Mitad del Mundo and Mindo.

Today's adventure was a visit to the equator and zip lining through the cloud forest. First, we went to Mitad del Mundo, which means "Middle of the World". Pretty self-explanatory--it's a museum about the equator. While we were there, we saw some scary jungle wildlife (all dead, of course), learned how to make shrunken heads (and saw a real one!), learned a little about indigenous tribes here and their beliefs, and did a bunch of cool equator stuff. Things I learned at the equator:

1. You weigh 1kg less here because we are so far from the center of the earth.

2. Water flows straight down, but if you move a few feet into either hemisphere it will start to spin.

3. You can balance an egg on its end, because the yolk will settle at the bottom.

4. Gravity is noticeably stronger at the equator. 

5. You can close your eyes and walk in a straight line on the equator, because gravity will not pull you in either direction. However, if you veer into either hemisphere, you will start to walk in circles.

After Mitad del Mundo we took a long drive into the Andes Mountains, to Mindo. The drive was absolutely gorgeous--the mountains are so incredible here. You can even see waterfalls coming over some cliffs in places. And they are steep! Once we got to Mindo, we had a sack lunch and prepared to zip line through the cloud forest. It was an amazing experience. A little scary, considering you have nothing but a harness between you and the ground a zillion feet below. It's crazy zipping by palm trees and over rivers way up in the air. I loved it, and I actually wasn't nervous for it at all. I can't believe I did that today.

Our bus driver, Edwin, is awesome. When he drops us off at our apartment he likes to say, "Hasta la vista, babies!" He's a host dad too. So funny.

In other news...I'm kind of starting to hate my scar. :( I get asked about it multiple times a day, by both Americans and Ecuadorians. Even our tour guide asked today! I was totally comfortable with it in the states, but now I'm starting to want to wear scarves all the time. :/ It doesn't define me, it's not that interesting, and it's not nice to tease. 

As far as good news goes, today I found out that freezing cold showers shouldn't be the norm here! Turns out we ran out of gas that heats our water, and we forgot to change it so we've been showering in icy water. Whew! So relieved, because last night's shower was brutal. Well, that's all for now folks...going to help out with dinner now.