Morning Adventures

     We have been going to school in the afternoon from 1:30pm to 5:30pm which has left the mornings wide-open for activities. We have filled that time with running in the morning when it is still nice and cool out, filling our stomachs with delicious Honduran meals, studying for class, or doing our homework *yes, we have homework every day!* However, a couple days this week, we did two things we have never done before in Honduras. We went on a horseback ride with Enrique (Kike), our host family dad, and today we went to the beautiful and serene Agua Caliente (hot springs).

Horseback Riding with Kike

Kike at his ranch

     Ryan has said to me he would never get on a horse again since the last time he was on a horse was much too memorable. However, we were invited by Kike to go on a horseback ride with his horses on Monday, and there was no way we could say no. Plus, I really wanted to do it.

     We went to his ranch in the morning before school where he gives rides for tourists during the week and weekend. Ryan scouted out the most tranquil and calm horse for himself. The horse he chose happened to be the one Kike chose for me, and I will tell you that the horse I rode wanted to keep his lazy pace and wasn’t too happy that I was making him trot whenever it was flat.

     We actually ended up going in the mountains to the same place we went for a brigade last summer. It was so neat to have a different mode of transportation and actually see all of the agriculture (mostly “maiz” corn) and people walking to and from the village. It was a great experience, all four hours of it, and we are so happy to have done the trip. We had an absolutely wonderful time despite the soreness we felt the next day.

Agua Caliente - - Hot Springs
     The language school we are attending provides one tourist activity in Copan each week, and this week ended up being a trip to Agua Caliente. We really had no expectations, as you should when in Honduras or on any trip for that matter, but all of our Honduran teachers said how beautiful and great it was. So when we arrived, you can imagine what we thought when we saw this pool:

     We went to the tour counter and were asked if we wanted just the piscina (pool) or the spa. The piscina cost $3 and the spa cost $10. We both don’t like to pay for something we can’t see, and we weren’t allowed to go check it out before we paid. So, we said that we would pay for just the piscina and would be content with that. We changed into our suits, and went to find the pool:

     Can you believe that we actually got in? Yep, we did. It was really warm, so we didn’t feel too cheated. We were having a good conversation with our new friends, when another one of our friends came back from the spa simply to tell us that the spa was WAY too cool to miss out on. He was totally right, and we had a blast! I think the photos tell it all.

Natural foot massage