Blogs from Arica, Arica & Parinacota, Chile, South America - page 4

Last night we had a nice dinner at a little restaurant on the corner of a street nearby. We had a couple beers of Cristal, the local beverage of choice and Brett had fried fish and salad and I had beef and rice. I wished I would have chosen the fish and salad because it was sooo good!! I mean we are right on the sea after all. I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly. We sat for a while and talked, a lot about college and some of the crazy things that used to go on at North Campus Village, shout out to those of you reading this who remember the debauchery that was NCV….after dinner we made our way to one of the only other places that was open, Sunday night in Arica is pretty ... read more

OK, I spelled Machu Picchu wrong in the last entry... On Wednesday, the 16th, we had our second luncheon for those passengers who are booked for the entire cruise, the "All-Rounders." Here's the menu: Seafood Tower -- Baby shrimps, rock lobster and tiger prawns on an artichoke bottom served with cognac flavoured cocktail sauce. Cream of Carrot and Pumpkin Soup -- Infused with ginger, served with a swirl of herbed cream and crouton. Duo of Salmon and Sole -- Pan fried salmon filet and poached lemon sole filet served with grilled green asparagus, mushroom and lobster sauce. The Best of Chocolate and Orange -- Silky chocolate cheese cake and orange mousse with Campari flavoured fruit sauces. Not bad, huh? Oh, this was accompanied by a glass of champagne as we walked in and wine with the ... read more

After enjoying two beautiful days at the beach in Iquique we started our journey up to Peru. Our first stop would be Arica, 4 and a half hours from Iquique. Knowing that it would be our shortest bus ride, oddly enough it seemed as the longest one for me and Lucy. We only spent the night there and the next day we contiunued on to Peru. Our second stop was the city of Tacna, 50km away from the Chilean border. As I crossed the border I got excited for my future adventures in Peru but got sad as I say goodbye to Chile, my home for the last 5 months. After Tacna we had a 6 hour bus to Arequipa where we would meet up with some friends. ... read more

After my trip to Tacna last weekend, I was really content to hang out in Arica and not do too much this weekend. Of course, I have 700 proyectos, ensayos, y tareas that I need to do for my classes in my final two weeks of real school. That's right, two weeks until we take out last trip- Temuco- and then begin our Independent Study Projects (ISPs). I can't believe we are at this point in the program, but I am also really excited to actually do my research now. This week I also had round 2 with the Rotavirus we suspect has been plaguing our group. It is not food poisoning, as the budding epidemiologists on the program have ruled that out. So we are going with evil Rotavirus. But I am all healthy now. ... read more

The 18th of September is Chile's independence celebration, and I am lucky enough to be here for the 200th anniversary. The Bicentenario demands a 4 day weekend, with Friday and Monday off, lots of food, friends, family, cueca, and vino! The Chileans are super patriotic and wear their traditional clothes to dance the cueca all day long. It is a highly choreographed dance of flirtation, but you still see college students dancing with their grandmothers and parents and children cueca-ing all over. In the center of town, at Plaza Colon and nearby, there have been concerts, dances, games, street entertainers, and a market all weekend long. My participation in Bicentenario events involved seeing my host sister, Javiera, and her entire colegio perform traditional Chilean dances on Wednesday. On Thursday I learned the cueca in my Spanish ... read more