Explanation of pictures at the end...

So apparently all is well again between Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Chavez, Correa, and Uribe (the presidents of Venezuela, Ecuador, and Colombia, respectively) signed an accord, ending the very serious situation that was at hand. My teacher this morning said that everything was calm again. One of the girls I know saw a newspaper article with a picture of the presidents of the three countries HUGGING (picture Hugo Chavez hugging two other men- ha). Good gracious- I'm just glad it's all worked out, and hopefully that little lovefest continues until well after I'm out of the country (or at least until after we've gone to the jungle ;)   ). Thanks to all who expressed their concern; no need to worry :)

Anyway- we had a four-day weekend since we didn't end up going to the jungle. Thursday, 3 other girls and myself went to Apullacta (the travel agency our school partners with) and booked a day-trip to go horseback riding on Friday. It included a bilingual guide, a snack, lunch, rubber boots, transportation to and from the hacienda where the horses were, and of course the horses. Oh, it was so much fun! We were rode the horses for about 3 hours through the mountains. The view was phenomenal the entire time. AND we were blessed with nearly perfect weather the entire time; the last 10 minutes, it started to sprinkle a little, but luckily we were not caught in any deluges like those in Cuenca that oh-so-conveniently start when I'm starting my 16-block walk home. Oh man, my horse had some serious personality. His name was Eragon- beautiful white horse (not gonna lie- I picked it because it was pretty;)   ). We started out, and right from the get-go, I could tell it was going to be interesting: I had the pokey horse. We were quite far behind the group for the majority of the afternoon (see picture above). But alas! There were instances when all the sudden Eragon would decide it was a grand time for trotting or even galloping (maybe he figured it was time to catch up with the group). Those times didn't last long, but they were always fun (a little hard on the bum, but fun nonetheless). We even made it to the front of the group a good two times, but then one of the other horses would get impatient with Eragon's slow gait and would pass us (I felt like the slow car on the highway- everyone passing me). Eragon had difficulties going down the steep hills (sometimes I wanted to close my eyes and just hope for the best), and we would get REALLY far behind. Then, the guide would tell me to give my horse a kick to get him moving, which I'd do, and we'd end up TROTTING DOWN THE HILL (which was really like a mountain- we are in the Andes, after all)- which was way scarier than just walking down it. Whew- a little nerve-racking., but I enjoyed every minute of it. I have resolved to own a horse (or more than one) when I "grow up." :) 

The rest of the weekend was just hanging out with my host family- taking naps, drinking hot chocolate, eating bread, you know... Less than 2 months to go! Crazy how fast time's gone. We started a new cycle of classes today. I've only had one thus far, and I think I'll like it. It's a Latin American Culture and Civilization class, and my teacher looks promising- like she really enjoys this topic and is eager for us to enjoy it too; I like those kinds of teachers.

I have tried 3 times now to upload pictures of the horseback riding extravaganza, but it's not cooperating. Hopefully later it'll work, so be on the lookout. 

So the pictures wouldn't go to the END of my post like I wanted...

Picture 1: The horses- the white one is Eragon

Picture 2: That's me giving Eragon the pre-ride brush.

Picture 3: On my pokey horse. Note the rockin' helmet

Picture 4: This is an idea of AT LEAST how far back we were the majority of the time.

Picture 5: Group photo.