¡Adiós, Minnesota!

Arica is on located on the coast in Northern Chile
near the Peruvian border.

The time has finally come to say goodbye to Minnesota and hello to Chile!  I have been thinking about this day since I decided 5 months ago to spend the semester in Arica, Chile through SIT's program Public Health, Traditional Medicine, and Community Empowerment.  So for the next 4-ish months I will be in various areas of Chile (primarily in Arica, a port city on the coast about 15 miles from the Peruvian border), along with a few excursions to Peru and Argentina, learning all about the Chilean Health System, indigenous medicine, health inequalities, alternative health practices, accessibility, community empowerment, and public health planning -- all, while of course, improving my Spanish and experiencing Latin American culture to the fullest!

On this map you can see Arica's
surrounding area - there's Tacna to the north
and Putre/Parque Nacional Lauca to the East --
a few of the places I'll be visiting this semester. 

My journey begins early tomorrow morning, with my first flight leaving the Twin Cities at 9:10am.  From there I continue on to Houston, Texas; Lima, Peru; Santiago, Chile; and finally to Arica.  Yes, that's four flights - with a total travel time of (hopefully) 25 hours 40 minutes.  Keep your fingers crossed that I make it there on time and with my bags, because I don't exactly have the best of luck when it comes to traveling.  But, considering all goes well, I should be arriving in Arica on Tuesday at 11:50am Eastern time!

That's all for now, check back in a few days for some photos of my first few days in Chile!

Brittany