Alright, I'm hoping I can finally finish talking about my first week in Arica! The last thing we did on Thursday as a group was head to El Morro. El Morro de Arica is a giant rock formation that juts out into the city. It was the location of the Battle of Arica, a battle between the Republic of Chile and the Republic of Peru in 1880. Once again, I don't really know the whole story, but Chile won the battle and consequently Arica. El Morro is now Arica's pride and joy, signifying their victory of Peru (the two countries aren't exactly BFF's). On top of the Morro there's a small museum dedicated to the battle, a giant statue of Jesus extending his peace to both countries, and an amazing overlook of the entire city. We drove to the top, but you can walk up it in just a short amount of time as well. Pictures(!):
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| Ex-Isla el Alacrán |
Fast forward to yesterday (Friday), we took an excursion to one of the two valleys outside Arica, Valle de Azapa. Arica has two valleys on either side of it. The valleys are interesting to see because compared to the rest of the city they are very lush - many farmers work there growing olives, spinach, tomatoes, and many other vegetables. In addition, the valleys boast some really cool hieroglyphs thought to be formed into the mountainside by the Inca people thousands and thousands of years ago. Apparently the total lack of rain here completely preserved them.
I apologize for the lack of content in this post, but I feel like I've talked enough about my orientation time. But, I met my family today and got all moved in, and will hopefully write all about that tomorrow!
Brittany
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