This sucker is getting neglected. I am not going to keep you guys in the dark while I do exciting things. The reason it has been over a month since an update has a lot to do with the turbulence of getting adjusted to a new home. Much has happened since I last updated, most of it for the better. The best news is that I now have a steady job working for a local hospital, Clinica Santa Ines. This hospital is one of the best in the city, and probably sees the most use by foreigners living in Cuenca. The staff however is lacking in general English skills, and when I went there one day with stomach pains and a migraine, I was entirely reliant on my aunt to work translation.
Around two weeks ago a job I had lined up through the Spanish school I am attending feel through. For that week I was pretty down about the whole thing, as I was looking forward to working in a classroom environment and finally doing something remotely related to the kind of career I want to build. I got really bummed that week. A combination of getting sick, this job falling through, and a general miasma of self deprecation (also I lost every single asset in EVE and stopped playing entirely haha) meant I wasn't up for anything. I snapped out of it though and picked up a new paying student for tutoring.
I'm working really hard to not let moods disrupt my day. I did that early when I got here and it only led to regret and a desire to come home. A number of things have changed that allow me to be happy even when negative things happen. A number of students from Lewis and Clark are at the Spanish school I attend. They are really cool and I find a lot in common with them despite an age difference of about three years. They are more interesting and mature then the group of people I spent most of my time with in the last few years. It is funny how age doesn't mean much once you get out of your teens. I've meet immature travelers here in their late 40's that I couldn't stand more than a few hours around. Here outside of my home country, age means less than attitude. I've spent evenings with 20-50 year olds, and I find it is the attitude of discovery and living outside of your comfort zone that makes these people excellent individuals to be around.
I've also made friends with a few locals and foreigners outside of the school. Yesterday was poker night with a number of them. I've gotten to the point where I don't have nights without any plans anymore. I usually just have to wait and I'll find people calling me! It reminds me of the busy life I had when I lived in Beijing. It is the dynamic pace of life I used to describe my life in China with. These days my weekends begin on Wednesday with poker night. Thursday is of course a huge party night in Cuenca, apparently because it is fashionable to go to class the next day hung over. I can't party as hard now that I tutor a Doctor in the mornings, but that just means I don't drink much on Thursdays. We usually go dancing that night anyway.
Weekends are long here, or at least they feel long. I prefer the bars to the dance clubs, but I don't mind going to a dance club here one a week. I've been learning Salsa so that I can go to the salsatecas. The turns are hilariously over the top compared even to swing and lindy hop. I've planned a weekend camping trip to the Cajas in about 2 weeks as a test run for a longer trip. I have 3 other people coming with me so things should go well.
I have my papers of nationalization but now need to go to Quito to receive the correct documents to obtain my national ID card. Though it is a pain in the ass to have to make a trip just to drop off some documents, it does give it an adventurous feel. Heading to the seat of government to become a citizen, the trip will undoubtedly have a sense of excitement as I further integrate into this country.
The best news however is my new employment. Yesterday I taught my second class to a group of nurses and doctors at Santa Ines. While the first class was bumpy given they told me to expect 3-4 students and I found myself teaching 14, this second class went extremely well. I taught them the different components of a date, name of day, name of month, number of the day, and the year, and followed it all up with a game that proved quite popular. I was surprised at how much they thanked me afterwards, and the great feeling as I walked home across the greenish blue river Tomebamba was enough to last me the whole day. I am ecstatic to finally begin acquiring experience in the general field I want to enter. I can't wait till the next class, which unfortunately won't be for another week or so.
The reason for this however is a good one. For Carnival I am headed to the Amazon for a week long visit. I am incredibly excited about this and have been anticipating it for a while now. I was lucky enough that Myra asked me if I wanted to join the Lewis and Clark students on their week long trip. She proposed it when I wasn't feel to hot a month or so back, and a number of the students are excited that I will be joining them. I forget how close I am in Cuenca to one of the largest and most vital biomes in the entire world. I feel extremely lucky and privileged to get to go back so soon from my initial trip there.
I need to end this entry early. I was gonna throw in some pictures but it is 4:30am and I need to wake up at 6:30am for the bus ride tomorrow. When I get back, I promise many pictures of the jungle.
Apologies for any spelling errors, I need to get to sleep.
12.2.10
4.1.10
Pretty Pictures of Food
Inevitably when it comes to the subject of travel, the most alluring element to people whom haven't experienced the country is food. Food is an approachable subject because of its universality. Food has a vocabulary that easily transcends languages allowing for a person to imagine elements that form the experiences of the tongue without necessarily having experienced it directly. Food is a fantastic exchange medium, and it makes sense that this is the go to for many when approaching new cultures. This will be one of many entries about food because food is a great way to lure you readers to this little hideaway up here. We will begin with some fairly basic dishes one can find in Cuenca.
If any of you have ever shared a meal with me that included pork, you've probably suffered through my proclamations of how pigs are heavenly creatures given to us by a god who really takes care of his homies. It's true, they essentially are garbage disposals that can't get enough of everything we can't and wont, and when they are done processing all of that, we can then eat them. It's a fantastic way to reuse calories we abandon to waste. Not only are they incredibly pragmatic, they also taste positively divine in every way. Pigs, chickens, fish, these are all fantastic creatures that we should eat more of rather than continue our silly affair with cows. In more sensible countries, pork is far popular than cow. Cow has the appeal of being a high class meat, but realistically it can't compete with the greater ease of raising pigs and the breadth of culinary uses our chubby friends provide us.
In almost every market in Ecuador, the upper floors are dominated by roasted pigs providing lunch to hungry market goers. These pigs have been roasted in an oven or over a grill, while a mixture of spices and fat is repeatedly applied to give the skin that brown color. The wonderful thing about this slower process of cooking is that it separates the skin from the meat underneath, similar to a process used to prepare my favorite dish, Beijing duck. This skin becomes very crispy and unbelievably flavorful. The fat between the skin and the meat is mostly dissolved into the meat below flavoring it even further. This process creates one hell of a lunch.
Here the woman is cutting portions of the skin and meat to prepare for a plate.
CLICK THESE PICTURES FOR LARGER IMAGES YOU WONT REGRET IT.
The final plate one is served is not just pork. The bottom is mote or hominy. This is a very basic and common carbohydrate in Ecuadorian cooking. The pork is dumped on top this and garnished with lots of onions and tomatoes. These plates always come with one or two potato and cheese pancakes. These pan fried nuggets of joy accompany a wide variety of Ecuadorian dishes. You can then add some vinegar to the pork if thats your thing (it certainly is mine) or you can add a little hot sauce (not really hot) made from mild peppers and something called a tree tomato.
The result of this is that first thing tomorrow for lunch I'm going to the market and ordering this. I'm not kidding, the hardest thing about writing about food is that it just makes me miss these past meals.
Pig has many applications due to the strong flavor its fat can provide to just about anything. The savoriness flavor Chinese food theory identifies is perhaps best applied by pork fat. This next type of food strongly benefits from this.
Tamales are an ubiquitous food found all across North and South America. The fantastic thing about tamales is that they enjoy a regional variety that makes culinary travel quite exciting. The only other food creation that may have more regional variety is the sandwich. I am a big fan of Mexican tamales for numerous reasons primarily relating to spices, but Ecuadorian tamales compete quite strongly in this category. Ecuadorian tamales differ primarily from Mexican tamales in the sense that they don't use masa and instead rely on a sweeter and younger type of corn. Ecuadorian tamales are usually filled with a multitude of things, beginning with chicken or pork, and garnished by eggs, raisins, peas, and peppers.
Instead of a corn husk they are wrapped in the leaves of a lily type plant called a Canna. They are steamed in large pots specifically used for this purpose, and as such, they are easily reheated in a microwave with minimal effort and loss of quality.
The flavor of the corn mixture is slightly sweet and always very moist. This is in comparison with the tamale's sweet cousin the humita. I like to add heat with some hot sauce but the tamale, especially the pork tamales really pack quite a bit of flavor alone. It is common to enjoy tamales for Christmas and I must say, it was the part of this last Christmas dinner I enjoyed the most. Here is a better view of the interior.
The food I have been chasing today and craving for the past 2 days, however, has been saved for last.
Ceviches are native to the area. While many associate Ceviches and their origin with Peru, Ecuador also has a potential claim. It likely originated with the Incans and originally was "cooked" with a mixture called chicha or tumbo, marinades made from fruits, not citrus as is done today. This was because citrus was a product of the Columbian exchange, the largest biological interchange of species in human history. After the spanish introduced citrus to the new world, ceviche transformed into the dish it is today.
Ceviche is quite unique in that one doesn't cook the meat with heat, but rather with the acid of citrus. This chemical transformation is very similar to the process which heat transforms meat, specifically the proteins. As a result the texture transforms giving it the mouth feel of a cooked type of seafood. It is important to note however that citric acid doesn't kill bacteria in the way that heat does, and as a result it is important to use a fresh source of seafood.
This makes the next dish a slightly risky but remarkably rewarding creation. Ceviche de conches is what kindled my newfound love for ceviche. Clams are bottom dwelling creatures which further demands stringent sanitary control in order to be safe. The final product, however, is divine. Ceviche de conches typically takes on a dark color of the specific clams used. Garlic, limes, tomatoes, salt, cilantro, onions, and olive oil are the primary ingredients aside of course from the clams. Tonight I set off to find a good example of this dish. At first I was thinking I might go to the sketchy place a few doors down, but fortunately common sense prevailed and I spent the next hour or so walking around looking for a place I felt I could trust not to kill me. Shrimp ceviche is much more common because it is easier and a lot safer to make. It was difficult to find a good place that both served it and didn't make me fear for my gastrointestinal well being. The final result is this beautiful creation.
I feel the appearance of this dish doesn't "translate" as well as I claimed food does above. To the person who has never had something like this, it looks a little creepy, and perhaps entirely unappetizing. I'm a fairly adventurous person but clam ceviche never really appealed to me the first time I saw it. Now however, that dark almost purple color of the broth now inspires the hour long trek to find a quality dish of the stuff.
I can't really describe the flavor. If you like clams you might be able to guess at it, but these specific types of clams common in Ecuador aren't found to commonly in the United States and taste much different. In regards to this dish, you will simply have to come visit and taste it yourself.
If any of you have ever shared a meal with me that included pork, you've probably suffered through my proclamations of how pigs are heavenly creatures given to us by a god who really takes care of his homies. It's true, they essentially are garbage disposals that can't get enough of everything we can't and wont, and when they are done processing all of that, we can then eat them. It's a fantastic way to reuse calories we abandon to waste. Not only are they incredibly pragmatic, they also taste positively divine in every way. Pigs, chickens, fish, these are all fantastic creatures that we should eat more of rather than continue our silly affair with cows. In more sensible countries, pork is far popular than cow. Cow has the appeal of being a high class meat, but realistically it can't compete with the greater ease of raising pigs and the breadth of culinary uses our chubby friends provide us.
In almost every market in Ecuador, the upper floors are dominated by roasted pigs providing lunch to hungry market goers. These pigs have been roasted in an oven or over a grill, while a mixture of spices and fat is repeatedly applied to give the skin that brown color. The wonderful thing about this slower process of cooking is that it separates the skin from the meat underneath, similar to a process used to prepare my favorite dish, Beijing duck. This skin becomes very crispy and unbelievably flavorful. The fat between the skin and the meat is mostly dissolved into the meat below flavoring it even further. This process creates one hell of a lunch.
Here the woman is cutting portions of the skin and meat to prepare for a plate.
CLICK THESE PICTURES FOR LARGER IMAGES YOU WONT REGRET IT.
The final plate one is served is not just pork. The bottom is mote or hominy. This is a very basic and common carbohydrate in Ecuadorian cooking. The pork is dumped on top this and garnished with lots of onions and tomatoes. These plates always come with one or two potato and cheese pancakes. These pan fried nuggets of joy accompany a wide variety of Ecuadorian dishes. You can then add some vinegar to the pork if thats your thing (it certainly is mine) or you can add a little hot sauce (not really hot) made from mild peppers and something called a tree tomato.
The result of this is that first thing tomorrow for lunch I'm going to the market and ordering this. I'm not kidding, the hardest thing about writing about food is that it just makes me miss these past meals.
Pig has many applications due to the strong flavor its fat can provide to just about anything. The savoriness flavor Chinese food theory identifies is perhaps best applied by pork fat. This next type of food strongly benefits from this.
Tamales are an ubiquitous food found all across North and South America. The fantastic thing about tamales is that they enjoy a regional variety that makes culinary travel quite exciting. The only other food creation that may have more regional variety is the sandwich. I am a big fan of Mexican tamales for numerous reasons primarily relating to spices, but Ecuadorian tamales compete quite strongly in this category. Ecuadorian tamales differ primarily from Mexican tamales in the sense that they don't use masa and instead rely on a sweeter and younger type of corn. Ecuadorian tamales are usually filled with a multitude of things, beginning with chicken or pork, and garnished by eggs, raisins, peas, and peppers.
Instead of a corn husk they are wrapped in the leaves of a lily type plant called a Canna. They are steamed in large pots specifically used for this purpose, and as such, they are easily reheated in a microwave with minimal effort and loss of quality.
The flavor of the corn mixture is slightly sweet and always very moist. This is in comparison with the tamale's sweet cousin the humita. I like to add heat with some hot sauce but the tamale, especially the pork tamales really pack quite a bit of flavor alone. It is common to enjoy tamales for Christmas and I must say, it was the part of this last Christmas dinner I enjoyed the most. Here is a better view of the interior.
The food I have been chasing today and craving for the past 2 days, however, has been saved for last.
Ceviches are native to the area. While many associate Ceviches and their origin with Peru, Ecuador also has a potential claim. It likely originated with the Incans and originally was "cooked" with a mixture called chicha or tumbo, marinades made from fruits, not citrus as is done today. This was because citrus was a product of the Columbian exchange, the largest biological interchange of species in human history. After the spanish introduced citrus to the new world, ceviche transformed into the dish it is today.
Ceviche is quite unique in that one doesn't cook the meat with heat, but rather with the acid of citrus. This chemical transformation is very similar to the process which heat transforms meat, specifically the proteins. As a result the texture transforms giving it the mouth feel of a cooked type of seafood. It is important to note however that citric acid doesn't kill bacteria in the way that heat does, and as a result it is important to use a fresh source of seafood.
This makes the next dish a slightly risky but remarkably rewarding creation. Ceviche de conches is what kindled my newfound love for ceviche. Clams are bottom dwelling creatures which further demands stringent sanitary control in order to be safe. The final product, however, is divine. Ceviche de conches typically takes on a dark color of the specific clams used. Garlic, limes, tomatoes, salt, cilantro, onions, and olive oil are the primary ingredients aside of course from the clams. Tonight I set off to find a good example of this dish. At first I was thinking I might go to the sketchy place a few doors down, but fortunately common sense prevailed and I spent the next hour or so walking around looking for a place I felt I could trust not to kill me. Shrimp ceviche is much more common because it is easier and a lot safer to make. It was difficult to find a good place that both served it and didn't make me fear for my gastrointestinal well being. The final result is this beautiful creation.
I feel the appearance of this dish doesn't "translate" as well as I claimed food does above. To the person who has never had something like this, it looks a little creepy, and perhaps entirely unappetizing. I'm a fairly adventurous person but clam ceviche never really appealed to me the first time I saw it. Now however, that dark almost purple color of the broth now inspires the hour long trek to find a quality dish of the stuff.
I can't really describe the flavor. If you like clams you might be able to guess at it, but these specific types of clams common in Ecuador aren't found to commonly in the United States and taste much different. In regards to this dish, you will simply have to come visit and taste it yourself.
End of the Year Traditions Part 2
The other major events at the end of the year here in Cuenca are the new years festivities. Leading up to this day on a daily basis I would hear explosions around the city at least 30-40 times a day. There were loud enough to set off car alarms and where people who simply couldn't wait to light off fireworks. This was a tiny preview of what new years would be like.
Cuenca is filled with New Years traditions and it is arguably a more anticipated holiday than Christmas. The largest feature of the new years is the sudden proliferation of año viejos, giant dolls made from old clothing and stuffed with paper. These are burned to celebrate the passing of the old year. Sometimes they are a specific person, and sometimes they are some ubiquitous pop culture figure. The most popular subject is the current president, probably followed by Bart Simpson or Spongebob Squarepants.
I was planning to get one this year, but I was unsure of exactly where I would be and when on New Years Eve, so I decided against it. I spent the first half of my new years at my uncle's mother in law's house. Dinner there was incredible and I was promised by all the guys how they were going to hook me up with an Ecuadorian girlfriend. This is a running theme in my interactions with relatives.
We were over there till midnight struck. We didn't need a countdown or a stupid old guy on television to signal the new year. It was quite apparent by the sudden barrage of fireworks coming from every direction in the city. Even in the suburbs I could easily look in any direction and see impressive personal fireworks being lit off. The constant din of pops, bangs, whirs, and streaks was cooler than any fourth of July experience I've had.
I didn't take many pictures of this night as I was with family the first part, and intentionally left my camera at home for the second, but I will leave you with a simple video of an año viejo getting torched. In this video you get a light taste of the racket the fireworks where making. This was perhaps 10 minutes after midnight and the sounds where beginning to thin out.
I'm cutting this entry short because I'm being an intrepid blogger and getting you guys photos of ceviche de conchas from a place that may or may not be a good idea. Hope I update again!
Cuenca is filled with New Years traditions and it is arguably a more anticipated holiday than Christmas. The largest feature of the new years is the sudden proliferation of año viejos, giant dolls made from old clothing and stuffed with paper. These are burned to celebrate the passing of the old year. Sometimes they are a specific person, and sometimes they are some ubiquitous pop culture figure. The most popular subject is the current president, probably followed by Bart Simpson or Spongebob Squarepants.
I was planning to get one this year, but I was unsure of exactly where I would be and when on New Years Eve, so I decided against it. I spent the first half of my new years at my uncle's mother in law's house. Dinner there was incredible and I was promised by all the guys how they were going to hook me up with an Ecuadorian girlfriend. This is a running theme in my interactions with relatives.
We were over there till midnight struck. We didn't need a countdown or a stupid old guy on television to signal the new year. It was quite apparent by the sudden barrage of fireworks coming from every direction in the city. Even in the suburbs I could easily look in any direction and see impressive personal fireworks being lit off. The constant din of pops, bangs, whirs, and streaks was cooler than any fourth of July experience I've had.
I didn't take many pictures of this night as I was with family the first part, and intentionally left my camera at home for the second, but I will leave you with a simple video of an año viejo getting torched. In this video you get a light taste of the racket the fireworks where making. This was perhaps 10 minutes after midnight and the sounds where beginning to thin out.
I'm cutting this entry short because I'm being an intrepid blogger and getting you guys photos of ceviche de conchas from a place that may or may not be a good idea. Hope I update again!
1.1.10
End of the Year Traditions Part I
Cuenca is a city that takes its cultural richness quite dearly. Important dates are marked with festivals, parties, and processions. Throughout the month of December on the weekends one can frequently bump into some sort of procession exacerbating the already bad downtown traffic. From my apartment I can always hear them in the distance and I usually try to guess where they are headed before I go out an investigate. The largest of these in the month of December is known as the Pase de Los Ninos. This year it was estimated at something absurd like 20 kilometers long of marchers, cars decked out in displays, and people atop horses. This is the big day when you get to dress up your little kid in a variety of possibilities and show off their cuteness throughout the streets of Cuenca. The procession begins around 11am the eve of Christmas and lasts till around 5pm. Yes, you heard me correctly, this whole event lasts around 6 hours. As the procession gets into the heart of the city it slows down so you can imagine 20 kilometers worth of displays can really take a better part of the day to go by. The event is quite famous and unique to Cuenca, and for the majority of the first half at least they televise it on the national stations. Think of the rose parade but with a bit more cultural uumph.
This was easily my favorite. Thank god the catholic tradition doesn't get all up in arms about iconoclasm otherwise this would be one hell of a heretical parade. Photographers swarmed her for obvious reasons, and her presence was stunning. The well behaved nature of these kids is a running theme is seems. There was little shade which explains all the umbrellas. Volunteers took water to the people driving inside the cars and trucks. Speaking of which, none of the vehicles you see here save for the larger trucks are allowed to be on. They coast down the slight grade as long as they can in neutral. I imagine they are allowed to switch on when the grade disappears, but to my knowledge the route is planned in such a way that this is very infrequent. Traffic was also entirely blocked from the city center making the general atmosphere that of a big party. If you aren't watching the parade, you are shopping here and there enjoying the lack of traffic.
This is a good example of what the average person does for this procession. Everybody with a very young child loves to compare them to the Christ child. Here we have a manger allegory with my friend who was unable to resist the urge to tickle the belly of this kid. I must admit he was cute as a button but I am impervious to belly poking. Keep in mind the really young kids are only displayed off in that parks rather than exposed to the long haul of the procession. If you are wondering about the pig, many of the displays have all sorts of food offerings. Pigs and guinea pigs are pretty common meats as well as chickens both live and cooked.
Here you can see a typical secular display. This is in many ways also a slightly nationalistic parade. Many of the different traditional groups of Ecuador are represented in their varied clothing styles.
Of course kids really dress up as whatever. You even see a few spidermans here and there.
These displays can get quite elaborate and then need a flatbed to transport them.
This guy was one of my favorite. Many people on this parade took their facial expressions quite seriously. You don't really see it well here but he looked like he was on the verge of crying from being in the presence of the divine child. They don't really need that backdrop considering the Cuencan sky is quite heavenly as is.
This dude is another excellent example. Moments before this picture he had his arm out commanding the stopped procession to continue forward. He didn't want to hear any excuses no sir.
Appreciate that directly in the sun it is really hot in Cuenca. As I mentioned before, all of these kids maintained their cool (keke) regardless of how many pounds of clothing they wore. I've never seen so many well behaved children in one area.
Lets finish with some sheep as well as a couple of poorly shot videos of dances and the music that is playing during this procession.
These dudes are jamming but I didn't really have the time to record much of it.
This was easily my favorite. Thank god the catholic tradition doesn't get all up in arms about iconoclasm otherwise this would be one hell of a heretical parade. Photographers swarmed her for obvious reasons, and her presence was stunning. The well behaved nature of these kids is a running theme is seems. There was little shade which explains all the umbrellas. Volunteers took water to the people driving inside the cars and trucks. Speaking of which, none of the vehicles you see here save for the larger trucks are allowed to be on. They coast down the slight grade as long as they can in neutral. I imagine they are allowed to switch on when the grade disappears, but to my knowledge the route is planned in such a way that this is very infrequent. Traffic was also entirely blocked from the city center making the general atmosphere that of a big party. If you aren't watching the parade, you are shopping here and there enjoying the lack of traffic.
This is a good example of what the average person does for this procession. Everybody with a very young child loves to compare them to the Christ child. Here we have a manger allegory with my friend who was unable to resist the urge to tickle the belly of this kid. I must admit he was cute as a button but I am impervious to belly poking. Keep in mind the really young kids are only displayed off in that parks rather than exposed to the long haul of the procession. If you are wondering about the pig, many of the displays have all sorts of food offerings. Pigs and guinea pigs are pretty common meats as well as chickens both live and cooked.
Here you can see a typical secular display. This is in many ways also a slightly nationalistic parade. Many of the different traditional groups of Ecuador are represented in their varied clothing styles.
Of course kids really dress up as whatever. You even see a few spidermans here and there.
These displays can get quite elaborate and then need a flatbed to transport them.
This guy was one of my favorite. Many people on this parade took their facial expressions quite seriously. You don't really see it well here but he looked like he was on the verge of crying from being in the presence of the divine child. They don't really need that backdrop considering the Cuencan sky is quite heavenly as is.
This dude is another excellent example. Moments before this picture he had his arm out commanding the stopped procession to continue forward. He didn't want to hear any excuses no sir.
Appreciate that directly in the sun it is really hot in Cuenca. As I mentioned before, all of these kids maintained their cool (keke) regardless of how many pounds of clothing they wore. I've never seen so many well behaved children in one area.
Lets finish with some sheep as well as a couple of poorly shot videos of dances and the music that is playing during this procession.
These dudes are jamming but I didn't really have the time to record much of it.
26.12.09
I want to this kick this blog off with an entry about how I need to write more in my life. My writing always suffers in a relationship for various reasons and now that I am in a new interesting country, this gives my typical boring topics much needed contextual inspiration. There are, however, way too many false starts that open with "I'm going to/need to write more" so lets dispense with that whole entry and jump right in.
I suppose it would be best to first describe why Ecuador is the roof of the world. Lately the focus has been on the traditional "top" where some fat paganistic dude stokes the fire of consumer culture in children's hearts and loins around the world. I reject that arbitrary top because it doesn't present us with anything interesting or exciting about the "top of the world." Nobody lives there as its extremes are particularly unwelcoming. As far as we know, nobody bothered to find it until very recently in our species history. The only real argument for labeling it the top of the world is that the axis the earth spins on, and even then the southern pole could just as easily take the name. Using axis to define up and down is pretty silly given the universe doesn't care much for standardization in this sense. Speaking of which, only half the entire universe is visible when you stand at a pole. Based on my geographical experience, it seems to me like a "top" should allow one to see everything.
If we are going to redefine the "top" of the world, it's best we use a much more personally significant marker. Just standing on the ground it seems fairly easy to define. Everything underneath my feet is below. Everything above my head is up. It is an easy distinction that influences many ancient philosophical questions about the relationship of things in the universe. It is easy to distinguish between heaven and earth, and to refer to the myriad things that dwell in the border zone. Up, however, depending on where you stand becomes different, a relativistic mess that doesn't define a "top" very well. Inarguably the most important feature of the sky is the sun, the seemingly eternal source of all life and energy on this planet. The sun strikes me as an excellent reference point. Dante depicts heaven and hell in a similar fashion to what I'm getting at. The depth of hell is deep within the earth, as far as on can get from the sun. To move closer to heaven is essentially moving away from the center of the earth. He probably didn't imagine deep center of a globe as we do now, nor did he place the sun as the very top of this system as that would have been heretical to the existing models of the universe, but he choose to place god at the top.
I think we can comfortably replace god with the sun in this equation. As far as we can tell it is our only god. It created and continues our species on this earth. If we are going to define top and bottom, we will do it with the sun being the ultimate height, a fitting point of reference for a terrestrial based species. And if we are to use the center of the world as the lowest "bottom," and the sun as the highest, then it would mean that the point where one can be closest to the sun would be our worlds "top."
This point exists here in Ecuador. The volcano Chimborazo rests one degree south of the equator, placing it right on the bulge of the earth created by it's rotation. Combined with its height, standing on its peak puts you 6,384.4 km from the center of the earth, the furthers one can get on the surface of the world. This also means that when the sun is directly overhead, one is as close as terrestrially possible to it.
I think this is a much more fitting "top" of the world. Here in the mountains of Ecuador you can feel the presence of the sun when the clouds drift away. The intensity of the light on a clear day is almost blinding. Suddenly the big bushy eyelashes inherited from my father's side of the family makes a lot of sense. The white Panamanian hats you see the locals wearing have such a practical purpose. You can see it in the washed out photos of mine taken on days where few clouds are in the sky, with the light intensifying bright colors and completely darkening anything that isn't a white reflective surface. The less complex optics of a camera cannot convey the intensity the sensitive ones of human eye are capable of. I hope I can show you what the light blue of the cathedral outside my window looks like in person.
Hopefully this blog will get some of you interested enough to come see for yourself, not just the beautiful highlands of the Andes, but also the incredible diversity in the coastal lowlands and the biological jewel of the world, the Amazon. For now, since I have work and obligations, I am living only here in the mountains. This blog will focus on life and stories in this beautiful town high up in the mountains on the roof of the world.
I suppose it would be best to first describe why Ecuador is the roof of the world. Lately the focus has been on the traditional "top" where some fat paganistic dude stokes the fire of consumer culture in children's hearts and loins around the world. I reject that arbitrary top because it doesn't present us with anything interesting or exciting about the "top of the world." Nobody lives there as its extremes are particularly unwelcoming. As far as we know, nobody bothered to find it until very recently in our species history. The only real argument for labeling it the top of the world is that the axis the earth spins on, and even then the southern pole could just as easily take the name. Using axis to define up and down is pretty silly given the universe doesn't care much for standardization in this sense. Speaking of which, only half the entire universe is visible when you stand at a pole. Based on my geographical experience, it seems to me like a "top" should allow one to see everything.
If we are going to redefine the "top" of the world, it's best we use a much more personally significant marker. Just standing on the ground it seems fairly easy to define. Everything underneath my feet is below. Everything above my head is up. It is an easy distinction that influences many ancient philosophical questions about the relationship of things in the universe. It is easy to distinguish between heaven and earth, and to refer to the myriad things that dwell in the border zone. Up, however, depending on where you stand becomes different, a relativistic mess that doesn't define a "top" very well. Inarguably the most important feature of the sky is the sun, the seemingly eternal source of all life and energy on this planet. The sun strikes me as an excellent reference point. Dante depicts heaven and hell in a similar fashion to what I'm getting at. The depth of hell is deep within the earth, as far as on can get from the sun. To move closer to heaven is essentially moving away from the center of the earth. He probably didn't imagine deep center of a globe as we do now, nor did he place the sun as the very top of this system as that would have been heretical to the existing models of the universe, but he choose to place god at the top.
I think we can comfortably replace god with the sun in this equation. As far as we can tell it is our only god. It created and continues our species on this earth. If we are going to define top and bottom, we will do it with the sun being the ultimate height, a fitting point of reference for a terrestrial based species. And if we are to use the center of the world as the lowest "bottom," and the sun as the highest, then it would mean that the point where one can be closest to the sun would be our worlds "top."
This point exists here in Ecuador. The volcano Chimborazo rests one degree south of the equator, placing it right on the bulge of the earth created by it's rotation. Combined with its height, standing on its peak puts you 6,384.4 km from the center of the earth, the furthers one can get on the surface of the world. This also means that when the sun is directly overhead, one is as close as terrestrially possible to it.
I think this is a much more fitting "top" of the world. Here in the mountains of Ecuador you can feel the presence of the sun when the clouds drift away. The intensity of the light on a clear day is almost blinding. Suddenly the big bushy eyelashes inherited from my father's side of the family makes a lot of sense. The white Panamanian hats you see the locals wearing have such a practical purpose. You can see it in the washed out photos of mine taken on days where few clouds are in the sky, with the light intensifying bright colors and completely darkening anything that isn't a white reflective surface. The less complex optics of a camera cannot convey the intensity the sensitive ones of human eye are capable of. I hope I can show you what the light blue of the cathedral outside my window looks like in person.
Hopefully this blog will get some of you interested enough to come see for yourself, not just the beautiful highlands of the Andes, but also the incredible diversity in the coastal lowlands and the biological jewel of the world, the Amazon. For now, since I have work and obligations, I am living only here in the mountains. This blog will focus on life and stories in this beautiful town high up in the mountains on the roof of the world.
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