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
"La Ciudad Blanca"
Sofia Santos
2020-02-06
Misión Scalabriniana in a local parade holding up the sign “Humanidad”, or humanity. The pristine streets of Ibarra, or La Ciudad Blanca, seem to support order and proud Latin American solidarity, with street names of its Incan history and one of the most diverse populations I have seen in Ecuador. Yet, if we only peel...
Read MoreFamily Meets Familia: An Ecua-Adventure
Abigail Mann
2020-02-03
This post is ridiculously overdue, but hey, better late than never, right? My two previously very separate worlds collided on December 24, 2019 when my fantastic mom, dad, and brothers all visited me here in Cuenca, Ecuador. They landed in Guayaquil on the 23rd and took a somewhat long van ride all the way to...
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Family
Charlie Dickerson
2020-02-03
I’ve officially hit the five month mark. With two months left, I want to reflect upon the two things that I appreciate more than anything: my host family and my family back home. It was Christmas Eve. I was in the midst of scrambling to finish my nine college applications after I got rejected by...
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Coming Home
Amelia Joss
2020-02-02
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of home. I keep having the moment of thinking, “I want to go home”, and not really knowing where that is. Is Sayausí home? Is Michigan? Is it both? Neither? I don’t think home is a single defined place for me right now. All I know...
Read MoreI Missed You
Elaine Liang
2020-01-24
Left to right: Official Poster of her titled “Voices of the Past” Mother-in-law, my supervisor Luzmila In my apprenticeship, my supervisor’s mother-in-law talks to me whenever I pass her. Since she speaks a mix of 90% Kichwa and 10% Spanish, I often don’t understand her and just smile. For two weeks, I missed...
Read MoreGlobal Citizen Year Fundrasing
Luis Guzman Garcia-Valdecasas
2020-01-23
Dear Friends, Please help me support Global Citizen Year by making a donation through my fundraising page for 2019-2020 Fellow Fundraising. Even a small donation will help me achieve my goal! The process is fast, easy, and secure. Thanks so much for your support. LuisDonate to my page
Read MoreA Cajas Misadventure
'Los
2020-01-21
When kids are little everyone breaks something. You see Tommy come into first grade with an arm cast. Everyone thinks it’s so cool because now we all get to write our names on it like our little narcissistic selves would love to do. Now, Tommy is chillin not having to do all his homework because,...
Read MorePalabras de Elaine
Elaine Liang
2020-01-20
A Manosalvas Fonte Christmas tradition where each family unit prepares a skit with the funniest skit winning a grand prize. Our family were characters from the Mexican comedy “El Chavo del Ocho”, and I was the main character, Chavo. We won the grand prize- a baby cow. ¡Qué chavo! Context: For my Christmas dinner with...
Read MoreA Spoonful of Honey
nephraterie Smith
2020-01-18
All it takes to defeat oneself is an overdose of confidence and an empty belly. When I was a little girl, my sister and I followed the strict “Candy Friday Rule.” Every other Friday, we would have rows and flavours of enticing, diabetes giving candy. This being the idea of my father, who I can...
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Market Mayhem
nephraterie Smith
2020-01-18
No one in this world could’ve ever told me that the color of fruit would be inspiring my days, projects, and styles. When I wake up in the morning to pick 9 different fruits and vegetables that I will be eating in a day to when I take a picture of a mango on my...
Read MoreViva El Paro
nephraterie Smith
2020-01-18
10:31 October 13th was when I could finally take a breath. The past two weeks had been filled with anxiety, curiosity, boredom, learning, and confusion. From protests taking place outside the homes and jobs of our team leaders and fellows to running out of food, gas, and for some, freedom. As Buddy and I were...
Read MoreThe Diaspora
Buddy Bomze
2020-01-14
When I was in Hebrew school, my friends taught me a song about how you could always find Jews wherever you were. I have since forgotten how it goes, but the positive notion of identifying as a diaspora Jew stuck with me. As I traveled to the JCC in Krakow, Poland and to Israel where...
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