Fellow Stories

Friends

Briana Merrigan

2015-03-03

Last week my region had our second training seminar with another region that we hadn’t seen for about five months. Catching up on our lives, I was frequently asked the question, ‰ÛÏSo‰Û_ do you have friends in your community?‰Û Along with many others, I shamelessly responded, ‰ÛÏHaha definitely not.‰Û But returning to Colta Monjas Alto...

4. An Honor

Brittany Caceres

2015-03-03

11/1/14 He walks out to meet you.Expecting only his usual friends, eyes bright as he greets each of them. Kiss. Hug.Manly handshake.Hug.Then a pause. He looks at you questioningly and your host sister says”That’s my sister, a Americana.“His eyes widen and he looks back at his house in panic but I’m still stuck on the...

Four Months Later, Still Living in Exceptions

Lindsay Saligman

2015-03-03

My very first blog post, back from when I was living in Quito in September, was about how my host evangelical competitively swimming upper middle class family in Quito seemed to be more of an exception to a rule when it came to Ecuadoreans. Four months later, as I contemplate my current Ecuadorean community, I...

Virgen del Cisne

Aliya Habib

2015-03-03

November 17th, 2014 If you walk 21.5 kilometers in my shoes, then you shouldprobably also wake up at midnight to take a five-hour car ride south to the province of Loja. At 5:20am we stepped out of our car and started walking past a church and market that was selling food, hats, clothes, shoes, toys,...

Video Blog: Centro Tucan Turstico Promotional Video

Ian Frank

2015-02-23

Video Blog: Centro Tucan Turstico Promotional Video

Ian Frank

2015-02-21

Snapshots

Myriam Sitterson

2015-02-20

I I‰Ûªve been learning the names of the parts of the body in yoga class. When I walked in my first day, I hadn’t given much thought to the potential issues caused by the reality that the class would be conducted in Portuguese, or that my understanding of Portuguese was limited. I figured I would...

A Day at the Farmers Market

Pooja Thekdi

2015-02-18

On Sunday morning, I woke up a little bit differently. There (surprisingly) wasn’t the normal rooster calls outside my window and the skies were still dark enough to see the stars. The clock read 4:30am. From my bedroom I could hear the shuffling of my host mom in the kitchen, packing up things and putting...

We Got In Trouble… And I Liked It

Aliana Ruxin

2015-02-18

It was a lazy Saturday, mÌÁs o menos. I rose around 6 AM, normal time. Breakfast was lentil soup with a special treat: warm milk, straight from cow that Abuelita milked before the sun painted the greens of the fields and blues of the mountains with the colors of daylight. And then MamÌ_, PapÌ_ and...

Moving Forward

Juno Fullerton

2015-02-18

A few Sundays ago, I went to the beach with my family. For the first time since I came here, the stereotype completely fit the reality. Garopaba (the town I live in) is a town that thrives on summer tourism; the beaches were packed with people from every city around. Walking around the beach were...

2. Birthday Thoughts

Brittany Caceres

2015-02-18

I generally like to think of myself as an unselfish person but there is always one day in the year where I allow myself a little selfishness: my birthday. This year, as the big day approached I found myself constantly thinking about all the things I missed about my life in New York. These thoughts...

The bigger picture

Danielle Spencer

2015-02-13

I found myself lost in the middle of Quito. We were five gringos with maps out trying to find the next point on the map to check off for the chance to win a mystery prize at the end of the race. Task 1: Find a place for “Almuerzo” that costs no more than 2.75$....