Horses and Trout and Alpaca... Oh my!!

Today was a great day! I am currently fed up with my current crocheting project that I have stated so I will blog a bit. Yesterday I explored the market with heather and I bought some yarn and a crochet hook off the street. The yarn didn't come in a ball which is making like very complicated because I have to roll it myself while tying to untangle this huge mess. I have spent way too much time trying to start this project. Anyway... Today the group went into another town to go horse back riding. Before we mounted our cabellos we went on a small hike where we saw some Incan ruins. There were these stone structures that the incans used to use for sacrifices. It was a quick hike then we were off to the horses. I ended up with the horse that was not so nice. His name was Martin (it sounds a lot cooler if you way it in a Spanish accent). He was trying to bite the other horses and always trying to get in the lead. After about a 40 minute ride. We dismounted and went on another hike. This was unlike any hike I had ever been on. We had to crawl through thick shrubbery, climb up and down the walls of these mud walls and literally scale the mountain holding onto plants to keep us from sliding down. Let's just say we were all a little muddy by the end. It was totally worth it though because we ended up in this beautiful meadow with flowers and plants everywhere. We all sat down to rest and come to find out we were all sitting in these prickly thorns. That was fun. They were in our shoes and I even had some poking my behind. Thank you Kayla for removing them for me hahah some beautiful pictures were taken and the hike was over. For lunch (at two pm... All starving by then) we went to a really amazing outdoor restaurant called El Encantado. I am not really sure about the history behind this place but they are right next to a trout hachery so needless to say we ate trout for lunch. Accompanied by potatoes, rice, and inca cola.. Duh! There was this huge tree house there that had a bridge and even a wooden slide. We decided it would be a great idea to go down the wooden slide. No harm in that right? Well this was a very slick and steep slide. I went down it so fast that i couldn't land on my feet and ended up biffing it on my hands and knees. I have a nice little scrape on my knee now. Yes I am so graceful. After this we visited some local artisans. We saw a woman who makes her own sliver jewelry. The pieces she makes were all really beautiful and I picked out a piece or two. Coming from a family of jewelers I appreciate their hard work. Lastly we went to a local market where they showed us how they spin alpaca and wool and how they use a loom to create all of their blankets. Then it was time for shopping at this market. I bought goodies for friends and family. My favorite purchase was this blanket that I have been eyeing every since i have arrived in Huancayo. These blankets are used for women to carry their babies around on their backs. They are so brightly colored and I know whenever I will use this blanket in the future it will remind me of all the women in Peru. It is still a mystery to me how they can tie their children to their backs with just a simple blanket and they dont fall out. Hmmm The day ended perfectly with all 11 of us volunteers in a van singing to the best of the Beatles album in unison. That was definitely a moment I will never forget.