The next day I spent on a beautiful beach and in the afternoon when I got back I went to the plaza. Rafael sat there but there was no horse. I approached, he smiled, tapped his toe… New shoes!!! Solid black leather, no rotten sneakers! I smiled, sat down and he started to explain.
He went to the man that sells horses, 7 km walk into the other direction of Trinidad. The old one for 50 Pesos he had sold 3 weeks ago but he told him a man that has horses for sale. So he walked there, 8 km. The man did not have horses for sale but a young blonde mule, for 80 Pesos. So he walked back to Trinidad, 12 km, went to the Tienda and got new shoes for 15 Pesos. I offered him to pay the 45 Pesos that are missing to buy Carolina (he’s gonna name her like that) but he didn’t accept. He would work hard, now with new shoes he could carry and sell a little more so that already helped a lot. He wanted to thank me for changing his life and gave me a bunch of homemade cigars, home grown bananas and home grown and roasted coffee beans. We exchanged addresses and he will send me a card when he had managed to save enough for his beautiful mule… awww…
