Countdown

So here it is.

T-Minus one week and counting.

I will depart Nashville on Tuesday, February 24 and go to Washington, DC for a short orientation. On Wednesday, February 25 our group leaves DC and will arrive in Quito that evening. Here goes nothing.

Meet Ecuador

Ecuador is a wildly diverse country with almost 14 million people living within a territory roughly the land size of Colorado. It boasts more biodiversity than the United States; hosting a rain forest, the Andes Mountains (volcanoes and all), coastal area and the famous Galapagos Islands. The equator runs right-smack-dab through the middle of Ecuador and, although you may not speak Spanish, surely you can deduce how Ecuador received its naming rights.

Quito is the highest full-fledged capital city in the world. Bolivia’s geographical governmental split complicates that nugget of trivia – much to the chagrin of Ecuadorian citizens, I’m sure. Nevertheless, they grow many wonderful fruits and vegetables and have a variety of exotic foods. They also raise and eat Guinea Pigs. And, although I’ve never tasted this delicacy, I’m sure it tastes very much like chicken.

Ecuador likes to complicate trivia as some claim they have the highest point on earth. Mt. Everest, of course, has disputed this. The story goes like this: the earth on which we live is not a perfect sphere as it pooches out along the equator. So, while Mt. Everest is technically taller, Mt. Chimborazo juts out farther into the atmosphere and is farther from the center of the earth. Please don’t be confused. Read about it here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9428163.