Fellow Stories

Farewells Are Not My Specialty

Yui Lee

2015-04-02

Farewells were and are still not my thing. I can’t let the feeling go of not knowing when I will see people again. Even though the people I’m departing from always ask me when I will return again, I can never make a promise. Of course, I want to say it and follow through on...

Sickness

Rachel Swartz

2015-04-01

Sickness Day 1 – Started From the Bottom I awoke with a jolt during my first night living in San Pedro de Aucaparte. My cloth window had been blown across my bedroom allowing steady gusts of wind and rain make their way into my room. The pitch black was emphasized when the lightning hit, illuminating...

Clockwork

Ava Rofougaran

2015-03-31

One February morning, I woke up to a refreshing scent of untouched nature and a soothing sound of trickling rain drops, in addition to a ghastly rash under the band of my watch. At first, I assumed the rash was one of the many effects of the bug-ridden jungle, as it couldn’t have been the...

Saying Goodbye

Bella Bjornstad

2015-03-31

I’m going to miss the strawberries, because they are sweet and organic and cheap, and I will miss the carrots because one is almost enough to be a complete meal. I will miss getting on my bus on my way to Ambato and feeling the wave of relief that it actually showed up. Even though...

With Love, Ex Vegetarian

Danielle Spencer

2015-03-27

I should have saved you earlier, but we were coming for you and there was nothing I could do at that point. You might wonder, why should “I” have been the one to save you if “we”, including “I”, were the ones coming for you. Well, I’ll get to that later. I watched you being...

A Leaf in our World Book

Georgia Reid

2015-03-26

“In the course of telling our tales, we can discover ourselves by becoming curious about the other struggling human beings with whom we live in the world.” – Sheldon B. Kopp, If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him!   With each passing second, the clouds are tinted a little more pink and...

Mercado 12 de Abril

David Jenkins

2015-03-20

Wednesdays are the days I make the extra effort to wake up before the sun is shining and hop in the car to head to Mercado 12 de Abril. We arrive early to set up our stand before the rush of people come in to compete for the goods that we are literally bringing to...

I‰’m Confident

Charlotte Reider-Smith

2015-03-20

The first months at my new home, I tried really hard to fit in. I tried to act like an Ecuadorian. I thought this meant dressing like my new sisters in jeans and ballet flats, even though I hate ballet flats. To not go running in the streets because most Otavaleos only go running in...

Hands.

Elizabeth O'Malley

2015-03-06

I spent four years of high school as a rower. Up to this point in my life, rowing had been the most demanding physical activity I had ever done. Rowing means using every muscle in your body, with all the might you have, until the race is finished. But crew doesn‰Ûªt just demand a huge...

Do You Remember How It Feels to Breathe?

Ian Frank

2015-03-05

Addicted

Ian Frank

2015-03-05

I am an addict; it pumps through my blood on each jog alone in the heat of the morning sun. Drenched in sweat perched on a rock a meter above a calm eddy, I see how addiction has channeled like tributaries through all aspects of my life. I denied myself the liberation of accepting my...

Cleansing

Ian Frank

2015-03-05

I have been a witness to an uncountable number of shaman ritualistic cleansings. It is a steadfast belief of my host family that ritualistic cleansings can be used as treatment of illness. Arguing the validity of practicing shamanism as treatment of ailments is undermining all curiosity. During most instances, my family would ask if I...