The earth may be a sphere and every point may be considered at the center of it, but don’t tell that to the residents of La Mitad del Mundo. A visit the small town of San Antonio a few kilometers outside of Quito would not be complete without a stop at the tourist trap at the center of the world. Myself and my fellow travelers were indeed standing on the Equator (ok, maybe 100 meters off, according to our academic director), jumping across hemispheres, slapping five over the divide, indulging in a delight far more exciting than passing over the line in the Holland Tunnel that separates New York from New Jersey.

The novelty of standing at 0° latitude and the thin air at this high altitude weren’t the only factors making us giddy. For the last five days, we have been enduring an orientation to rival all orientations, and our break at La Mitad was a nice stress reliever. I’m glad for all of the information — I now stand less of a chance of embarrassing myself when I go to my host family tonight — but being bombarded with tips about dealing with diarrhea, ringworms, and getting mugged, takes a toll. At least we also got a chance to take some salsa lessons and listen to some Andean music.

More to come when I have some fun home-stay stories. No doubt I’ll be exposing myself to be an uninformed gringita in no time.