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
My First Step of the Year
Ella Thomsen
2019-09-12
My first step of living in Ecuador is to list my goals for the year. This is scary for me because I don’t usually write my goals down, in addition once this is published I can be held accountable for them by you all. These goals are broad, and I’m sure that as the year...
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Impressions of the last two weeks (2)
Aniska Bitomsky
2019-09-11
Aaand we continue with Quito Street dogs are everywhere in Ecuador, however, most of them do not look sick or starved. Wuhu, a pretty balcony. Cuenca (the city where I have my Spanish classes and which is closest to Gualaceo where I live) Cuenca is beautifully located in the Southern sierra region. Again, we...
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Impressions of the last two weeks
Aniska Bitomsky
2019-09-11
Hola gente, As promised I am finally sharing some pictures with you! (However, unfortunately, for some of them I did not have the settings quite right which is why they are a little grainy) San Francisco The number of US flags displayed on every street is astonishing! Especially to a German who only sees the...
Read MoreHow to communicate with your host family when they only speak Spanish and you speak basically no Spanish at all?
Ella Partanen
2019-09-11
Did you mean: How to fake Spanish 101 1. Simply use google translate for all conversations. 2. Speak English with a Spanish accent (works wonders). 3. If the above doesn't work, just use literally any other language (I've got my point across with Finnish words in the middle of a sentence). 4. Be an expert...
Read MorePoco A Poco
Amelia Joss
2019-09-10
One of my host mom’s favorite phrases to say to me is “poco a poco”. Slowly, mija. The first day we met, she told me the story of her family, how her children miss their father but every day it gets better. Poco a poco. Each morning, she reassures me that I will...
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wheresmysuitcase.com
Annika Kapp
2019-09-10
When I left Germany, a person I care a lot about wished me “solvable problems” for my new adventure. Because, as they explained, it is only through the process of overcoming challenges that we grow. This theory was truly put to test during my journey to San Francisco. The first problem arose during my...
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Beginning
Yueun Kang
2019-09-08
Current time – 11:39 pm I know I should have written this blog during the global launch, but I simply couldn’t bring myself to write something. I’ve tried, but I didn’t know what to write. I think it is because I explained “why I wanted to take this gap year”, “what my goals” are to...
Read MoreHomesick
Elaine Liang
2019-09-08
The smiles of Mami Rosa, the friendliness of Papi Jose, the openness of mis hermanas – all warmly welcomed me into the house of Manosalvas Fonte, located in the city of González Suárez. Yet, when Jose asked me “¿Extrañas a tus padres?”, I couldn’t prevent my smile from twitching downwards. I quickly helped clear the...
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Revised Blog 1- Alissa James-Anderson
Alissa James-Anderson
2019-09-06
On Sunday September 1st at 2am, I was very excited to leave Stanford and finally get to Ecuador. The Stanford orientation felt extremely tiring and even a bit repetitive, but it was very fun to meet all of the fellows! Apart from laughing with my friends, my favorite part of the Stanford orientation was the ...
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I guess I’m going
Jordan Hauber
2019-09-06
(Sorry for the delay, internet here is difficult to come by) Here is the text and photos for my first blog post: https://open.spotify.com/track/3yV2jWqUndEEAfON3TrLS4?si=RLEMFiVQStWEBlYRIwgfeQ The poem: 'I need the time to myself I don’t want it I need this tool here And I need this time here You need me to come back I don’t want...
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Thoughts in the clouds…
Nelli Harutyunyan
2019-09-05
Listening to Latin American music collection on the plane while getting ready for the transit in Atlanta, I finally realize that I am actually on my way to Ecuador. I realize that I am much further away from home than I had ever been. I realize that all the Spanish classes I had in the...
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The Year of Light (Blog Post)
Ogugua Nwaezeigwe
2019-09-04
(Sorry it's late, the words had to come to me first) The Year of Light Everyone has been told at a moment in their life to “chase the stars”. However, that is complete nonsense. Now you are probably sitting at your computer, reading the screen, and thinking, “What is this girl talking about?” Let...
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