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
My place at the table
Andrew William Dunn
2015-09-07
My place at the table I am unsure of what I am feeling. Could this be what culture shock feels like? That every time one of these people with whom I live, open their mouths, I sit there with my hands in my lap, with nothing to say, no way of saying it. We went...
Read More
Uncertainty
Jose Francisco Esquer Jr.
2015-09-07
Uncertainty In this moment the world beyond seems of distant happening. Reality slowly seeps into the now. All ideas, all thoughts, all preconceptions about what I know will be challenged and tried. In a few weeks’ time my life as I know it will change. I welcome this experience and I have chosen to embrace...
Read MoreThe Condor and the Eagle
Allison Douma
2015-09-07
Following the advice of a very wise alum I decided to read John Perkin’s book “Confessions of An Economic Hit Man” where he explains his life as an Economic Hit Man, cheating developing countries out of trillions of dollars. It’s an eye opening book that I suggest that everyone reads, but a specific part stood...
Read More
Smiles and Salt and Color
Maria Morava
2015-09-07
I’m still getting used to the smell. A few weeks ago a girl in my cohort explained it to me: “It’s like stepping into another world. It looks different, it smells different, it tastes different.” She’s right. The air here is salt and animals and heat, and everytime I step outside my house it grabs...
Read More
Minhas Primeiras Dias
Steven Schwab
2015-09-06
09/06/2015 Wow, I’m finally here! I made it here safely (although the eight hour flight was brutal). It’s hard to believe that after months of anticipation and “preparation,” I’m finally here in Curitiba, PR, Brazil! Now, I’m lounging on my bed, listening to music, and momentarily escaping reality so that I can write...
Read MoreFREE GUITAR LESSONS
Jackson Harris
2015-09-06
Written on September 6, 2015. On My First Week in Senegal Every night, when the clock strikes nine, I creep to the metal door of my compound, unbolt the lock, and stick my head into the dark alley. I scan my surroundings. To my left, a stray cat hisses. To my right, I see a...
Read More
Distracted Thoughts
Steven Schwab
2015-09-06
8/17/2015 As the days of my summer dwindle and my suitcase sits agape in my basement, longing to be filled with the clothes strewn about my bedroom, I can’t help but lounge in my living room not quite believing that I’m going to Brazil in a little over two weeks. I know the facts: I’ll...
Read More
Tocando El Cielo
Gabriella Westcott
2015-09-06
Hola mis amigos! I am in the midst of finishing up another written blog. While you wait, here are some of my favorite pictures I have captured so far. Just as a reminder, I arrived in Quito the 27th and will be staying here until Sept. 19 for In Country Training (ICO) which involves language...
Read More
Push and Pull
Brooke Donner
2015-09-05
My eyes focused on my feet, concentrating on each step to ensure a safe landing onto the road below me. There was dry sand in some places and thick mud in others. Cracks, puddles, stones and broken cinderblocks presented themselves as obstacles to my first outing on my first day in Dakar. Every so often...
Read More
And the more than five pieces fell into place for starters
Armi Katariina Kauppila
2015-09-05
And the more than five pieces fell into place for starters. It feels like a clumsy way to start a blog about one’s adventures abroad by just starting a blog about one’s adventures abroad. But I guess the only way to get started is to just begin. So. I’m sitting here on my bed in...
Read More
Hike Here
Eve Harris
2015-09-05
As I watch my friends go off to college, I find myself heading into new territory. Yes, I do live in a freshman dorm right now. Yes, I do have a roommate. But my roommate is about to spend the next year working with little girls in a foster home in Madrid, Spain; my dorm life is temporary. In...
Read MoreA Different Perspective
Zoe Barnes
2015-09-05
I was in that weird mindset between subconsciousness and reality, where dreams are slipping farther and farther away despite desperate efforts to hold on. I presume I would’ve succeeded if it hadn’t been for the rough patch of turbulence to jolt me into full consciousness. The cabin was dark, and it seemed that most passengers...
Read More