The Minority Village - part 2

Another part of our tour of the Minority Village was JA's horse ride.  He has ridden a horse before - with an adult holding the reins and slowly walking the horse around.  This time, though, it was a full size riding ring.  JA was hoping for a slow, gentle trot, but that isn't what he got!    He saddled up and then the assistant turned the horse around and gave him a nice whack on the rump!  (The horse - not JA - LOL!)  The horse set off at a medium clip with JA bouncing up and down in the saddle.  I got some video, but it's pretty bouncy itself because of the zoom.  I'll try to post it to the shutterfly site soon. 

The horse got about 3/4 of the way around the ring and decided he was hungry.  So, he pulled over to the side and started munching on some vegetation that was hanging over the ring.  Then he decided to turn around and go back the way he came!!! It was pretty funny to watch.  Since JA had no idea how to actually guide the horse, the assistant had to go "rescue" JA and turn the horse around.  He did finally make it back to the mounting area with the biggest smile I've seen on his face in a long time.

We offered to let GW take a ride, but he wanted no part of it.  He said he was afraid he would fall off.  CP did get him to pet one horse some and did get a picture of it. 

Near the end of our time at the Minority Village, we became celebrities.  Two Chinese families wanted their pictures taken with us.  We were more than happy to oblige.  JA was a little disappointed though as we had told him to expect to be a "star" with lots of attention.  Most families who travelled with blond haired kids (and especially curly hair) had talked about everyone wanting their picture taken with their kids.  JA never attracted that much attention.  I'm not sure why, I think he's pretty darn handsome!

While we were walking around the Minority Village, our guide was telling us about all of the different temples.  So, I used the opportunity to ask GW what he knew about Jesus, Confucious and Buddha.  He said he knows about them, but doesn't believe in any of it.  We told him that we believe in Jesus Christ and that we attend church.  He then told us that he has a Stories of the Bible book that was given to him by some foreigners at the CWI!  Wow! 

Near the end of our time at MV, the boys find a set of stairs with a flat slope next to them.  We got some BIG smiles from GW as he slid down the slope with his new brother.  It was great to see.