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
Doing Laundry
Neil Singh
2014-03-10
Back in the States I used to hate doing my laundry. It was a long trek up the stairs and to my destination, burdened by my ponderous basket. Then, leaving a trail of dirty socks, I wrestled with my sworn enemy: the laundry room door. My back aching from such arduous labor, I placed my...
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Tupac Naula, Poor Child #56487
Amanda Langan
2014-03-07
When I was about six or seven, I was always reminded of how lucky I was to live in a developed country by a small photo tacked on the fridge. It was of two little boys from the Dominican Republic, with a background of the typical falling down, crumbling painted school as they stood in...
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Normalcy
Alexandra Lines
2014-03-07
(Note: I talk about culture in this blog, and my personal observations of it. Please keep in mind that I draw my observations from generalizations and patterns of behavior, and that there is a great amount of personal variety in every country and in every culture, and that not all individuals will fit into the generalizations.)...
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The Chimborazo Confessions
JT Su
2014-03-06
Who is most likely to have a nightmare about anime? Who is also known as “The Wandering Man?” Who pictured two guinea pigs getting married? Who kept everyone waiting on the bus to make a Starbucks run? Who has a deep personal connection to an elephant sweater? Who always runs out of phone minutes within...
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Dar A Luz
Conner Evans
2014-03-06
On January 7, 2014 I got a new host brother. A little more than eight pounds, Martín Cardenás is cute, calm, and the joy of my host family. After a long day at work or tiring day at school, my host dad and host siblings always arrive shouting his name “Martín, Martín!” or as my...
Read MoreHere goes nothing
Lauren Rendler
2014-03-06
For three months now, I have been staring at a nearly blank page in my journal that I reserved for my very first in country blog post. The only words keeping it from being a flawless blank page read: “9/22/13 blog posts… need to write blog post ASAP” and some random doodles. Every time I...
Read MoreOyga, Tienes Un Novio?
Valerie Hurst
2014-03-05
“Tienes un novio?”( do you have a boyfriend?) *I pensively weigh of my options, do I make one up?* “No” I reply. Surprise is apparent, the questioning continues. No boyfriend in Ecuador? In the States? Not even one in both? Smiling, and amused by the third option, I tell them “Soy un independiente mujer!” I’m...
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Los Diablitos
Sarai Patterson
2014-03-05
The world was enveloped in a misty grey drizzle the first time I stepped foot in my little yellow classroom to meet my supervisor, a short, matronly woman named Tania with a kind smile and endearingly mismatched clothing. I was confused at first; I’d thought that I would be teaching my own class. And all the sessions on education...
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Church
Valerie Hurst
2014-03-05
I went to Loja recently with my family, where the houses are sporadic and pork is plentiful. Its actually the campo(country side) of Loja; the kind of more basic, of out in the middle of no where living that I had initially expected from my Global Citizen Year placement(since I’m living in a small city...
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Disparities
Florin Langer
2014-02-28
I have two homes in Ecuador, one in El Tambo and one in Cuenca. My host parents and I live in El Tambo during the week and my host siblings in Cuenca for school. I end up traveling between the two a few times a week. Although they are only seventy kilometers apart, the sharply...
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A Day at the Zoo
Spencer Wise Watson
2014-02-25
“The zoo has allowed me to further appreciate how nature and the animal kingdom are inseparable and how removing one from the other is neither sustainable nor ethical.” Approximately three weeks ago, I began working at the Amaru Zoologico y Bioparque, a local zoo about twenty minutes by bus from my hometown of Azogues. However,...
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Jewish Kid, Catholic Country
Isaiah Fischer-Brown
2014-02-23
“Voy a dormir, bendición María” “Dios te bendiga, que descanses Isaías” “Padre, Hijo, Espíritu Santo” I am going to bed, Blessing. May God bless you and that you rest, Isaiah. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. While speaking in her soft murmur, my host mother makes the motion of the crucifix across her chest and wishes me...
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