It's not the end of the world...it's the middle!

Today, we had a free day. We chose to sleep in (not leaving the house until 10am). We took a public bus to Mitad del Mundo (the middle of the world) which is the equator. There are two museums close by each other. The first one we visited, Museo de Intiñan is the solar museum and based on indigeous cultures of the area. 

I bought our tickets ($4 each) and arranged for an English speaking guide. We learned about the 5 cultures that still exist in the rain forest areas of Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. There is a culture that still practiced head shrinking until the 1950's! They believed that a persons spirit was contained in the head, so shrinking the head ofe an enemy would impart their power on the person who possessed it, and they also practiced head shrinking of revered members of the tribe which they wore around their necks. 

First, they would cut the head off the person, and remove the skull from the skin. 

Nex, they would boil the skin in a mixture of herbs (which herbs were used is still a mystery).

They they would sew the nose and mouth holes closed, because they believed that the spirit could escape through the holes if not sealed. 

Heads of enemies would be displayed on the end of their spears, while heads of important people would be worn around their necks. 

Our guide lead us through some experiments on the equator with balance & strength. The most exciting was the egg test. On the equator, there is a pull to both poles, north and south, so it is incredibly difficult (if not impossible) to balance. So the egg test involves a nail and an egg, the object is to balance the egg on the head of the nail, long ways. Here's Mark's accompishment! When you succeed, they issue you a certificate!

Laurel was the egg mistress - she was the first to do it, but several others did it as well (unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of Laurel).

Once we were finished at this museum, we walked back to the Mitad del Mundo museum. This open air museum is a tribute to the French expedition in the 1730's to map the equator. They thought they found it, even though it's not in the right place. There's is a cool monument there and several countries exhibits. Needless to say, the kids were not impressed, so we only stayed there for an hour.

We caught ef the bus back to the center, but stopped at the Condado Shopping Mall for a late lunch. As soon Asa we were getting ready to get off the bus, it started pouring rain! Luckily, we only had to walk across the street (actually two streets) to get in. We hung out in the mall for an hour or so, then walked back to CMT#2.