adventure is worthwhile*

we went horseback riding this morning, but it was kinda scary. got up at 7:30 a.m., took a shower, put new clothes on, and went a different direction than normal. took the bus a very short distance to the farm. walked through the field and up to the stables. poop was everywhere and the horses were nipping because they wanted food (i later found out the owner feeds them apples, by hand, a lot). i was a little leary of their faces coming at me. and it seemed they didn't want me to pet them. then we went around to get the harnesses and lead ropes. susanne hands me one and points a horse saying, "this one's yours" as if i know exactly what to do and feel comfortable doing it. i was like, "um, yeah, i don't know what i'm doing. my dad always did it for me and i'm not too sure about doing it myself." so she did it for me.

then we start walking outside. i've got two horses, one on either side of me, and i'm following her and her horse, walking in poop with my nice clean sneakers. and THEN, my horse steps on my foot!!! i was freaked. it didn't hurt so much as just scare me, but still! we get outside and all they want to do is eat the grass. and they don't mind at all. they are just spastic and she's ok with all this. i'm not. we groom them (before? weird), get them saddled up, and then she finds out another girl is coming to ride the horse we've saddled for me. so we have to change out the horses. UGH!

so while i'm holding both horses at some point, i get in the middle and both have minds of their own, both wanting to eat grass, but in different locations. they were small horses, but horses nonetheless. i was so afraid one was just gonna buck up and say to heck with me and take off. but they didn't.

finally we get on and start riding. i'm pretty much scared and tell her, but she just laughs at me and says it's ok. we get to this one part and my horse decides to go right instead of straight. um, excuse me? i tried, but the horse wouldn't budge. susanne had to get off her horse, grab mine by the bit, and lead both our horses to the end of the road where we turned left. then my horse was ok. go figure.

we trotted a bit, but i was freaked. i had no idea how the horse was trained, so i just felt like the horse was the only one in control.

the area where we rode was nice and peaceful though. in and around corn fields. one part was through a forested area, but the highway was on one side of us so it was loud with traffic. but overall it was nice. thankfully we ended much earlier than she had originally planned.

all of this horse stuff made me miss my dad. and helped me realize just how good he was with the all the horse stuff ... he trained the horses we rode really well. he helped me feel calm and in control. i would have felt a lot better about these horses if he'd been there, i know that. when i think about it, i want to cry, but i hold back my tears for some reason.

after a full afternoon...

susanne cooked salmon and rice for lunch. it was good. we ate and a bit later she left ... she had a thing to go to that she'd had planned for a while now. i was happy to have some free time to explore on my own, walking slowly and absorbing life here.

i walked to the village. i found a church and went in. it's Catholic and beautiful, but completely empty of people. strange compared to guatemala. there were chandeliers, murals on the ceiling, and blue paint decoration, so it didn't seem so "gold" in there like it usually does. on my way out a couple spotted me and stared like i had no business coming out of the church. either that was true or seeing people coming out of the church truly is an oddity. either way it's sad.

i found the grocery store susanne normally shops at and bought an apple and a Coke. i went to buy it and the girl says something to me in german. i look lost so she says "moment" and leaves. she comes back with a sticker on the apple. when i saw the sticker i realized i'd forgotten to weight it and print the payment sticker. i'd seen susanne do it when we went to the store together, but i spaced it completely. oh well.

found my way to the lake and sat on a park bench reading my book for a couple of hours. wandered into a store at the bus station to look at maps and left with an ice cream bar. went home. took a shower. watched "Mr. and Mrs. Smith".

*quote by Amelia Earhart