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
Africa Contains Multitudes
Emily Hanna
2011-10-01
“Ami! Aminata! Viens ici! Come here!” My 18-year-old Senegalese sister Aicha, calls for me, then, unsatisfied with my speed, pulls me from my room and plops me down in front of the television. “You won’t believe this” she tells me in French. A documentary is playing on TV, narrated in hushed tones by a solemn French actor,...
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Sin Bici No Hay Paraiso
Priyanka Rao
2011-10-01
Just coming back from Cumbaya, the cutest town in Ecuador, and suffering from the paradise syndrome. A stucco church with bell tower edges a hedge-rowed garden park complete with a trickling fountain in the center. Boutiques surround the square across a cobblestone road that leads past the mission-style Educativo where the uniformed school-children are getting...
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Arrival
Priyanka Rao
2011-10-01
I’m here bumping along on the road to Tena. We drove through flat lands of farms and now we are going through those mountain roads that follow a river up through the wallowing hills. It’s all the browns and greens of moss and heather. Clay- the ground is saturated with water. And we feel very...
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Ask
Priyanka Rao
2011-10-01
I have been very proud to learn how to ask questions, not only questions that arise in the end-of-a-chapter Review, but the ones that actually reflect what I am thinking. The ones that reflect the true issues that complicate me, but also questions that can bring out very interesting answers. Effective questions. They give me...
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Meet, Cheese and Olives
Priyanka Rao
2011-09-29
My first family outing was to a baby shower–it was a solid evening. By the time it was time to go, I decided my Indian outfit would pass for something unique at least, to avoid the other judgments. It was a nice town-house out in the mountainside with lots of nice people to kiss on...
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You Do the Math
Joan Hanawi
2011-09-29
I remember back in April, when I was first accepted into this program, dreaming of this part of the journey. The time when I’d have my final first. My last first day. The end of initial newness, unfamiliar introductions, constant irregularity—in a word, the end of discomfort. What I found instead was the hardest first...
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To Love and Be Loved
Holli Sullivan
2011-09-28
I spoke with a traveler last night who taught me a lot of things, He told me of his journeys around almost the entire world. Told me of the people he loved, the cities he hated, and the things he learned from each place. So many stories and lessons can be learned from anyone who...
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Senegalese Nightlife
Elias Estabrook
2011-09-26
“Alhamduliliay!” I say, with a sigh of relief, as my brother, Djibril, and I arrive at home from our long run through the dark yet lively streets of Dakar. He laughs at my Wolof, an Arabic saying meaning “Thanks be to God (Allah).” For once the power is still on at my family’s compound, a collection...
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At First Glance
Antonio Peluso
2011-09-25
At first glance Salvador, Brazil is a huge developed metropolis, a beautiful modern city with all of the urban qualities that you would imagine a city in the United States to have. There are towering buildings, malls, public transport, tons of people, and, of course, traffic. But under this picturesque impression that Salvador could leave...
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El Supergringo
Jacob Stern
2011-09-23
I’ve adopted various nicknames in the past. They have included Blondie, Stretch, and Bird. But in Ecuador, it’s “El Supergringo”. I stand out here. I am very white, very 6 foot 2, and very Supergringo. I’m the only blonde no matter where I go. My Spanish accent is terrible, and my Spanish is worse. I...
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Jakydoodoo
Jacklyn Joy Byrd
2011-09-22
I keep postponing my blog writing until I can say something truly profound and mind-altering, but I just can’t wait any longer! Most of the things I’ve experienced so far are the love of Ecuadorians. From short to tall, from Quito to Cayambe, I’m always met with excitement and a warm presence. This is my...
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I Want To Be A Quiteño
Mitchell Mankin
2011-09-22
Buenas Tardes, Sorry it’s been so long that I haven’t written. Nearly every day I’ve started a blog post, only to look at it the next day and discredit it as naive, cliche, or based on ideas that I no longer hold to be true. Finally, I’ve decided to let go of the next day...
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