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
What is ahead?
Pablo Quezada Cortés
2016-09-29
I should present some apologizes over the absence of posts about Senegal. Over the three weeks that the first stage of ICO took place, the intensity of our working schedule left me with little time and big tiredness to sit and write something properly. Sorry for that. But I have important news, ones that will clarify what are going...
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Dakar, Teranga and my first perceptions of Senegal
Pablo Quezada Cortés
2016-09-29
“Tu vas aime Sénégal[1]” was all that Mama Ndiaye said to me after our first conversation at her house. It was the starting step into the first stage of In-Country Orientation, in which I will live with a Senegalese family in Dakar for three weeks in order to learn about culture, languages (French and Wolof) and daily life in...
Read MoreAug.19.16. Day 1
Darwin Lopez
2016-09-19
Well what can I say I started getting nervous and shaking once I got to the SFO Airport. I thought they left me behind since it took me a while to find them. When we got to the bus met these two cool gals named Phoebe and Rosa. If y’all reading this shoutout from Senegal...
Read MoreI’m constantly sweaty, but I wouldn’t change a thing
Elise Petersen
2016-09-16
Do you ever get the feeling that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be? I feel this every time I sit on the living room floor, eating out of the communal bowl with Momma Fatso, Aziz and Daniel. I’ve been struggling to write my first blog post because I can’t seem to put Senegal into...
Read MoreAbout homesickness and other reasons to smile
Fernanda Savaris Nunes
2016-09-15
I have never been the type to feel homesick. I started traveling alone from an early age and I moved out of home in my 16th year of life. I spent the past two years in another continent than the one where I was born and raised, and during the 11 months before this last summer, I did not...
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On Visiting Gorée Island by Jabari Kamau Gambrel
Jabari Gambrel
2016-09-14
On Visiting Gorée Island by Jabari Kamau Gambrel As the boat rocked against the tide I looked pass the metal rails that bound me to this island and into the water searching for the faces of my ancestors. I imagined them arriving to this place, carrying fear in their bellies and the uncertainty of a...
Read MoreA very happy birthday
Anne Cohen
2016-09-09
My phone alarm was set for 6:45 AM. After ignoring the incessant ringing for a few minutes, I dragged myself out of bed and put on my running clothes. I struggled to lock my door and eventually left without locking it. I was late to meet my friend Niles – we were going for a...
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Peace only
Jasen Lo
2016-09-08
Jamm rekk is the most common Senegalese saying, at least in my experience. Translating from Wolof, the most spoken language in Senegal, to English, Jamm rekk literally means peace only. Jamm rekk is a word so telling of Senegalese culture. It has all and every meaning, which conveniently makes this saying the answer to all...
Read MoreFirst, first, first steps
Fernanda Savaris Nunes
2016-09-01
My first blog post in English will have the same aim of my actual first post (that was in Portuguese): I will explain why I am living in Senegal for a year. So, as most of you know: UWC. Right? Two years in Italy with a couple hundreds of international kids who taught me a...
Read MoreTaken out of context.
Sidney Stevens
2016-09-01
I spent the past week at Pre-Departure Training, an experience almost as hard to fully process as it is for me to picture the year before me. The week, split between Alliance Redwoods and the Stanford campus, was simultaneously camplike – with all the dynamics of 18-year olds shoved tightly together – and a uniquely...
Read MoreAn answer to “why?”
Karina Lisboa Båsund
2016-09-01
I believe I have only shared my reasons for taking a Global Citizen Year in Senegal with a few people. The easy answer is: I don’t know what I want to do in life. The more truthful answer is: I know what I don’t want to do in life – and this bridge year is a way of making...
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20 seconds
Marvellous John
2016-08-29
I once wrote in a letter to a dear friend, ‘spontaneity is life’s best friend and my greatest influence’. At that point I just liked the quote because I came up with it and it sounded so cool. Luckily it was also relevant to the point I was trying to make. But the 20 seconds...
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