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I’m rolling and rolling through that lands and finally I reached tollhouse of 9. Capital of South America. I didn’t find on time host from Couchsurfing so I done ultimate thing. I put my staff in most cheap hostel which I found there, and I started to eat, piece by piece that sprawling capital city cake. Capital like whole Ecuador. Organized, clean and secure. What can I wrote here, everybody can like old town. Less I liked that almost to every place is an entrance – 3 or 4$. That’s why mostly I could just watch building from outside. But one thing there is obligatory to visit. Basilica del Voto Nacional is obligatory point of visit. I cried a lot, but on counter bonked few coins, in gate I put my ticket and inside… I could just sigh. Beautiful! But true magic start when on chilling ladders and on jolty legs we gonna walk on the top of highest tower. View from there is incredible!

 

There is not so many places which is possible to visit for free. But Presidecial Palace is open for everybody everyday! In Poland only during one or two days in year…

Why so serious? 😀

of course there need to be a little of propaganda. Generally whole rooms are fulfilled with gifts from whole over the world. But one room is only with medals and diplomas of current president 😀

Every Presidecial Palace, which I allready saw, had a lot of gates and huge security. In Asuncion they almost shot to me because I wanted to cross lawn. And here? Under Palace You can find a lot of small shops! Different world than Europe. Here nobody think about bombing attack

All signs on the streets are the same. I passed here many times but I needed to have few days to realize that in that lace is KFC 😀 Cool idea but for owners can be obstructing…

It is said that capital cities are never going sleep and never wake up. It seems that this over 1,5 millions metropolis is like huge sleeper. Around 18-19 shops are going close and around 20 almost whole people are also inside houses. On streets You can meet only emptiness, nostalgia and shadows of street lamps. People told me that somewhere is a quarter where pubs and bars are beat with permanent life. But that was few kilometers from city center so I decided to change that place on 4 walls in my hostel where also many things happened 🙂

I met there two friends from Belgium and some couple from France, which is travelling here few months. They gave me a stone from… Mordor! Exactly from Place in New Zealand where Peter Jacskon took pictured to Lord of The Ring. So definitely one day I will go there like Frodo with their crazy friends 😀 But nowadays I chose music festival which suddenly started in the city. But when I walked up rain started to rain to strong, that I was washed down directly into one from cinema when I found International Film Festival. That’s accident or that city is full of art?

Maybe You don’t know but I measure my road not only with amount of putted back stones but also with small cinemas. I’m looking for small cinemas, going inside to ask people who are working there how it is, what kind of machines and movies they have, and about everything what is connected with cinema. So when I see film festival I can’t pass without going inside. I found poster with informations so I chose movie and walked to National Cinemateca. But unfortunately I didn’t realize that it’s ceremony of closing with prize-giving. And that how my crazy story started.

Rain was incredible. Something like cloudburst on equator. I didn’t wanted to pay for taxi so when I walked inside I looked like scuba diver. And after few seconds I knew that I fit here like doors in forest. Media, guests, stars, someone from government… and me. In air is smell of ironed suits, perfumes of Coco-Chanel, glamour and my completely wet blouse. As a old volunteer on film festivals I knew that best place to hide is on other side of glass with wine. So I searched for biggest gathering of suits and dresses which always are corral catering table, I broke through cordon of perfumes and after few seconds I drank and ate food which I even can’t named. Until moment when I heard from my back “Sandalias! Sandalias!”. Consternation in the crowd, I thought that they gonna ask me to leave. But now! They asked me to go on stage 😀 But after another.

Small group is looking on my sandals and shorts. They pointed at me without any consternation. Few seconds more and they could run around with crosses, garlic and aspen cleat. So as a warrior I make one step forward with cape (or in that occasion wet blouse) and with naked sword (or naked fingers in foots). Classic set of question: from where, why, how, and how many stones I have. One from that guys was program director, who was surprised when I told that him, that I worked many years as a volunteer during film festivals and as a film educator. But when I told him that I’m from Poland he was completely happy! “Poland?! Wajda! Listen, we had on festival small retrospection of Wajda’s movies. And we have 5 free minutes during our ceremony. Come with me on scene! You will say few words about Wajda and than we gonna play short document about him!”. Almost I choked with empanadas. Wait, what?! You wanna have me on stage? But… but… I don’t like to! And I don’t have clothes. In that I can more talk about industrial safety in scrap metal sorting department. “Don’t worry about anything. We have few suits in wardrobe”.

They are crazy, I thought! But someone just run to find keys to wardrobes. And than… huge strike hit somewhere really close. Glasses pinked and light went out! Running, flashlights, walkie-talkie and technical guys who tried to safe situation. To do something with more and more jolty hands I took another glass with wine. Light came back but projectionists needed to restart projectors and whole ceremony had half hour delay. Unplanned 5 minutes whole in program despaired together with whole food form tables. My show wasn’t necessary, and I think that even they forget about me 🙂

Tag line? There is huge power in sandals, but never take them to film festival 🙂

Quito is named as a city of Center. Because on suburbs of that capital city French guy in XVIII found equator. To be in Quito and to not see that place is like to be on moon and don’t look on Earth. That’s why with Vane, which I met in hostel, after 1,5 hours in public buses we was… no, not in equator line but in long queue to but tickets. From every place huge titles shouted that entrance cost 7,5$. But under, in small letters, was information that we can go inside for 3,5$ but without permission to visit train’s museum, beauty spot on top of tower and some other place. Truly? I don’t give a shit about that places, so we paid 3,5$ green bills and after few seconds we jumped as a crazy on yellow, magic line 🙂

Or we thought that it is. Equator have many magic properties but most strange is that… You can it in two places 🙂 French guys when tried to demarcate it… made mistake! Real equator is 240m further! But before someone could check it properly government build here huge monument, and thousands of pictures on Facebook gonna prove You, that equator is here. And nobody will care what GPS says 🙂 That place isn’t so interesting. Huge empty square, huge monument and magic yellow picture with hundreds of people who wanna take good picture. It’s really interesting to visit chapel witch is constructed in the middle of equator and yellow line is dividing altar in the middle. But question is that Jesus is on north or south part? Or maybe it’s good example that Jesus is everywhere? 🙂 The road is long and bumpy/You don’t know if it ends” I rang bell twice in chapel which is directly on Ecuador. First to thank for every good what happened on south, and to plead for good people on my road on north. Because road can by windy and hilly but with good people we can even move whole mountain 🙂

I took from here two stones – one from north and second from south part. And we walked to real equator. Not everybody knows that next to huge museum is a little, private one. Ticket to Intiñan Solar Museum cost 4$ but that was really good expense. Specialists who are working inside can tell in very fresh and funny way about animals and flowers, but also about strange properties. And there is a lot of magic properties. It’s place where they proof Coriolis force. And, as they say, only place where is possible to put egg on nail (what is not exactly true 😀 ). Probably You heard about water which is turning on left or right side. Depends if that is on north or south part. Thing is that is impossible to proof that thing exactly on equator line, because we are too close and Coriolis force is too weak here. And it’s not enough to walk few steps on one or second side. Guys who are work in that museum are pouring water from left or right side, so that’s why from the beginning water have properly direction. Of course, that force exist, but to see how it works is necessary to be much more further from equator line, container should be circular and water should be without any move.

But we can’t to deceive other forces. For example it’s almost impossible to walk exactly on equator line with closed eyes. We are feel like a drunk! Also whole our physical power can disappear here. Even biggest guy can be defeated by weakest guide. It’s really interesting to see how magnetic power can influence on our body.

 

 

 

That was cool experience but that was time to move. I move quickly to Ibarra to stay a little bit in couchsurfer host. I was prepare for traditional question about Poland but… surprise! Micael has spend in Poland 8 months! And she know almost everything about my country 🙂 I could tell You how wonderful time we spend together with her amazing family. But I will tell You something different. Usually we say that Poland have a lot of problems. We can point for many hours what is bad and ugly. But she saw only good things, and for her Poland is like incredible place! She have so many beautiful experiences from Poland, that I think that everybody in Poland should listen her for a second to know in how beautiful country we can live 🙂 She can open our eyes, and we can see once again, in better version, our country. Right now Poland have ambassador in Ecuador! 🙂

There was also time to connect with Poland! I had Internet meeting with kids from since camp. I told them about my travel, and about my experiance as a volunteer. I hope that they will want to move and volunteer world 😀

Later with few huge steps I came to Tulcan, on border with Colombia. Place like place, nothing special. But can be strange why so many people are going on cemetery. Because that necropolis is so interesting, that they announced that place as a national monument. So what is so special there? Graves are common but hedges looks like from dream of Edward Scissorhand! Huge heads, ladies and babies with chubby cheeks. Surrealistic place like from Tim Burton movie. Sad, but in the same time funny. But finally I went to give a hug to Colombian border.

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