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
Seeking Identity in the Company of Family
Emily Hwang
2012-11-27
I came to Latin American with various disclaimers in tow about possible impending struggles. The majority of them- the ones concerning safety, Ecua-time (the cultural phenomenon of national tardiness), Machismo, and the drinking culture- were anticipated and unfortunately, warranted. But I also received a few notes of caution about the intense unity of families here, to...
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“Parece Ladrón”
Jordan Lee
2012-11-27
Even after studying Spanish for 5 years and traveling to Latin America 2 times before, there are a lot of things I don’t understand about Pano, a town in the Amazon rainforest region of Ecuador that is my home until April. For example, I don’t get why people insist on wearing pants in the intense Amazonian sun, or why...
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Acceptance
Betty Gebre
2012-11-26
Someone once told me that they heard: “The best method to prevent childhood/unwanted pregnancy and the spread of sexual diseases is to practice abstinence, but since people are going to have sex anyways you need to teach them sex education.” When I learned that the main reason for the high number of childhood pregnancy in Ecuador was due to the...
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Where the Living is Simple
Carrie Hamilton
2012-11-26
One month ago when I first arrived in my small Kichwa village of Alto Tena, my mind was blown. I simply could not fathom how unbearably slowly time passed in my community, and it was hard to imagine being able to spend six months living in a place where a day felt like a week,...
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English is a Beautiful Song
Brian Riefler
2012-11-26
I am surrounded by many beautiful sounds. In the morning, the crowing of the roosters awakens me. In the afternoon, traditional Kichwa music pervades the Cavernas Jumandy water park through the speakers. In the evening, the pitter-patter of the rain drops against the tin roof of my room lulls me to sleep. One sound I did not realize was beautiful to...
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A Day in My Life
Delia Ross
2012-11-26
One of our assignments for Training Block 1 is called A Day in My Life, and we have to take 5-10 pictures that describe our daily life in our community. Here is my selection of photographs of around Puerto Rico to share with you. And although they do say pictures describe a million words, here’s...
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Day in the Life
Graham Collins
2012-11-22
Day in the Life Link Well hello there, readers. We have had some problems with the blog site, but they are now fixed. One of my assignments has been to do a “day in the life” project. I have ten pictures with background music, then a few slides of thoughts at the end. If you...
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A Day in My Life
Carly Sitrin
2012-11-22
Just an average day in Bayushig, Ecuador! Photo 1) My room Photo 2) I am a giant! Photo 3) My backyard Phtoto 4) Odie Photo 5) Hard at work pairing socks Photo 6) Hanging out at La Casa de la Caridad with my boys
Read MoreThe process of getting settled in Ecuador
Kimberly Reed-Hyman
2012-11-21
“I can’t believe it, I’m finally here; my dream has become a reality.” That was the first thing I thought as I got off the plan from Miami. Honestly I didn’t know what I was in for, but I soon found out. Quito, the capital of Ecuador, was a lot like the U.S, except...
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The Human Connection
Delia Ross
2012-11-21
I can recognize just about everyone in my community of 40 families by face. That said, when someone new comes through, it’s pretty noticeable. So when I was walking down the street yesterday selling raffle tickets for an upcoming fundraiser with some of the younger kids and one of them turned to me and whispered,...
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The Foreignness within the Normalcy, The Normalcy within the Foreignness
Emily Soule
2012-11-21
I feel the stories I share should be filled with pithy anecdotes and cultural insights. Yet all I have to offer is normalcy. Life does not change from one hemisphere to the other. Relationships, societies, human beings – they mesh and flow in similar collisions, no matter the place. My life here in Ecuador feels…normal. That surprises me. The day before...
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Teach me, Ecuador
Emily Power
2012-11-21
My first day in the Amazon I went to a Kichwa wedding. I briefly met my new family, Lidia Cerda, my mom, Jorge, my brother in law, Erika, my sister and Jorge’s wife, as well as some cousins whom I did not have the chance to meet properly until much later. We all sat on a log to watch...
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