24. November 2019
Our first day in Ecuador!
After a long day of traveling and a good night’s sleep in our amazing guest families, we were able to visit one of the most special and unique places on earth: Mitad del Mundo, the point of 00º00’00″Latitude. The strange feeling of jumping over the border between the northern and southern hemispheres made us all beam with joy even more. There, we conducted a few experiments that were very special to this point of the World. We all tried to balance an egg on the head of a nail, for example, that was situated right on the Equator, and because of the contradicting forces of gravity from the two sides of the world, only few succeeded and became the certified “egg-masters” of our grade.
Learning about cacao production in Ecuador.
Some on the northern, some on the southern hemisphere, some on both!
Balancing on the Equator: Harder than one would think!
Lukas and Pia made it!
Traditional dancing …
Secondly, we visited a huge volcanic crater (Crater de Pululahua) that was covered in clouds and mist so that we could not really distinguish its size, but we were still impressed by the beautiful nature surrounding it.
Finally, we went to a wonderfully delicious restaurant El Patio in the little village of Calacalí that not only filled our empty stomachs, but also taught us something about the small villages surrounding Quito.
First course: Locro de Papa con Aguacate (traditional potato soup) Main course: Pollo con Hierbas de la Sierra y Hortalizas (Chicken with herb crust and organic greens from the restaurant’s garden) Dessert: Pastel de Queso con Salsa de Taxo ( Cheese cake with taxo sauce)
Francisco proudly shows us around in his garden …
Farewell to “El Patio” restaurant!
Back at the Spanish language school Simón Bolivar, we enjoyed our first Spanish classes and practiced speaking and pronunciation. After this exciting day, we all were a little tired, but more importantly looking forward to our coming experiences and adventures in Ecuador. (Ann-Sophie und Anni)
GISNY in Ecuador 