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
Jingle Bells
Alexandra Moreno
2017-11-10
Yesterday, 93.9 WLIT-FM, also known as 93.9 My FM Chicago, started playing Christmas music. I learned this after watching my brother’s Snapchat story, which featured the caption “They’re playing Christmas music already???” I fumbled around on my cheap Nokia EcuaPhone FM settings to get 93.9 but when I got there, all I heard static. In...
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Getting Stronger
Sadie Troup
2017-11-09
I’m just gonna start this off by saying that October was an emotional and physical whirlwind. I probably experienced some of the most uncomfortable physical sensations I’ve had yet during my time abroad, mostly due to catching parasites (twice!) and having a lovely intestinal infection. But to be...
Read MoreRandom Friendship
Christopher Maloney
2017-11-09
I had just left circus class and I was walking out of Yachay’s cultural center. To my left I noticed a guy around my age carrying something that looked 3D printed. I get really excited about new ideas and technology so, without thinking, I blurted out “Is that 3D printed?” (in Spanish of course). I...
Read MoreLa Idioma de La Vida
Toluwani Roberts
2017-11-08
I’m in a “complicated relationship” with language. I studied Spanish in school for six years. Yet when I arrived in country, I struggled to find the words to communicate with my first host family, my Spanish teachers, and my second (now permanent) host family. For example, Instead of saying “tengo hambre” (I’m hungry, or literally,...
Read MoreIdentity
Jeannine Contreras
2017-11-07
On my first day as an English teacher, Edison, one of the main teachers I would be working with, took me to four of his classes to introduce me to his students. He introduced me to his first class in the following manner: "This is the new English assistant shes from the U.S but she...
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The Winter Solstice Festival: Kapak Raymi
Maya Wilcox
2017-11-07
Someone asked me to elaborate on the winter solstice festival after my last post (shoutout to Jan!). So I’m sharing a little blurb about it from the magazine I work for. Kapak Raymi is a festival in honor of wisdom, and is celebrated on the 21st of December, hallmay pacha. Rituals that are practiced include: hutuku...
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Who are you, truly?
Yesenia Martinez
2017-11-06
A recent study, conducted en la Provincia de Cañar, showed that the person with the most descent from Cañaris/Incans had 37% of native genes, although most people ranged from 7%-10%. Today, citizens of el Canton Cañar (a town in the Province of Cañar) refer to themselves as either indígena or mestizo. You may ask, so what classifies you as...
Read MoreVisioning My Victory
Shukura Babirye
2017-11-05
I want the dream of being fluent in another language to be a reality. I know it is a challenge but I am never one to back down and quit. This will take a lot of time and commitment. I will need to put myself constantly in the stretch zone to the point where it...
Read MoreSorbitol
Alexandra Moreno
2017-11-04
Sorbitol, less commonly known as glucitol, is a sugar alcohol with a sweet taste which the human body metabolizes slowly. On average, the human body can digest anywhere from 1mg to 5mg of sorbitol a day. Any more than that can cause bloating, gas, and diarrhea. Yesterday around 8pm, my host family asked me if...
Read MoreNov. 2nd – Día De Los Difuntos
Jeannine Contreras
2017-11-03
The last place that I expected to be full of life was the cemetery yet there I was at 10 pm in Atuntaki Ecuador in the middle of a bustling cemetery. Families gathered everywhere, crowding around tombstones, migrating slowly from tomb to tomb, greeting friends and other relatives. Lovers pulled each other close. Children stuck...
Read MoreClassrooms are Overrated
Jordan Kendall
2017-11-03
There were so many people in my life that thought I was absolutely insane for deciding to travel to Ecuador instead of going to college like everybody else. I was constantly met with statements along the line of “you can always travel abroad in college” and “why don’t you focus on your education first?”. To...
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Halloween in Ecuador
Leila Merzenich
2017-11-02
As you may know, Halloween isn't really a thing in Ecuador, which made me pretty nostalgic for the days when I would dress up in often a homemade costume and go trick or treating with my cousins, or even just watch scary movies with my friends. So I decided I would create a Halloween experience...
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