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
Dear Lala
Elizabeth Ollila
2017-10-05
A month before I left on my Ecuador adventure, my incredible grandma Frances LaFontaine (Lala) passed away pretty unexpectedly. I cannot help but think of her daily, so I wrote her a letter that I wanted to share. An open letter to my Lala, I miss you and your beautiful soul more than you...
Read MoreBlog Post
Malaak Glover
2017-10-04
Back again at my favorite place in Imbabura, this hotel/ resort serves as an oasis for me… even though I came here with my cohort I still feel a sense of peace that hasn’t been awoken before. I’m sitting on a swing set overlooking mountains and next to me is what I think to be a...
Read More
Culture Shock: It’s the Little Things
Natalia Fischl-Lanzoni
2017-10-04
Ever since I stepped on that plane for Ecuador, I expected to go through some sort of culture shock. I think what I imagined was that in that first week or two, I would feel completely out of place and have my mind-blown by this new culture. I anticipated feeling completely foreign at first, but that...
Read More
Lost in the Hea(r)t(h) of it all
Danny DeBare
2017-10-04
There’s this warmth, burning in the hearth of the home. Shifting from an electric blue to a flickering red and burnt orange, it flares up, reaching the cold corners of the house. As the weeks have progressed, I’ve precariously stepped from the outskirts of the light toward this new energy. Not adjacent, but from a...
Read More
Saludos desde Ecuador!
Layla Solatan
2017-10-03
It's been a month since we were told that our flight to Ecuador was being cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey. Luckily, this was the only setback we had to deal with as a result of this hurricane. Still, it’s not the best news to receive the day before your flight to Ecuador for 8 months—the...
Read More
Waoh September’s gone!
Ploypailin Thapthimphet
2017-10-03
On September 1, I was so pumped to pack and hop on airplanes to Quito the next morning but we were told that our flights from San Francisco to Houston were canceled due to the flood in Texas. It was only the Ecuadorian cohort whose flight was canceled though. “Well, that means I don’t really have to pack...
Read More
Quito Host Family (10/9 – 17/9)
Natalie Choi
2017-10-02
I have been looking forward to stay with my Quito host family ever since I’ve arrived to Ecuador because I really wanted to experience the culture like a local would. Apprehension did not find its way to me until I received the page of information about my host family. Unlike most of the fellows, who...
Read MoreWhy I am taking a bridge year
Summer Khan
2017-10-01
Hello everyone! I’m so excited for my bridge year in India! I have been anticipating for months about the food culture, and what my daily life is going to look like. Oh wait, just kidding!! I am actually going to Ecuador, I switched countries about two weeks before program launch because my Indian visa...
Read MoreThe S(h)ituation on my First Day
Bryan Fang
2017-10-01
Sábado, 30 de Septiembre de 2017 Hello, welcome to my first blog! My name is Bryan and I currently in Ecuador. After the split of the Cohort of 51, I am now a part of Rosé all Day, my Regional Group. Global Citizen Year started a month ago and so much has happened, but...
Read More
What Ecuador has Taught Me: My Collection of Experiences
Sadie Troup
2017-09-30
I’ve been in Ecuador for almost three weeks, (to be honest time is a lost construct for me right now so that could be entirely inaccurate) and I’ve learned quite a lot! For as much as I’ve learned about Ecuador, I’ve discovered the same amount about myself. Here’s my ongoing list of experiences and new...
Read MoreTHRIVING :)
Phuong Nguyen
2017-09-29
I don’t write much anymore, which would normally be a red flag but not this time. I’m trying other outlets of expression and art. Bear with me. [vc_video link=’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_k5yhCiRwQ&feature=youtu.be’] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_k5yhCiRwQ&feature=youtu.be
Read MoreLet Life Come To You
Joseph Hansen
2017-09-28
The view of Cerro Imbabura from my room on a clear morning. I slowly open my eyes as the quiet murmurs of my host father and my brothers permeate into my dream. Not long after I slowly arise to bear witness to the following. I live at the entrance to...
Read More