Sunday in Quito!

Sunday was an amazing day.  We started our day off by attending English Fellowship church.  We sang some great songs and the message was discussed off and on all day because we liked it so much.  After church we went and ate at a Crepes and Waffles restaurant.  We had some good food and dessert!  After lunch we went to the Basilica and took a quick tour.  Our legs felt a bit like jell-o after climbing all those stairs so quickly but we took some amazingly beautiful pictures.  And learned that the Basilica will never be finished because finished buildings in Ecuador have to pay taxes.  (This is also why many of the homes in Ecuador are unfinished.) Then we headed to the Equator.  We learned some amazing things about the different regions in Ecuador and saw some huge spiders, snakes, and snake skins.  We were grateful all the animals we saw were dead. 

            We had a blast standing on the Equator.  We got to see some ways of telling time using shadows and how 6 months the shadow is on the north side and 6 months it shows on the south side.  Then we balanced a raw egg on its end on a nail. After that we stood off to one side and had someone push our arms down but we did not allow them to push them down.  Then we stood on the Equator and tried it again and the person easily pushed our arms down, it was wild!

            We are so thankful for these last few days to see God’s beauty not only in the children and adults, but in His creation and the details He put into creating our amazing Earth.  

 Heading to church at English Fellowship

 Ashley had fun meeting up with some friends.

 Outside of church

 Lots and Lots and Lots of traffic

 Having lunch with our new friend Paul.

 They had lunch menus in English which was wonderful.

Frozen Cappuccino

Ashley's dessert, Hawai, consistied of blackberry, mango and guanabana sorbet.  YUM!

The group outside Crepes and Waffles

 O Yes, we used the CLUB

The Basilica was amazing!

Karen walking the stairs in the Basilica

Jessica & Ashley

The catwalk across the cathedral to a tower.  We talked that it was very National Treasure like.

The view from a tower.

Yes, we climbed 3 ladders like this, and yes in the US you would have had to sign a death waiver.

We made it to the top of a tower

The view!

Revelations 12:1-18  Winged Virgin of Quito

spiral stairs leading up to the clock towers.

Kilah made it!

Jessica at the top!

Ella at the top

Vern & Ruth

Jessica in a round spire

the National Treasure type plank walk

Steep steps and plank walk

Ashley at the top!

Don't forget to grab some toilet paper before you enter the restroom. 
All the bathrooms we used today were free!

A visit to the Equator

Vern is taller than the door of a traditional hut from the Amazon rainforest.

Our tour guide showing us spiders and snakes found in the amazon. 

Shrunken heads from the Amazon. 
They no longer shrink heads of humans, but they shrink animal heads.

An example of a tomb from the Highlands.  The deceased would be put in a fetal position in a sack in the tomb with all the items they would need when they would be born again.  If the chief died, the wife would have to drink a poison from a cactus so they could be buried together.  In other words, don't marry a chief!

Ashley & Ella overlooking the tomb.

On the Equator.

Walking on the Equator with your eyes closed and thumbs up is harder than it looks!

Jessica attempting to balance an egg on a nail.

Planking across the Equator!

Can't push her arms down.

On the Equator, arms go down easily.

This woman was spinning wool for the men to use on the loom for tapestries

Standing in the house with guinea pigs. 
They were quiet which in local legend means we have good energy.

Old Equator monument.  When GPS was used, it was discovered that the real equator was 12m to the north.

We are SO dorky!

Great picture of Karen & Jessica!

Jessica in the van with her new scarf.

Jen waiting in the van at the fake Equator