During our Quito visit, Miro, our friend and fellow volunteer Alisha and I went to the “Middle of the World” a place where the longitude and latitude meet at 0 degrees.
This is the point on the globe where equinoctial line divide the northern and southern hemispheres and has a thick red painted line to mark the location. So there you are, and of course, there’s only one obvious thing to do….straddle the northern & southern hemispheres with your feet. (And I did just that)
After our visit to the Guayasamin’s The Chapel of Man, we were up for something a little lighter.
The Center of World proved to be just that. We were blessed with an English speaking guide at the Middle of the World Museum who shared with us stories of former residents of the land, their rituals and traditions. The museum had a miniature display village and as we toured the grounds, we learned about some of their customs including preparing a drink from the sacred San Pedro cactus, deciphering spiritual symbolism within the totems, the tradition of placing the dead into adobe vessels in preparation for their transition into the underworld and (our favorite) shrinking enemies heads and placing them on a stick ( a skill Miro and I did not previously have).
You can observe the fantastic world of the mystical Ecuadorian culture in an ecological and scientific habitat in live, in the “Way of the Sun” the museum that is located in Lulumbamba valley, 25 Km (15,53 miles) of the capital, exposes a sample about the Andean cosmovision of the ancestral cultures, based on arching-astronomical scale models (temples).
It has the only one of its kind solar clock in the world that has two faces on the equator line, an agricultural calendar: a stone index that shows the 4 stations, that also indicates the solstices of the 21 of June and 21 of December (the longest day in the north/south of the planet) and the equinoxes of the 21 of March and 23 of September when the sun falls perpendicular and shade does not exist at all.
But the highlight of our visit had to be the witnessing first hand the water draining and funneling clockwise in the northern hemisphere, and counter clockwise in the southern hemisphere. This was something I had learned about on the Simpsons.
Our friend Alisha put together a wonderful video of our experience at the Middle of the World, we’d love to share with you here:
Lainie Liberti is a recovering branding expert, who’s career once focused on creating campaigns for green – eco business, non-profits and conscious business. Dazzling clients with her high-energy designs for over 18 years, Lainie lent her artistic talents to businesses that matter. But that was then.
In 2008, after the economy took a turn, Lainie decided to be the change (instead of a victim) and began the process of “lifestyle redesign,” a joint decision between both her and her 11-year-old son, Miro. They sold or gave away all of of their possessions in 2009 and began a life of travel, service, and exploration. Lainie and her son Miro began their open-ended adventure backpacking through Central and South America. They are slow traveling around the globe allowing inspiration to be their compass. The pair is most interested in exploring different cultures, contributing by serving, and connecting with humanity as ‘global citizens.’
Today Lainie considers herself a digital nomad who is living a location independent life. She and her son write and podcast their experiences from the road at Raising Miro on the Road of Life.
