Chloe Bash

Chloe has traveled extensively throughout her time in youth choirs, forming cross-cultural connections and sharing her passion for music. At home she is committed to a leadership within her local community, serving as All-School Co-President at her high school and working as an assistant conductor for young choristers. She is excited to expand upon her past travel experience and passion for international affairs while on the Global Citizen Year.

Strong Medicine

Chloe Bash

2013-04-07

As we sat down to lunch one day, a fellow from a neighboring town mentioned that she hadn’t thrown up in months. “Even the water doesn’t seem to bother me anymore,” I responded. “Nor does the street food,” she observed. We concluded that we had become “acostumbradas,” accustomed to the Ecuadorian diet. I recognize, now, that we were tempting...

Paradise Lost

Chloe Bash

2013-04-01

During my first few weeks in Quito, when Spanish classes seemed interminable, and I knew that my lunchbox was packed with congealing french-fries, I would bound down the hill to “El Jardin” or “The Garden” for lunch. In its clean, sanitized air, I would release my protective grip on my backpack and stroll past shops displaying American brands. No...

Christmas Presents

Chloe Bash

2013-01-09

In an earlier blog post I discussed the dangerous generosity that directs the drinking culture here in Ecuador. This Christmas season, I experienced a greater and more expansive generosity that much better defines the character of my town. I woke up on December 22nd sure that my family and my friends had forgotten my birthday. There would be no...

Classes and Condoms

Chloe Bash

2013-01-09

My breath quickened as I walked to the front of the class. Armed with foam drawings of bacteria and white bloods cells, I intended to demonstrate how HIV attacks the immune system to a group of forty giggling thirteen-year-olds. I had practiced my “charla,” full of new Spanish vocabulary, to my family and to my friends, but never to...

A Day in My Life

Chloe Bash

2012-11-27

See the gallery below for what my typical day looks like!

Another Glass

Chloe Bash

2012-11-21

The clear plastic cup is filled halfway with golden liquid then passed down the line of chairs or around the standing group. The recipient, stranger or friend, nods in thanks, blows the foam onto the floor, and finishes the glass in two quick gulps. He or she throws the remaining foam on the floor with a flick of the...

Just A Small Town Girl

Chloe Bash

2012-11-05

When I first I first arrived in La Abundancia, I questioned my decision to be placed in a small community. I walked down the single paved road, peering into the handful of shops and restaurants, and wondered what I would do for the next six months. I couldn’t head over to a library to study, a coffee shop to...

Motorcycle Diaries

Chloe Bash

2012-11-04

“No te creo, no te creo.” “I don’t believe you.” Of course I must have ridden on a motorcycle. I explain that they were dangerous to ride in my city, a city like Quito. My sister runs to tell my brother, and next thing I know the motorcycle has been pulled onto the street and he is motioning for...

Time

Chloe Bash

2012-07-17

Sweat dripped down my back as I reached the windy peak. Turning slightly I could see a panorama of the valley, buff stone punctuated by spindling church spires and red flags. Just as in every city and village I had visited, the call of “Allah Akbar,” or “God is great” rang out in the evening...