Fellow Stories
True gap year stories from Fellows abroad!
Check out the latest blogs from Global Citizen Year Fellows in Brazil, Ecuador, and India!
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Class Year
Country
We’re Everywhere…
Lily Ellenberg
2011-11-09
The last thing I expected was bagels. I never imagined the heaven of a brunch of Jewish comfort food. But indeed I had the opportunity, along with two other Jewish fellows, to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur with the Jewish community in Quito. To get into the synagogue we had to bring copies of...
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Adaptation and fish guts
Kaya Hartley
2011-11-09
I’ve recently been reading a book called The Minder Brain; it discusses the functions of the human brain and the ability we have to adapt. Adaptation. What an interesting concept. I have also been considering the connection between adaptation and fear. Most of us can make a fair sized list of things we are...
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Reality Check
Annie Plotkin
2011-11-09
At Fall Training for Global Citizen Year, we were taught to be open-minded, compassionate, and to expect the unexpected. By the time our departure rolled around, I was sure that I was going to be the American that broke down all the barriers and stereotypes; furthermore, I envisioned this happening with a pretty picture frame...
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Adapting to a new life
Michael Winfield
2011-11-09
Oh Ecuador, am i feeling high! I have only been here about two months now, and my mind set has already changed. I might sound cliche but, being here in Ecuador made me appreciate what I have at home. I also remind myself that I am so blessed to have this opportunity at my age. I have to remind...
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Take a leap
Trevor Porter
2011-11-08
The first week I spent with Ruku Kausai at the Jumandy Caverns was amazing, and a great precursor of what I hope my sixth months will be like. Although I didn’t work much that week, I was able to observe the going on-s of the people and the caverns. During the week I helped out...
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Patience
Madeline Campbell
2011-11-08
Hola, everybody, I first want to apologize for being so slow to update my blog. I’m sure all of you are wondering where the heck I am and what the heck I’m doing. The truth is, I have been busy having the most amazing time of my life, and I have been bursting with things to tell...
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The Power of Tamia
Joan Hanawi
2011-11-08
Wilma is the oldest of my eight siblings, and has been a hard worker her entire life. When she was younger, she was an excellent student, a fast learner, and a dedicated scholar, but her gender constantly held her back. When she wanted to move on to study biochemistry after high school, her father told...
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Saturday Nights
Lydia Crush
2011-11-08
Incidental music has never been so abused. The telenovelas here use all this intense music for a simple scene; things are way over-dramatized. My mom is watching a show and someone broke someone else’s heart, or killed someone, or saw something, whatever happens in soap-operas. All of a sudden this heartrending sad orchestral music pops out...
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A New Family
Elizabeth Warren
2011-11-08
We had been in Quito for four days and the next day, we were meeting our Quito families, who we would be living with for the next month. The night before and that same morning, we were filled with excitement and nervousness, wondering how our stays would turn out and what living with a family...
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Seeing Ibarra
Elizabeth Warren
2011-11-07
Sometimes you may be looking, but not really seeing. This was something I had experienced during my first visit to Ibarra, I was here for a week to meet my family, to visit my job, and also to see where I´ll be living over the next seven months, but even though I was in a...
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Two Machetes and an Axe: We Come in Peace
Kirin Gupta
2011-11-07
Smoke curled under blackened plantains on a wood tray that hung above the open fire. Flames licked up from a pit sunken into the mud floor. It was my first Sunday in Cotundo, Ecuador and my host mom and I had hiked for miles to visit her mother’s farm – the epitome of a campo,...
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Goodbyes
Galen Burns-Fulkerson
2011-11-07
I didn’t expect to get so close to my host family in Quito. Before arriving, I figured I would spend some quality time with them during my training and then move on to my longer home-stay with little trouble. This is not what happened at all. After a month with my wonderfully helpful and incredibly...
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