Fellow Stories

Feel it All

McKenna Daily

2018-02-05

Feel it all for this moment, let it pass.    Since arriving in Quito, and starting this song, I have felt excitement, loss, wonder, fear, connection, and love stronger than ever before. Now, having tea with my host mom who I now truly love, I still feel all those emotions, but they don’t scare me,...

Vamos – Ecuador: Mid-Year Video

Antony Le

2018-02-03

Take a look into my experiences in Ecuador so far. In this video, you will see footage of the schools I teach in and the city I live in, Guachapala, as well as some sights from Giron, Banos de Ambato, and  Pailon de Diablo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=[vc_video link=’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DefKPs18Bhg&t=20s’]&t=20s

Welcome to your life

2018-01-24

    05:00 – The call to prayer shudders you from your sleep, darkness still shielding the character traits of day from your greedy eyes. The “Allahuakbar” continues as you turn restlessly, taking this brief moment of consciousness to readjust the strewn blankets for optimal comfort. You lay back, the minarets concluding their call, and...

The Stories We Tell

Joseph Hansen

2018-01-24

     I come home from a long day at work, just after dusk, I’m happy my host father is returning from Otovalo and he picks me up on the road back to my house, saving me a 15-20 minute walk littered with ‘cute’ dogs (who probably want to kill me). We stop at our...

The Art of Letting Go and Going with the Flow: My Year of Embracing Jugaad

Claire Darrow

2018-01-23

  My feet pounded the pavement and my vision started to fade into shades of blue and yellow as I sprinted to catch the last train home. The ancient train let out a yawn and creaked as if it were reluctantly awakened from a deep slumber. Out of breath, I glanced around the compartment and...

Ndanke Ndanke

Elise Leise

2018-01-15

After shelling a requisite amount of peanuts with the women of the compound, I found Dé Maraam behind a tin-roofed hut, sitting in the shade and chatting with a grandmother about the weather. As the village chief’s widow, she held respect and authority throughout Bapate and was the woman I needed to speak with about...

5 Lessons from Orejas

Natalie Choi

2018-01-11

This blog is dedicated to an amazing friend, Orejas, who has always been by my side. Orejas is this cute little dog who follows me everywhere I go: cafes, restaurants, markets, shops… Sometimes it can be troublesome if I want to go to a place where dogs can’t enter; nevertheless, whenever I’m with him I always...

The Importance of Language Learning

Wyatt Foster

2018-01-09

Nelson Mandela is famous for the quote "If you talk to man in a language he understands it goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language it goes to his heart" for a good reason. Since being in Senegal I have developed a new understanding and passion for language learning. Not...

My Family

Hamid Ahmed Abulrhman

2018-01-09

My host family is big and diverse. I have two host brothers, Carlos who is 21 and a fresh uni graduate. And Adrian who is 16 and in high school I also have an older host sister Valeria. She is already married and has a son named Pedro, or as everyone calls him, Pedrito.  ...