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
Finding a Balance
Peter Saudek
2011-01-28
When I arrived in Ibarra and began my apprenticeship, the first month and a half I felt like I had very little “to do,” no structure in my days. Needless to say, I spent lots of time feeling unproductive and useless. Three months later, I’m teaching English classes six days a week, working in the...
Read MoreApplying principles of “good” development
Caroline Pocock
2011-01-28
The media wants us to believe that making a positive impact on the world is as easy as writing a check to that organization with the commercial that makes us all tear up. But, as a culmination of several discussions and my own observations here, I’m realizing that social impact is much more like a...
Read MoreAnother Side of Coffee
Liza David
2011-01-28
Usually I stay in the lab growing, cultivating, reproducing bacteria and fungi. However, recently I had the opportunity to visit the farms. Part of lab work is going outside and seeing results. Did the trichoderma (a bio-fungicide) work? Is the coffee healthier and stronger? So I went on one of these excursions to see how...
Read MoreLos Borrachos
Chloe Bobar
2011-01-21
Having attended two Ecuadorian weddings, Christmas celebrations, New Year’s celebrations, and, well, simply having lived in Ecuador for over three months I have seen my fair share of borrachos (drunks). Some, as you can imagine, have been thoroughly entertaining. The groom at the first wedding I went to busted out some phenomenal dance moves, for...
Read MoreSuck it Up and Eat the Pig
Lily Shaffer
2011-01-21
Many of my family and friends have been impressed with how seamless this experience has appeared. In uncountable ways, I have been blessed in every aspect of GCY. That’s not to say that I don’t break down regularly, struggle daily, and miss home, though. So I thought I’d share some of the bumps in my...
Read MoreA Tour of the Coffee Factory
Liza David
2011-01-19
Take a look at my photo essay touring through the coffee factory.
Read MoreSowing Dreams in Rural Ecuador
Peter Saudek
2011-01-13
Most exciting and fulfilling project so far: teaching outside of the city in the “campos,” or rural communities.
Read MoreAssumptions, obstacles, and other difficulties
Cameron Kaufman
2011-01-12
I once had a French teacher who told me that humor is the hardest thing to translate. I frequently go back to what she told me, especially when using that awkward fake laughter in order to feign amusement. I know you’ve all been there before. “Haha, I do get your joke!” Yeah… that was a...
Read MorePhoto Essay: My home and work in Ibarra
Lily Shaffer
2011-01-12
So to get a little bit of a taste of my life here in Ibarra, here's a little photo tour of my home and work at Pastoral Migratoria.
Read MoreCuy
Liza David
2011-01-11
This video was shot at Alberto’s house. Alberto’s family have a cuy (guinea pig) farm. On rare or special occasions they will prepare cuy to eat, as they did when I was there. The video depicts Alberto’s host father slaughtering the cuy and then his host mother removing the hair and the guts. ¡Buen Provecho!
Read MoreHome
Naomi Wright
2011-01-11
The morning was exactly as it always is, nothing unexpected, nothing disquieting. But that is exactly it: I feel completely comfortable with my family, in my home in Leona, Senegal.
Read MoreUtterly Delicious
Caroline Pocock
2011-01-09
One of my most recent escapades introduced me to the wonderfully simple dynamics of small-town business. Two girls I know invited me to go with them to their grandfather’s house to collect the milk. At the time I had no idea what it was for, but I was dying to get out and see more...
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