Mitad del Mundo = Center of the World
Is a small "city" of overpriced restaurants and souvenir shops, galleries and museums that are atill being constructed and a giant monument symbolizing an imaginary line.
The location is not far from Quito the capital of Ecuador but requires a few bus transfers to get to. Most tourists take a taxi to the bus terminal and then take a fancy bus the 30 minutes to the site, but it seemed like I would get to see more by taking the local transportation. My first bus cost 25 cents and the second was 45 cents but on the way back was only 40 cents. This is a confusing situation that happens regularly (leaving the city always seems to cost more). The buses were packed, both filled with seated and standing passengers.
I spent my time observing the clothing styles that are popular with different age groups- perhaps I will share that later with a word on music...
But back to the trip- I got off the bus. Paid my 3 dollars entrance fee, considered getting some fried shrimp at the restaurants. Looked at some of the souvenir shops... Then went to the main event.
The monument in the background supposedly stands on the place a 1736 scientific survey determined to be the equatorial line. Meaning that monument divides north and south.
That would be the yellow line down the middle. This is truly an astounding discovery if you think about it. Scientists had to not only understand the geographic layout of the earth (where exactly are the poles?) but also calculate over vast distances where the division line between them would occur. All pre-flight and satellites!!! Remember people are using boats and horses and sleds through the Arctic and Antarctic and using the small mathematical tools we all hated in math class when the teacher wouldn't let us use a calculator.
The idea is wild. When we look at a globe we see lines like the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, the Prime Meridian and of course the Equator... But these things don't actually exist! They are symbolic and imaginary. They are used for our purposes to distinguish various geographic, astrologic and human made systems like time.
There is no line that crosses Ecuador at "the Equator". Now I know I just posted a picture in Ecuador with a line symbolizing the Equator but that isn't actually the equatorial line (if there even is such a thing). The scientists of 1736 were a little off in their calculations and the actual line should be a few hundred meters away... But who cares right? I mean we made it all up in the first place.
The view from the monument is actually kind of dismal, the surrounding area is like a dry dirty canyon-looking place. When you look down you can see how cheesy the "city at the center of the world " really is.
There is an interesting redeeming aspect though in the form of the museums (some of which they are still constructing). The one inside the monument building is about the indigenous and ethnic groups of Ecuador. They describe the regions:
And then describe some of the culture in each, particularly describing the language and unique aspects of the cultures.
It's fascinating as an outsider to see how distinct the regional variations really are, the highland groups look and act nothing like the Amazonian or coastal groups.
They also display some artifacts and models showing the clothing styles etc.
Coastal musician.
Highland man.
People of Ecuador.
The museum tries to be respectful of the various customs of the groups but one can't help but feel a sense of foreignness for the Amazonian Tribes (picture a national geographic article). Due to the physical separation and intentional isolation there are still unknown or at least less known groups of people who live in the countries of South America.
These peoples have survived and thrived in a region most of us would probably have nightmares about. In preparation for this trip I read a book called 1491 which describes how our prejudices towards cultures that seem different to us often overshadow their accomplishments. The author then goes on to describe how the Amazon rain forest is more like a farm in the areas of human habitation. People have intentionally cultivated the soil, created new crops, and changed the ecosystem to prosper - where outsiders see lush inhumane jungle, natives see orchards.
The history and culture of the indigenous groups of South America has often been overlooked in favor of noting their destruction and oppression at the hands of the Spanish. But in the most populated areas (the entire Andean region) the population of "natives" is still abundant and integral to the nations they live in. They don't all speak Spanish, but they do impact their countries greatly.
So though I walked away from the tourist trap where a fake line symbolizes an imaginary line... I didn't walk away without real things to contemplate.
No comments:
Post a Comment