No, Actually I Am the Center of the Earth

...for a day.  Or, I guess I should say that I am at the center of the earth, but whatever.  I can stroke my ego for one day, right?

It's technically called Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the Earth) and it's really a large line in the ground.  Really. it's kind of like one of those lines that separates parking spaces in a parking lot, except much larger.  And, as it happens, this line is the equator.  Or in Spanish, it's called el ecuador.  Get it?  They named the country, Ecuador, after the equater.  I'm still waiting for the country called Prime Meridian.


In actuality we passed the equator days ago, on our trip from Otovalo to Quito, but we missed it do to the fact that there was a riviting movie playing on the bus about a mermaid.  It wasn't just any mermaid, though.  This mermaid had to find love in 3 days, otherwise she would have to trade in her legs for fins and live in the ocean for ever.  So, you see how we could have missed the sign on the road that said "You are now leaving the northern hemisphere.  The southern hemisphere welcomes you." But I digress...

In any case, the Mitad del Mundo costs 2 dollars for admission which basically includes a fake town and a large parking lot line.  So after spending some time jumping between the north and south hemisphere, there's not really much to do.  Although, admittedly, it is super fun jumping between hemispheres.


Really the best part about the Mitad del Mundo complex is the playground.  We probably spent as much time goofing around on the small zip-line and teeter-totter than we did on the equator.  Hey, sometimes you have to go really far to find a good playground.


Of course we are in South America and there isn't anything here without a little controversy.  What could the controversy about the equator be?  I mean, it's just a line in the ground, right?  Well, apparently where the "official" equator marker is, isn't actually the equator.  This is where the French put it years ago based on observations they made through instruments that look like sextants but much more complicated.  Apparently, the "real" equator is next door, which happens to be located in the Inti Ñan Solar museam: a cross between a mini-golf course and a children's science museum.  (Note: on the other side of the Mitad del Mundo complex is a restaurant which claims that they have the real equator.  I feel like a small battle will be fought over this in the coming years.)


This museum, while hokey, was at least entertaining.  It was kind of like Ripley's Believe It Or Not in Ecuador.  They showed is the coriolis effect by draining water on the ecuator (drains straight down), on the northern hemisphere (counter-clockwise) and on the southern hemisphere (clockwise).  Even though I saw it with my very own eyes, I still feel like I was duped somehow.  My scientific training tells me that the coriolis effect should only effect large bodies of water (like hurricanes), not sinks.  Maybe I'm used to people trying to scam me.


For some reason, the equator is supposed to be good for balancing eggs on nails as well.  Not sure why, but after 10 valient minutes, we gave up.  If someone at home could please try this and let us know if it is possible, that would be appreciated.


Last, but not least, let's not forget that at the equator, you weigh a teensy but less as well due to the fact that you are further away from the center of gravity of the earth.  This is because the earth isn't exactly spherical and it bulges a bit at the equator, making the effects of gravity a little less.  Of course, many visitors weighed less on the plane ride to Quito, but shhh...we won't mention that.


On the same note, something the museums didn't mention is that people on the equator are actually aging slightly slower than those in other places.  Whaaaat?  True.  Since the equator is the furthest away from the center of the earth and the earth spins around in circles, people on the equator are actually moving faster through space than those closer to the poles.  And according to Einstein's relativity theory, the faster objects move, the slower time passes.  Soooo...to a space observer (like an alien or someone on the space station) you are actually aging a bit slower than the people in either hemisphere.  I plan to open up a competing museum across the street from Mitad del Mundo based on this fact called "Kyle Has More Dorky Ecuator Observations Museum."