally taken to the actual equator, where we took numerous selfies straddling the hemispheres and got locked in a battle to balance an egg on a nail. According to our knowledgeable and well-spoken guide, special physical properties kick in at exactly the equator line, to which resident scientist David Boak did protest! Nevertheless, the guide demonstrated rather believably the forces of the Coriolis Effect, and we all laughed about it afterwards as some of our number suited up in fetching (and matching) alpaca sweaters.

The Alpaca Pack: Mike, Jared, and Brandon.

We wound down the day helping the lovely chefs Maria and Antonia cook up a storm. We ate heartily and rested well after our “journey to the middle of the earth.”