This is me, covered in mud.

Yesterday I went with some guys from the hostel to swim in a mud volcano. It was so bizarre...there´s a cone, about 10 meters high, and wooden steps built up the side so you can climb up and get into the crater. They say the mud is 2300 meters (over 7000 feet) deep - we were kind of skeptical, but who knows? We certainly couldn´t get anywhere near the bottom. This was a surprise, because as we first peeked into the crater we were sure the people already in there were standing on something solid. But no - the mud is just so thick that you pretty much stay wherever you are, in whatever position you happen to be in. It´s really hard to move...
After the volcano, we rinsed off in a lagoon nearby and headed to a beachfront shack for lunch. It was classic - right on the water, no walls, thatched roof, and they served fried fish with the heads still on. Which I ate, by the way. Yes, it´s true, my vegetarian days are over, or at least put on hold for the time being. I´ve decided that it´s culturally inappropriate to refuse food in a developing country, so I´m eating what´s put in front of me, fins and all.
Today I am running errands - buying a notebook for my Spanish class, arranging my flight to Bogota next week. It´s amazing how much more complicated simple things like that are when you are travelling. Not only do you not know where to go to get things, when you find out, you have to walk there, and then you have to make yourself understood...in Spanish. And make sure you understand what people are telling you. So I should probably get started...I´ve got a castle to explore when I´m done.