Arica

Arica is amazing. The city is right on the Pacific so there are beaches everywhere. And the weather is unbelievable...They call it "la ciudad de eterna primavera" , the city of eternal spring. It's basically 75 degrees and sunny year-round. It's summer now so it's a little warmer, but still. It's so weird not checking the weather forecast. I  think the last time they had rain here was a couple years ago. The only downside is that it's a desert. But there is plenty of water that flows from the Andes Mountains for people to water their gardens and the parks.

The city also has tons of cheap shopping, which I'm in love with. In el centro there are tons of clothing stores, and street vendors who sell everything from mangoes to fm radios. I've been walking around el centro after class most days just to shop around and get ice cream. I think it's a combination of the exchange rate and good prices that make everything in el centro really cheap. They sell sunglasses for $2.00, and most flowy/flower-print shirts go for $6.00. It's kinda ridiculous.

There's also this huge mountain-rock thing called El Morro. It is right on the edge of el centro and from the top you can see the entire city. There was a big battle fought from the top of El Morro that let Chile win the Pacific War. It's a tourist attraction now and there's a museum on the top of it now, but more than anything it's just really cool-looking and unbelievable that it was constructed by nature. The picture I put below is one that I took from the top of El Morro. And the link has more info about the city and a picture of El Morro.

Arica and El Morro