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
A picture is only worth a thousand words.
Thien Tran
2014-04-11
“How’s Brazil! OMG, it looks amazing! “and “Looks like you are having loads of fun over there from your pictures!!”Are the usually comments I get on my facebook every time that I post a new picture. It may seem like life in Brazil only includes blue skies and beautiful beaches, but in reality it is...
Read Moreby the side of highway BR-116
Kristen Lee
2014-04-11
By the side of highway BR – 116, I pull open my rickety gate, careful to make as little noise as possible as not to wake my host family. As I step onto my street, the morning sun hits my face. I squint my eyes, blinded by white light. I avert my gaze to my...
Read MoreAlways On the Sunny Side
Maria Gamache
2014-04-11
My dad always told me to, “keep a light heart.” I remember sitting on the bench seat of the big blue truck, happily seated at his side, drinking in each word. Today was one of many goodbyes. The children of CEEDUC (the elementary and middle school that I spent most of my time apprenticing at)...
Read MoreStories from the Concrete Jungle – I Got Hustled
Andrew Poirier
2014-04-11
It was a normal day in the city of Curitiba. The streets were filled with all manner of folk which created a soft clamor that bounced and echoed lightly off the walls of the towering buildings that encroached on either side. I was walking to meet friends at one of the many bus stations in Centro...
Read MoreThe Nature of Fear (and Courage)
Libby Parker-Simkin
2014-04-11
There are two types of fear: the fast primal type that helps you stay alive, and the slow existential type that keeps you up at night pondering the impending implosion of the universe and all of your insecurities. Both of these types of fear serve a purpose and neither is inherently bad, but they can...
Read MoreHis Name Is Boo
Joanna Shieh
2014-04-11
I named him Boo, which is short for Bugio, the word for Howler Monkey in Portuguese. He is only a few months old and his head is around the size of a small plum. His long fingers gently pulled at my skin as he slowly struggled to climb up my arm. He clung to my...
Read MoreThe front yard
Mitchell Ryan
2014-04-07
In this flimsy white chair, on this slightly chilly and sun soaked afternoon, alone, I look down at Juba, our 2 year old mutt. He blinks lazily up at me seeming to never have any trouble taking it all in. Teach me to be like you, Juba. I’ve found myself in this same position countless...
Read MoreCarnaval
Joanna Shieh
2014-04-07
I want you to imagine your most exciting New Years Eve or Chinese New Year. What about a birthday party, or a 4th of July? Try now to think about that crazy Halloween party you attended last year, the year before, 20 years ago. Now, put all of those experiences together and you just might...
Read MoreStereotypes
Joanna Shieh
2014-04-07
I know I haven’t posted a blog in awhile, and to be honest I have no excuse. I’ve been too busy enjoying and creating my experiences rather than taking the time actually to write about them. A gap year is really not complete without a little procrastination. But hopefully, I’ll get my next blog...
Read MoreWorking with sugar cane
Edward Katz
2014-03-10
Already it has been 2 months or so that I have been working on farms in Macacu, Brazil. I’m finally starting to know what I’m doing and feel accustomed to the work. The picture above was taken as I was working with a Biluca, a man who with his father and other helpers makes cashasa from sugar...
Read MoreA Smattering of Thoughts
Maria Gamache
2014-03-07
The relief of cool air hitting my skin, an almost empty bakery, and soft cowboy music-playing overhead tells me that it’s okay. Every time I sit down to write, my mind goes blank. It seems to have no problem racing late at night, persisting that I write my blog post about ‘x,’ or have my video revolve around ‘y,’...
Read MoreFogo Alegre
Andrew Poirier
2014-02-23
Hello world, it’s been a while. Since I last wrote, you, essentially everything has changed. I shall now elaborate: In my last blog I wrote about a brief excursion up a river that gave me many things on which to ruminate. That river was in a small town south of Florianopolis in the state of...
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