14.09.: Mitad del Mundo - the Middle of the World

14.09.

middle of the world!!!

I never would have dreamt in my life that I would come to the equator, especially not with the Vepse.

From here, it is 22 km north, which makes me realize that we are in a basin. The Vepse has returned to its usual form. It should only take half an hour to get there, but there are no signs. So I wander around more or less aimlessly and want to get off the hectic four-lane road. I find myself along a large wall, and there, almost by chance, I see one third of the monument sticking out with the globe.
I take a photo. I'll take what I have. Then the search continues, and finally I find a large parking lot that belongs to the Mitad del Mundo site. My patience has passed its test - but just barely.

After buying a ticket, I enter a street lined with well-kept flower beds. On the left and right are one-story adobe houses that offer restoration and souvenirs. There is a planetarium and several museums. First, after this annoying drive, I need a coffee with milk and water. The prices are moderate up here as well. Two dollars for both. At the next table sit three Germans, two girls with male companions. All three look exhausted. They are suffering from altitude sickness and a cold. Their time in Bolivia and Ecuador is over, and I get the impression that they are looking forward to going home. I immediately ask them if they have been to the 00.00.000 yet. Where would it be... there are different opinions. We chat a little more and then I leave. Somehow, on my way to the monument, I think: it's actually a waste of time. Why am I here? My GPS status app tells me that there are still about 150 seconds (depending on my position) missing. At least I have already reached 0 degrees and 0 minutes once before. And who would be so stingy as to be annoyed about seconds?
Well - I get over it and let the elevator take me thirty meters to the gallery of the monument.

From here, I look at a thick yellow stripe that runs through the entire area. It passes by an obelisk, whose shadow only varies slightly.

the longitude I compared with my GPS status app is accurate: 78.27´8´´

I have been fascinated by this topic since visiting Nora and Tillmann in Durban and being on the southern hemisphere for the first time. I had my first breakfast outside (the children were at school) and sat under a tree. And indeed, the sun did not move to the right like on the northern hemisphere, but moved towards the tree trunk, which grew in the left direction. If you wanted to go to the beach, you were led to the 'north beach' and not, as with us, to the south beach. Why is that? We see everything 'mirror-imaged' because we're 'upside down'.
And that's why visiting the zero latitude fascinates me so much, because the sun does not deviate to the left or right, but remains true to its shadow on the obelisk.

The visitor is then led back down through three floors and can explore centrifugal force and gravity on the three levels. There are several experimental tables where you can experience the rotation of the earth and its rotation about its own axis, or where there are two washbasins that drain water in one direction or the other.

I find the topic of electromagnetic fields interesting. Nikola Tesla researched this at the end of the 19th century - and not only that - and obtained many patents. In his language, there is also the 'free energy', which here moves away from the Earth's core through glowing curves in a transparent globe. Visitors are provided with light bulbs that they can hold against the globe. What happens? The light bulb lights up.

Due to my lack of physics and astronomy knowledge, I let the other floors pass me by somewhat dissatisfied, and of course, I blame my physics teacher - who else?

Then comes the egg! Because we are here on the 0th latitude, it is possible to balance the egg. It is a real egg, not a plaster egg. I also try it, and after a few tries, the egg stays balanced on the nail head.

It remains in its position

In the afternoon, when certain animals of a black color and with a large mouth think they are unobserved...

... the peculiarities of the zero latitude contribute to the elixir of life

I am always drawn back to the obelisk and its shadow, and I realize that it has not moved in the past two hours. I strike up a conversation with Reinaldo, a Venezuelan who works in a restaurant here. Yes - the sun moves from east to west, the shadow of the obelisk does not move. He also explains the way to the 'real equator' and then there is another photo.

unchanged

Reinaldo raves to me about a crater nearby. The volcano in question is no longer active. People live there again and make a living from agriculture.
Well, I think to myself, I'll postpone my departure and take another tour of latitude and crater tomorrow.

In the evening, I am once again looking for a converter that converts 110V to 220V, and I find something else:

My secret wish comes true: a suede jacket changes owners. The purchase alone is an experience. A man in his late 60s, who exudes salesmanship from every pore, meets the right person in me. The need does not need to be awakened, it is already there. Now it's just about optimizing it economically from a sales perspective.
He succeeded! With all the tricks. He plays the accordion... takes it out from behind his counter and plays 'happy birthday'...

me llamo raol! My name is Raol...

Afterwards, I fortify myself with vegetable spaghetti at an Italian restaurant, which is enhanced with mozzarella instead of parmesan. And that took my night and the following day.
That's why September 15th is missing.