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
Being a white woman (gringa) in Ecuador
Aniska Bitomsky
2019-10-08
(Check out the pictures at the end to get an insight what I do at my apprenticeship in the tourism office!) Being a white woman in Ecuador. I was visiting my friend, another girl from Germany, in the small town of Paute. We got ourselves some ice cream and sat down on a bench in...
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Something From Nothing
Sadie Price-Elliott
2019-10-08
Ecuador made world news last week. Subsidies on gasoline were eliminated nationwide in efforts to liberalize the fuel market and strike a deal with the International Monetary Fund. Gas prices abruptly increased. Transportation strikes broke out across the country, impacting communities and interrupting systems across the board. As a result, I have been in a...
Read MoreBlog #1 Ecuador Simone Evans
Simone Evans
2019-10-07
When I first touch downed to the airport, I lugged my three bags up and down the escalator with the intent to find Rocio and Ian in the purple T-shirts. After my back almost gave up, I finally saw them sitting by the conveyor belt next to a group of humans surrounded by suitcases and...
Read MoreA Tale of a Rude Chihuahua and Joining the Family
Abigail Mann
2019-10-07
When I arrived at my home for this year, I was immediately welcomed into the Morocho-Guapacasa family by all of my new relatives… Well, almost all of them. There was one family member who made it clear from the start that he did not like me one bit. He yapped loudly, growled at me, and...
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Street art in Gualaceo
Aniska Bitomsky
2019-10-06
This blog post is going to feature more pictures as I realized that the last two posts were quite wordy…. I was walking around Gualaceo today taking short video clips for my work (I am volunteering in the tourism office of the municipality for all who don’t know). One thing that surprised me about Ecuador...
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a day of fateful protests
Eva Kretsinger-Walters
2019-10-06
It seemed as if the sun awoke from a slumber today, and alarmed by its neglect these past few days, determined to overcompensate. Which is to say, today was brutally, stiflingly hot, a heat unique to the sierras, the result of literally being closer to the sun. And this heat coincided with a series of...
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A Final Goodbye
Eva Kretsinger-Walters
2019-10-05
It is often that case that, on the brink of an epiphany, I discover – to perhaps a greater shock – that I have already been living this newly discovered truth, deep inside me and imperceptible in any tangible form. And thus, when I finally understood that I would never again return to Geneva, I...
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Mountains beyond mountains
Annika Kapp
2019-10-05
Picture (c) Charlie …is the title of a book by Tracy Kidder and one of the most inspiring reads I’ve had in the past year. It describes the life of Doctor Paul Farmer and, among other things, his quest to eliminate tuberculosis and serve the poor in Haiti. I can really recommend reading...
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Feliz Cumpleanos (x5)
Ogugua Nwaezeigwe
2019-10-04
“Once you go Ecua- there is no going back.” This is a common joke between the fellows in the Ecuador Northern Cohort. Now, you are probably wondering, “What the heck is an Ecua-?” Well, Ecua- is just a prefix of sorts we, the Northern Cohort and all of Ecuador, put in front of everything. We’re...
Read MoreRice, Juice, and Spoons
Abigail Mann
2019-10-04
Everyone always says that the staples for mealtime in Ecuador are rice and mote. Well, I have had a different experience. At least in my house, the staples are rice, juice, and spoons. Rice: I have not eaten a single meal, other than breakfast, that did not involve a lot of rice. Rice usually takes...
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A Month in the New Norm
Maya Holcomb
2019-10-01
Adapted from a journal entry on 9/30/19: I have now been in Ecuador for a full month. It has been a month of learning (a lot), miscommunication (less than I expected), and a whole bunch of personal growth. I ended last month with a stressful day of travel and I started this month in brand...
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Back To School Season
Sadie Price-Elliott
2019-10-01
Today, three months after my high school graduation, I jumped on a green coach bus — the most common form of transportation in my area — and started on my way to work. I peered out the curtained window, watching the thick fog fade at the mountaintops to reveal pastel blue skies at the peaks...
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