One Foot In Each Hemisphere

Because Quito is on the equator, there is no winter, summer, spring, or fall. Just rainy season and dry season. Because there are no seasons the sun always rises at 6:00 and set at 6:00. Today I was at the equator where there is a statue and museum about the northern and southern hemispheres and the equator.

Along the equator

There are a few myths that you may or may not know about that involve the equator. Some true and some false, I am just going to clear up those myths so that we all understand the equator a little better.
1. The ocean currents and air on the southern hemisphere circles clockwise
2. The ocean currents and air on the northern hemisphere circles counterclockwise
3.You weigh .5% less on the equator than in your city of origin
4. The equator is not an actual line. It is actually a large amount of space but on the equator people did draw a line to represent the equator.
5. The first people to discover the equator were not the French but the natives who lived here.

The museum that I mentioned included some information about the natives. For example did you know that an indigenous tribe was know for shrinking heads by...
1. Cutting off the head
2. Taking out the skull
3. Steaming the skin
4. Putting hot rocks and sand in the skin to take out the moisture and shrink it
5. If it was an enemy, they put the head on a spear as a trophy. If it was a sacred person the put feathers on the head and wore it as a pendant.

The next part of our day we went back into old town to look at some old churches and go into some old refurbished houses.

When we got back to our hotel we had dinner and saw some dancers from this part of the world.