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 First Week
Neil Singh
2013-10-10
The 12 hour bus ride to my homestay Quingeo in Azuay, Ecuador was full of a lot of excitement and gorgeous, varied landscapes. Beautiful rolling pastures, a wide variety of exotic trees and shrubs, and magnificent snow-capped mountains pass by quickly through the windows. You could smell just about everything as well; some odors intoxicating, others overwhelming. That bus ride...
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Aliments
Lauren Guido
2013-10-10
I’ve never broken a bone or spent a night in the hospital yet when I travel I always tend to have ailments of some kind or another. This trip thus far has been no different yet through my ailments I have learned and discovered so much more of the culture. Thus, in a way I’m happy that my...
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Making My Way Downtown
Valerie Hurst
2013-10-10
The dogs outside are barking again, noisily chorusing amongst themselves. There’s a man from one of the surrounding apartments spitting rapid Spanish to what could only be a scorned lover. My neighborhood has woken up far before me, and from under my covers I silently plead with the buses, taxis and especially motorbikes to give me a moment of silence....
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Vale la Pena
Lillie Mayfield
2013-10-10
Muy buenos dias! I know it has been a while since I’ve posted on my blog and many of you have been expecting a post, but I have been pretty busy here in Quito. Not to say that I don’t miss you all terribly- because I do! My time here has had its ups and downs (mostly ups). ...
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Weaving Connections
Ilana Marder-Eppstein
2013-10-10
I follow my papi to the Eucalyptus tree. My feet fumbling up the hill as I stagger through the loose dirt, a train of dust forming at my heels. There is no train at my dad’s feet, instead he moves easily, cutting through the sand and dirt. We stop at the base of the tree where the younger shoots are sprouting....
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Sweet Surprises
Soe Tha
2013-10-10
It’s been over a month since I’ve been here in Ecuador, and it’s been a week since I’ve been in Pano. So much has happened, it’s pretty crazy. To everyone back home who are reading this, hello! You all are going to be surprised with the things I’ve eaten, done, and tried. And the great...
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Souveniring the Scene
Sayre Quevedo
2013-10-10
Riobamba is like a surrealist painting. Dogs on roofs. Half-built, quarter-built structures, like big gray dollhouses. Farm animals along empty train tracks. Little boys in baseball caps playing in a dusty lot. Nameless streets. Especially when the neighborhood is empty, cold and blue, I remember that I will remember this. I try to take the...
Read MoreIn Which the Protagonist Faces Abundant Confusion
Spencer Wise Watson
2013-10-02
“Finally,” I think, as I sigh contently at my new apprenticeship in Azogues, Ecuador. I have my own desk and practically my own office since no one works in the same room. The walls are covered in calendars highlighting ecological days throughout the year from the familiar (Earth Day – April 22nd) to the bizarre...
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Transitions and Transformations
Ilana Marder-Eppstein
2013-10-02
I left home one month from today. Flew to the coast, a caterpillar with butterflies in her stomach, anticipating who and what I would find there. As the plane shuttled me from Chicago to San Francisco memories of home flooded me in a wave of emotions. The crunch of the leaves beneath my feet as I walked, lunch box in hand,...
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Week 1 of Otavalian Life
Emily Hockett
2013-10-02
After months of preparation and orientation, we were heading to our communities for real. I was the first to be dropped off, and my family arrived with balloons and flowers for me and pineapple cake for our entire group. My host mom, Tania, was crying and I gave “besos” to my host dad Jamie, 14...
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Empathy
JT Su
2013-10-02
For the past several years of my adolescence, I have always seemed to possess bitterness towards the world around me, appalled at how people could be so judgmental of who I am. Growing up in a predominantly Asian community, where there is a lot of pressure to succeed academically, and even more pressure to attend...
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The Move to Cuenca
Drew Corrigan
2013-10-02
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I38QT5UF2cs&feature=c4-overview&list=UU_WCLsUiZh7Y5bPOj8ek9cA
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