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
Symptoms Diagnostics
Sarah Richmond
2015-01-07
If there’s one thing I have plenty of here, it’s symptoms. Gathered with any other friend from Global Citizen Year, usually perched over an indulged cappuccino in a gringo cafÌ© in Riobamba, the topic inevitably floats into conversation. We file through our symptoms as we might flick through the synopses of this week’s episodes of...
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On Walking, Sharing Space, and Our Mother’s Garden
Cierra Bland
2015-01-06
Virginia Woolf wrote further, speaking of course not of our Phillis [Wheatly], that ÛÏany woman born with a great gift in the sixteenth century [insert ÛÏeighteenth century,Û insert ÛÏblack woman,Û insert ÛÏborn or made a slaveÛ] would certainly have gone crazed, shot herself, or ended her days in some lonely cottage outside the village…a highly...
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Vagringa / Varinga / Vaginga
Charlotte Reider-Smith
2015-01-06
The white jersey dribbles down the field, to the right, where in some fast-paced seconds, she steals the ball and places it on the feet of a colored shirt 20 meters down the field. They cheer and holler, the crowd of ten or so. Que rico estÌÁ la noche, the night time air. For the...
Read MoreThe Meaning of Panic and Gratitude
100dragonflyz@gmail.com
2015-01-02
To explain my moment of sheer panic I must first go back in time. To a time when I was naive and much younger. To a time that I hate remembering. To a time that brings me unbearable pain to think about. In 2011 I lost someone very important to me, my first love. This...
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My Cousin, Nogaye
Elston Tortuga
2014-12-30
My cousin Nogaye is 19. She has two years left in high school, and when she passes her bac., she plans to attend university in Dakar, where she will train to become a math teacher. My cousin plays football with the boys. Her team always wins. One night, I was helping Nogaye with her English...
Read More My Cousin, Nogaye
Elston Tortuga
2014-12-30
My cousin Nogaye is 19. She has two years left in high school, and when she passes her bac., she plans to attend university in Dakar, where she will train to become a math teacher. My cousin plays football with the boys. Her team always wins. One night, I was helping Nogaye with her English...
Read MoreDec. 9th, Journal Entry
Olivia Orosco
2014-12-30
Dec 9, 21hr I had a great trip to Mbour today. It didn’t start out great. In fact, I almost backed out of my plans. Everyone was concerned I was leaving late (15:30) and then, because everyone is headed to Touba (the religious city), there were few buses going the opposite direction, to Mbour. I...
Read MoreDec. 9th, Journal Entry
Olivia Orosco
2014-12-30
Dec 9, 21hr I had a great trip to Mbour today. It didn’t start out great. In fact, I almost backed out of my plans. Everyone was concerned I was leaving late (15:30) and then, because everyone is headed to Touba (the religious city), there were few buses going the opposite direction, to Mbour. I...
Read MoreRunning, and Hiding From It
August Aubry
2014-12-26
You are looking at a picture of me at Praia do Siriu, Crab Beach If you would, imagine the dialogue at the beginning of this storybeing spoken in Portuguese instead of English. It’s a tall order if you don’t speak the language, so consider it an exercise in imagination. “Have a good trip, August?” asked...
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On Communication
Juno Fullerton
2014-12-26
IÛªm in love with an idea that I havenÛªt even had yet. I can feel its spidery legs creeping up on me. Up my spine, chilling me to the bone, but at the same time making me feel so suddenly, joltingly, alive, that itÛªs even a little bit scary. åÊThe other day, while eating lunch,...
Read MoreTumor
Lucas Weber
2014-12-23
Some times you think to yourself…life sucks. And most of the time you’re right. The other day my mom asked me if I wanted to go around Quito and visit the terminally ill. How could I say no? I was under the impression that we would be visiting a hospital in Quito, my parents are...
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Not Your Typical Toubab
Cittely Fuentes
2014-12-23
Noun /tu.bab/ Toubab : West Africa – white person (used especially in Gambia and Senegal) Although the official definition indicates that the term is only used for white Westerners, I must clarify that at least here in Senegal, people from all descents, backgrounds and places around the world whose skin is not black are referred...
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