Horsey!

The holy grail of the days in Chile was today... horseback riding!  Everyone was more than excited to head off to the ranch, but we all didn't have any idea what to expect.  When the bus started slowing down to turn into the ranch, I saw how it was directly across from the ocean and started getting really excited.  We got off the bus only to be greeted by many animals, so naturally Brice was freaking out.  People were once again petting the dogs, and Brice was yelling for hand sanitizer.  There was an adorable baby cow, two dogs roaming around, a gigantic pig, and chickens scurrying everywhere.  After a certain traumatic experience with the cow, we headed over to where the horses were.  We signed release forms and were given leg protectors, and soon enough we were all sitting on top of horses.  Horses were picked based on their personality, so because I have ridden a couple of times in the past, I asked for a horse that would run a little bit.  Little did I know I would be given quote "the most active horse", and it wanted to gallop every two seconds.  For about an hour everything was all well and good with this horse, and Daniela told me that the owner said he was impressed how I was handling it.  Sure enough, about five minutes after, my horse went galloping away, and I was hanging on for dear life with one foot out of the holder.  I guess the horse realized that running through the bushes wasn't the best idea, so at that point it decided to slow down.  The owner told me how we were now switching horses, and his horse was a million times calmer, and I had no problems the rest of the ride.  The ride, might I add, was three hours long, so we stopped for a break at one point, and we were given juicy pineapple to munch on.  Back on the saddle, we went from the sand dunes to the beach again, and we galloped by the water most of the ride back.  Everyone was sore at this point, so I couldn't help but laugh when another round of galloping ensued.  Back at the ranch, we were given what was probably the best meal we had yet.  There was rice, salad, pork, steak, chicken, and much more, and all of us had full plates.  We sat around and talked for a while, and eventually marshmallows were brought out and we all roasted them over the fire.  After the marshmallows, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our last meal with the Chileans.  We went to "Diego's Pizza", where they had all sorts of interesting types of pizza (I decided to go with "three cheese").  A gift exchange then occurred with the Chilean students, where we gave them Pitt T-shirts and they gave us the most legit USM sweatshirts you'll ever see.  All of us are visibly disappointed that this amazing trip is coming to an end, but I think we can all agree that we're so lucky to have this experience.

The cutest cow I've ever seen

The start of our ride

Coming off the dunes to the beach

What a real barbecue looks like