Fellow Stories
True gap year stories from Fellows abroad!
Check out the latest blogs from Global Citizen Year Fellows in Brazil, Ecuador, and India!
Category
Class Year
Country
In the Name of Smelling Good, I Have Proudly Represented the American People
Henrietta Conrad
2012-03-07
“You know, you’re not like the other Americans.” I looked up from brushing my wet, clean hair. My older host cousin, Iarema, was standing on the other side of the living room, one hand placed lightly on her thrust out hip. Her eyebrows were furrowed as if she was trying to solve a puzzle and...
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Food For Thought
Annie Plotkin
2012-03-07
Feijão, arroz, cururú, moqueca, vatapá, churrasco, pirão, quiabada, vatapa, acarajé. Bahians do not mess around when it comes to their food, and as a result, I can’t fit into anything I brought with me when I first packed for my year in Brazil. Every day, I wake up and begin the day the way my...
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The Museum of Imaginary Objects
Antonio Peluso
2012-03-07
During my short time so far in Brazil I have been through many things that have left me with perspective. A quote that I recently heard, and am always coming to identify with more, is “From the hottest furnaces comes the finest steel”. Challenges have always been a part of everyday life and yield great...
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Learner vs. Knower
Heather Kurtz
2012-03-06
During fall train in August we were told to be learners and to come into Ecuador as Learners not as Knowers. Well, I listened, but I did not understand what the difference was or how that would affect my experience in Ecuador. I recently took a trip with some friends and learned the difference, and...
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Blinded by the trash
Kaya Hartley
2012-03-06
I still remember my first impression of my village. When I looked at Potou through the rolled down window as we were driving through my senses were overcome. All I could smell was burning trash, rotting trash, and fish. All I saw were dirty animals cluttering the trash filled streets, barefoot children running around, fly...
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Wow What a Girl!
Heather Kurtz
2012-03-06
When you were eleven what was your day like? I went to school, played sports, came home and fought with my sibling. Here my aunt is eleven and her days are a little different. She goes to school and does her homework, and on weekends plays soccer. The difference is that she does not fight...
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Walking the Walk (and Living Up to My Stickers)
Emily Hanna
2012-02-17
It’s 7:50am and nearly time for me to leave the house. I take one last glance in the mirror and survey my outfit for the day; black leggings, dusty pink tank top, faded denim shirt, and a loosely knotted cotton scarf are hardly professional, serious, or teacherly attire, but they’re the best I can do...
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Diagnosis Inconclusive
Kirin Gupta
2012-02-17
Elastic band on pastel green underskirt. Gnarled hands Torturing themselves with nerves. Shame flutters above the wrinkles ringing her eyes.
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La Vida Nueva
Trevor Porter
2012-02-17
The following is a journal entry on December 5th, 2011. December 5th, 2011. The sun is beating down, and as usual, it feels like it’s going to be a blistering hot, humid day. It should feel wrong, this abnormally long summer. But it doesn’t; it feels right; it feels like home. Looking back at the...
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Close Your Eyes to See
Lydia Crush
2012-02-16
Balance. Yin and yang, black and white, male and female, day and night, good and bad, sweet and salty, silence and cacophony; they compliment each other and make each other stronger. Because of the existence of one, the other is contrasted and highlighted. If we lived in perpetual winter, we would quickly grow tired of...
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Celebrations, Coworkers, and Cuy
Molly Owens
2012-02-16
December for me was marked by three things: celebrations, coworkers, and cuy. CUY Cuy for the people who don’t know, is guinea pig. I ate cuy. I’m a great vegetarian, right? I figured I had to at least try this bizarre dish that is somewhat of a delicacy in...
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Encuestas en el Mercado
Adolfo Leon Jr
2012-02-16
My apprentenship has been working with with a credit union called ¨Buscando Un Amigo¨ or Looking for A Friend in English. The office is located in the city of Ibarra, in mercado Amazonas. My work day consist of working from 8am to 12pm, Monday through Friday. However, I must wake up at 6:40 a.m. to...
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