Ever wondered what life as pig would be like? This week we had the unique opportunity of finding out. This didn't involve any crazy outfits or hog calls, but rather us donning our swim trunks and diving snout first into a mud hole for a bit of a mud bath. And strangely enough, we had a blast! To explain further, outside of the beautiful walled city of Cartagena, is a miniture volcano that spews lukewarm mud the consistency of cream that has minerals which are believed to have therapeutic effects. It is the tallest mud spewing volcano in all of Colombia (not sure the competition is stiff for that title, but, hey, its got the title), and locals have found out that people will pay good money for a dip in the volcano. Figuring volcano dipping is not something we had tried before, we signed up and gave it a whirl. When we got there, we climbed a series of steps up to the crater of the volcano (which was probably only fifty feet tall) and peered down to see thirty or so people wallowing below, covered head to toe in mud. In fact, the only area not covered on many people were the whites of their eyes and their teeth. Although it was a bit crowded down below, we were eager to get in and give it a try.

Getting down into the mud was an ordeal in itself. It involved precariously climbing down a rickety wooden ladder that was completely covered in mud from the previous people coming out of the pit. Diving into the mud we expected to hit bottom, but were rather suspended like pieces of fruit in a jello mold. The mud was so dense that instead of sinking, you simply floated on top. And with so many people in such a tight place, it was hard to know who's foot was on your thigh or who's elbow was in your back. Although it was hard to distinguish who your neighbor was or what they actually looked like, a strange of sense of comraderie was created in all that mud. People traded massages, giggles and smiles were shared, and we entertained a few local girls by creating crazy "mud-do's" in each other's hair. Once it came time to get out, we lined up behind several people waiting to climb up the ladder. Many of these people jerked and teetered their way up the ladder, dripping mud on the shrieking people below. The people below were not only shrieking because the mud was splattering into their eyes as they watched people ascend, but also because there was a real threat that the ascenders would slip and fall back into the mud pit. Due to this and the fact that only one ladder was used to get such a large number of people in and out of the pit, it was around 30 minutes from the time we decided to get out of the pit to the time we reached the top of the ladder. Upon exiting the mud, the next step involved walking like mud covered zombies to the lagoon, where we rinsed ourselves off. And though we couldn't scientifically verify the validity of the therapuetic properties of the mud, we did leave with an unexplainable feeling of euphoria. All in all, it was a strange, but fun day that we have gotten to enjoy and relive many days after, as we continue to find mud in our ears, noses and bellybuttons.