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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Page 21 of 30

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Where I Live

2014-10-09

Imagine you’re in Quito. Imagine you’ve just arrived on a plane from wherever you’re from. Imagine getting on a bus and heading East. Imagine driving through the valleys of Cumbaya and Tumbaco as you leave the city, and then imagine climbing the Andes mountains until you get so high nothing grows. Then, very suddenly, you’ll...

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Resettling

2014-10-07

[Wiser – Old Man Canyon, Phantoms & Friends E.P.] Monday, the 6th of October, marks the beginning of my sixth full week here. The first three weeks in Quito (the capitol city of Ecuador) I lived with a host family, attending language school and training seminars, squeezing in bits of exploration as I could. I...

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“Welcome home, mi hija!”

2014-10-07

I have found Ecuadorian people to be very hospitable. My host family has made me part of their family. They have really taken me into their home and welcomed me greatly. This morning I asked my host mom if I could do my laundry and she said yes, so I went to get my dirty...

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I Love Running

2014-09-29

Running sucks! I mean like really bad. Who in their right mind would ever want to push their body and mind to the limit with such a slow and boring method. First of all, you’re never comfortable while running; It’s too cold, hot, rainy, just don’t feel like it, WHATEVER. There are an infinite number...

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Drawing Inspiration from Insecurities

2014-09-29

Quito is a city of two million people, with an extremely large, complicated public transportation system. I have been using this transportation almost every day to get to Spanish classes, Global Citizen Year events, and other places. However, after only three weeks, I barely know which bus to take. Thursday night I went to a...

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There is Something Romantic About Public Transportation…

2014-09-26

“Você gostaria de se sentar” “Would you like to sit down?” “Não, obrigada.” “No thank you.” It amazes me how the bus drivers manage to keep buses intact as they quickly make turns, speed up mountains, and then back down them again all the while passengers sway from side to side. Every time I get...

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Keeping You Posted

2014-09-26

I wrote these words on Friday, September 19th. I have now been in Senegal for three weeks and away from home for a little more than a month. It’s been a while since I’ve last uploaded a blog, and I know that many of you are very curious about what I’ve been doing and—more importantly—how...

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My Answer

2014-09-26

“How is Africa?” That’s a loaded question, and definitely a hard one to answer. I’ve only been here for three weeks, but I’ll say that it’s everything you can think of in the most extreme form, but nothing you would expect. There are no subtleties. Whether you like it or not, the atmosphere is loud...

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P.S. I Ate Onions

2014-09-25

Dear momma,Eight am is the perfect time of day here. The sun casts long shadows, it rose not too long ago. The dust from the comings and goings of the previous day has settled, leaving the air fresh. The breeze is crisp, for West Africa. Women clean their stoops as men head to work on...

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On Authenticity

2014-09-25

Put twenty girls in a youth hostel and illness is bound to go around. There I was, sitting in a chapel in Quito listening to directions on how to operate my Ecua phone, hard to believe that 53 eighteen year olds need to be taught how to use old school internet-less phones, right? However, in...

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4. Roller Coaster Rides

2014-09-24

First of all: Sheep. Now that that is taken care of – Dakar. Dakar seems to be a good place to start. It’s where I’ve spent my first two weeks in Senegal and yet I still cannot seem to put a finger on what exactly Dakar has done to me. Done for me is different....

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3. A Day in Dakar

2014-09-24

It’s 6:30 and already I can hear our “domestiques” sweeping the tiled courtyard in front of my bedroom door. It’s the same sound every morning: little consistencies like that make me feel a bit more at home. The domestique? I actually have two of them. They are essentially maids but are treated like family: they...

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