We spent the first 4 days in the Quito Hotel. I was excited about this sign that advertised a "celebration of potatoes" in the hotel restaurant. Every morning the breakfast buffet included some form of potatoes that were very delicious. I "whatsapp'ed" these pictures to Sarah (in Burkina Faso, where the staple is rice), who LOVES potates (to make her jealous :)). I had used google translator to inform me that "papa" is pope. So, I thought the sign was very interesting, because it celebrated the potatoe as the "pope of half the world". We had a little discussion (on whatsapp) back and forth about the other half of the world, perhaps non-catholic(?), eating rice and maize, etc. I have since learned that "el Papa" is "the Pope" and "la papa" is "potato" and "la mitad del mundo" can be either half the world or middle of the world (i.e. equator). Here, I thought it was a great play on words, when really, had made a mistake translating a word, without regard for the gender "el" or "la".
Haha - you could always write to the organizers and suggest they change the words slightly for next year :)
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