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Two out of the four band members will be celebrating a birthday during the tour. Marc’s birthday is on the same day as our last show in Brazil and my birthday was yesterday! This marks the first year that I’ve spent a birthday away from home, but it actually turned out great. The guys in the band made sure that I enjoyed myself and we’ll do the same for Marc in about a week!

We’re in Bolivia now, but birthday events started on our day off Monday in Ecuador. Quito is very close to the equator so we rented a driver and drove about twenty minutes to “la Mitad del Mundo“. Everyone was excited because it was kind of a once in a lifetime opportunity. We were greeted by this guy:

His name is Bob (I just gave him that name) and he is an Al Paca. Al Paca’s are cousins of llamas and found mostly in large herds in the mountains of South America. The main reason I’m showing Bob here is because his wool is used to make shirts, scarves and jackets… and uh, some people may be getting some gifts from this dude. Be careful with Bob though because he spits like crazy and has won a few long distance spit meets.

Now for the honoree of the day:

Yeah, that one red line in the middle is the Equator of the Earth. Not much to it huh? Ha! Marc decided to surf over the line:

Che showed us his Air Walking Tiger Style technique:

And then there’s me, with the old school point shot while standing in two hemispheres at the same time!

Looking at the line is pretty uneventful, but they allow you to do experiments that scientifically prove where you are and that’s what makes it fun! The magnetic pull from the North Pole and the South Pole cancel out at the middle of the earth, so a lot of cool things happen at the equator. One experiment everyone tries is to balance the egg on the nail:

If you know me, then you know I was really concentrating and trying to do this. I was trying hard to get the certificate that said I did it!

I was able to get it on its side, but I was told it didn’t count! It turns out that Al Roker couldn’t do it either! Ha!

Through first hand experiments, I’ve learned that because of the equator:

• Even though the earth is spinning in one direction, the turn of the earth is clockwise in one Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the other
• Because of the first point, the swirl of the water in a toilet flows clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere and straight down exactly in the equator, and this is all at the same time.
• You can use a nail to tell time with great accuracy
• The same shadow can tell you what seasons each hemisphere is currently experiencing and,
• Because of the bulge of the earth and less gravitational pull, you’re actually a couple of pounds lighter on the equator

In all I had a great time there! We also had a chance to learn about the culture of the people there. I really had a good time!

Check out this link and see something else I had a chance to do for my birthday.