Call Me Farmer Apes

This morning when I woke up, I had expected to go on the horseback riding trip I had signed up for on the previous day but found out that we weren't going until the afternoon. So just as I was about to go lay back down or grab some breakfast, one of the volunteers walks by with a pot and says "we are going to kill a chicken, wanna watch?" Of course I did! Sure enough the owner of the farm but two chickens' neck and we watched them flop around for a few minutes until they fell lifeless. As sick as it is, it was a little bit funny to watch (sorry chickens). The guy then put them in boiling water to loosen the skin and had the volunteers start to take the feathers off. They asked if I wanted to get in on the action and of course I did. I'm normally an 'increase the peace' kind of person and wouldn't have watched or participated in killing an animal but I thought, when in Rome...or I guess in Sora, do as the Sorans.

After the chicken adventure I had breakfast and was able to talk to a couple who were French but living in Germany. Again, it was really awesome being able to talk to people from around the world and finding out how similar people really are.

I decided to walk down to Sora so that I could call my mom and buy some bug spray. It was about an hour walk which was cool going down but *heck* coming back up! On the way I saw more farms with grapes and olives and apples and even with corn fields which I promised myself I would run through one of them before I leave. (Ever since watching Forrest Gump, I've always wanted to run and then pray in a corn field...don't judge me).

When I got back it was about time to go to the horses!! When we got to the ranch and they were getting the horses ready, I really connected with this one particular horse and wanted to ride her but instead rode a different one. It was kind of funny because on of the girls in the group started to get terrified once she was on the horse and we thought she wouldn't go through with it but she was a trooper. We rode off of the rance property along this really pebbly road and then into the river! We were deep enough that my feet and ankles got wet. By the way this was first time riding a horse (besides I think when I was a young kid one time) so that made it a little bit scary. Overall, the ride was amazing, we had beautiful views of mountains and trees and the river. The horses kept trying to eat the plants and trees but the leader would yell at us in Italian telling us to direct them away from the trees so that they would keep walking and not stop.

After we got back I read and did some planning and then I got into one of the hammocks and just swayed with the breeze and listened to my music as the sun was setting...the perfect afternoon.