Hola...went on a horseback ride this afternoon. Just returned. Seven of us went to a small village outside of Xela and went through some fields of corn over a bridge down a dusty street of walled houses and then on to a trail around a treed hill. In the distance you could see Santa Maria volcano..At one point we all started galloping down the road when suddenly the lead horse veered off the road through a barbed wire fence and into a field.The horse got caught up in the barbed wire fence and fell throwing the rider off. Fortunately he was not hurt.The second horse upon seeing the first fall, reared up, turned and stared galloping back down the road with the panicked American girl rider holding on for dear life as she shot past me. Our guide needed to untangle the horse which eventually got back up and was OK.Two of the riders were upset and wouldn't continue however myself and the four others, including the English fellow that fell, resumed our riding.It was quite beautiful. I thought I was in a spaghetti western and could hear The Good ,The Bad and The Ugly theme playing in the background.We went along a dusty road by some cotton fields lined by prickly pear cacti. At various points dogs rushed out barking at us however firmly in control we rode on down a gully,along a small river then up into and through a field leading to yet another small village.We rode through the narrow streets and then to a a road leading back to the sables.When I got off the two hour ride my backside and legs were sore and I felt so light I thought I might leap into the sky.....anyway...a good day. I felt quite confident on the horse despite the other fellows spill,We all had a good laugh afterwards.
Hey...I heard that they now have another route up Mt Pacaya as the authorities thought the one we went on as too dangerous after a few tourists had been killed in the past few years.Apparently on the new route it is not possible to see the lava flow any,ore.
I have been reading the papers a lot here.There sure are a lot of murders and road accident deaths.Yesterday 19 people who were part of a crowd of seventy migrant farm workers were killed when their inebriated driver struck another truck while passing on a curve.
Apparently the language schools here are hurting because the poor American and European markets have resulted in fewer students coming.
Today in class my maestro talked a lot about her experiences in the civil war that end over ten years ago ,She recounted how a woman and her three daughters in her village were gunned down by the military after they refused the advances of the soldiers.Her 10 year old schoolmate escaped death by hiding under the bed when the soldiers burst in.Apparently the father was drunk elsewhere.She spoke of other neighbourhood men who simply disappeared...Anyway...we had a good chat in Spanish although I probably missed a lot...
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