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
Project Save The Kittens
Tasha Torres
2012-10-01
Goodbye. I have said it time and time again over the past six weeks and each time it hasn’t gotten any easier. How do you say goodbye to your family and friends? How do you say goodbye to the wonderful people you met in California? How do you say goodbye to the host family that...
Read More
Learning the ABCs of Ecuador
Carrie Hamilton
2012-10-01
Culture is a funny thing. It dictates so many aspects of our daily lives and, whether we realize it or not, it is responsible for many of our values, routines, and social behaviors. When I first arrived here in Ecuador, I was hopeless. I simply could not understand how to conduct myself in such a...
Read MoreAlternative Lifestlyes
Jayshawn Anderson
2012-10-01
Far removed from the big city, the town of Capão has its own unique identity. The town is made up of foreigners and passing tourists and backpackers combined with native Brazilians, making this a special place. For example, my host father is French, but lived in Spain, Argentina, Australia, and the UK and his “wife”...
Read More
Assimilating Myself
Alan De Leon
2012-10-01
Allow me to offer just a general outline of what my two weeks in California after Fall Training was like (in chronological order): Stayed at Stanford University one extra day. Went to Lake Tahoe in California for three days immediately after. It is located in the middle of a forest that kisses the Sierra Mountains....
Read More
Fútbol and Friends
John Villanueva
2012-09-28
It’s the first week back from Quito from our six-month host communities and I spent eight days in the provincial capital city of Riobamba, about four hours south of Quito and ten times smaller. With a population that small in comparison to Quito, the week-long stay was therapeutic. And the night before we all returned to Quito, I couldn’t wait...
Read More
Tey Foot ~ “Laundry Day”
Emma Anderson
2012-09-28
Thursday is laundry day here in Dakar. I have worn three pairs of pants and four shirts in the last seven days. Laundry day only comes once a week so you can trace everything that has happened to me in the past week through the stains on my clothing. There are coca cola spills from...
Read More
Would you rather?
Alison Rivera
2012-09-28
Let’s play the game “would you rather:” Would you rather… Would you rather travel to another continent or would you rather drive 6 hours north to a university? Would you rather sit in a small class room that felt more like a family or would you rather sit in a university’s lecture halls?...
Read More
Updates and Anecdotes Part I
Aidan Holloway-Bidwell
2012-09-26
Ok I let me get you up to date on the past few weeks of my life in Ecuador. Many of the unknowns I spoke about in my previous post are now knowns, and yet there’s still much I’m excited to figure out and experience. Here’s the low down. Last Sunday I returned from a week-long stay in...
Read More
In-Country Orientation Video
Caroline Blanchard
2012-09-26
Here is a look at what I have been doing in Dakar, Senegal for the past 3 weeks. I have encountered unimaginable things and seen some of the most incredible sunsets with wonderful people by my side. Senegal: In Country Orientation This is my first video I have ever made and this is the first...
Read More
Wanting to Feel in a World of Infinite Possibilities
Emily Power
2012-09-26
Ever since I started the Global Citizen Year program, beginning with Fall Training, I have been experiencing this very strange feeling, which is incredibly difficult to pinpoint. It’s always on the tip of my tongue, but I don’t feel any anxiety to find out what it is. I am flabbergasted when people ask me how...
Read More
A Night in Dakar
Allie Wallace
2012-09-25
I hate to admit it, but after two weeks in Senegal, I needed a little escape. I know, I know, I should be immersing myself in the culture, and I have been. I just needed some breathing room, a concept that is very low on the Senegalese priority list. I decided to kill two birds...
Read More
Hard Money
Jordan Lee
2012-09-25
They are loud, heavy, and easy to lose. When in a hurry, it is difficult to distinguish one from the other. In the United States, they are somewhat of an afterthought, but here in Quito, they are an absolute necessity. They are coins, and I can never have enough of them. In 2000, Ecuador changed its national currency...
Read More