Fellow Stories

Vision Statement: A Reminder to Continue to Strive for My Goals

Shannon Yang

2018-01-30

I took this gap year to grow and to develop myself as a person in the ways that matter to me. In so many ways, I am doing that. I can’t count the number of lessons I’ve learned and realizations I’ve had. However, as the year wears on (almost five months already), the things that...

Oh Rice, How I Hate You

Jamie Constantine

2018-01-27

Many fellows have been counting down the days until we leave Ecuador and for various reasons. Sometimes its big and obvious reasons, they miss their family and friends, and, sometimes its for small reasons that add up, missing driving a car and the familiarity of their town. I started counting down the days until I...

Moments I will look back to

Boby Yazdi

2018-01-25

So often, I have moments of self-realization. Underneath are some of these moments I will always remember. Cigarette man- I was drinking my daily carbonated water at the little metal shack turned store I am a usual customer at where I saw a relatively young guy with a thick stack of cash in his hand...

Words of a 10 year old

Ayla Blair-Smith

2018-01-24

I remember when I first got a proper smart phone. By “proper” I mean a non-hand-me-down phone. I must have been 15 or so, and I was over the moon about it. You see, I made a deal with my father when I was 12 (I’m simply estimating that number, it could have quite possibly...

Welcome to your life

2018-01-24

    05:00 – The call to prayer shudders you from your sleep, darkness still shielding the character traits of day from your greedy eyes. The “Allahuakbar” continues as you turn restlessly, taking this brief moment of consciousness to readjust the strewn blankets for optimal comfort. You lay back, the minarets concluding their call, and...

The Stories We Tell

Joseph Hansen

2018-01-24

     I come home from a long day at work, just after dusk, I’m happy my host father is returning from Otovalo and he picks me up on the road back to my house, saving me a 15-20 minute walk littered with ‘cute’ dogs (who probably want to kill me). We stop at our...

The Art of Letting Go and Going with the Flow: My Year of Embracing Jugaad

Claire Darrow

2018-01-23

  My feet pounded the pavement and my vision started to fade into shades of blue and yellow as I sprinted to catch the last train home. The ancient train let out a yawn and creaked as if it were reluctantly awakened from a deep slumber. Out of breath, I glanced around the compartment and...

Ecuadorian Card Games

Regina Markert

2018-01-23

My American family visited me in December. It’s hard to put into words just how excited I was to see them after four long months, but along with my excitement came anxiety about them meeting my Ecuadorian family. My mother and brother have beginner/intermediate Spanish, while my dad can just about only say “hola” and...

Cuenca Escape Room – As Told by Gifs

Marissa Emerson

2018-01-23

January 20th I tried out Cuenca Escape Room with JuliaGrace, Khuda, and Dale and had an awesome time! Though no phones are allowed in the room, these gifs pretty much sum up a good amount of the experience. We’ll be going back in February to try out their new zombie themed room when it opens!...

Dear Steven Frost,

Allison Vaught

2018-01-21

Dear Steven Frost, With not much time left as I write this to you on December 18, 2017 I am thinking back on all the laughs and smiles you brought into my life. You are one strong little boy who has experienced a loss that no little boy should ever have to experience when you...

An Open Letter to Expats Living in Cotacachi, EDITED

Danny DeBare

2018-01-21

Located in between Otavalo and Ibarra, the center of Cotacachi is a town in the Imbabura Province of Northern Ecuador where I am living this year. A city that centers around tourism, leather, and oil revenue, Cotacachi keeps its streets well kept, well lit, and safe. Cotacachi consists of around 15,000 Mestizos (People who can...

Depression

Soraya Waller

2018-01-19

I don’t know what depression is. I don’t know if it’s a purely chemical, genetic thing totally outside my control, or if it’s a direct reaction to my basic needs not being met by my lifestyle or the society I live in. I guess probably a little bit of both. My first memory of depression...