16th of july

internet here in copan has been a disaster. it works sporadically and so keeping a blog updated is a challenge. nevertheless we've been doing a lot of things here every day so each day is worth to mention.

wednsday morning was reserved for a horse riding trip to the indigenous village nearby copan. taking in account that my last horse ride took place quite a few years ago i was a bit worried how that would go. marianne did do a good job at describing in details how scary her riding in equador had been so i was already imagining how i'd perform a perfect arc in the air and land on my back. however when it was time to actually get on that animal, it turned out to be much easier than what i though and i profoundly enjoyed riding my horse despite the fact that it seemed to be awfully hungry all the time and wouldn't skip a moment to stop by every eucalyptus bush and start munching on it. i even learned how to make it go faster and managed all the way to remain seated at the appropriate place. the views that we were observing were just amazing once again. riding by the side of a river with a sun shining above and the corn plantations and coffee plantations on higher altitudes around us was very pleasant indeed. the village where we arrived was a typical chorti indian village and one does figure out immediately just how poor the indian communities in the countries of latin america are after seeing this example. it is indeed perplexing how the money never seems to make it to these places. the village has one tv and it is situated in a small hut in the middle of the settlement and there is hardly any electricity. so, in terms of such factors as pure water and electricity this place is definately in need of economic donations.

the kids were however adorable and were selling us all sort of typical things that they make in these communities. we all just had to buy something there in order to support the women of this community who gain their living by selling the traditional handycraft to the tourists. the trip to this particular community was not just a pleasant horse ride but also an eye-opening experience in many other senses. apart from that we all of course enjoyed tremendously the riding and are definately determined to do it again as soon as the next opportunity presents itself. and i'm not afraid of horses anymore :)