2010-11-12
It seems like I have been here forever. As I sat on the ground of my room (the only place that provides me with internet in my bedroom), I often wondered “what am I doing here?” Why wasn’t I with my second home stay family? Why is Brazil so…different? I am so used to the cookie cutter...
Read More2010-11-11
My second day here, I was pushed onto the lap of a woman who sat in the front seat of a neon green ambulance. I watched the bumpy drive through the spiderweb of a cracked window, and the seat vibrated so violently that my ears tickled. We drove for about an hour, and it was...
Read More2010-11-11
My head was dripping with sweat from the dry heat that I couldn’t escape. My stomach had knots; my limbs, restless yet fatigued from the wear and tear of the social and physical maladies my body could not overcome…I replayed the event in my head exactly as it happened, trying to figure out what had...
Read More2010-11-11
Have you ever watched the stars rise? The sunrise, sunsets, oh! Everybody’s watched them. But the stars? A mournfully beautiful practice. And so ancient! Those That Came Before stared at these same stars; the points of light might be dead for all I know, burnt to the blackness of sky, their memory-light still hurtling, hurtling: a...
Read More2010-11-11
As I fumbled along the strings of the guitar, I only remember praying. I prayed that I would have the strength to sing in front of these people, I prayed that I would remember which chords came before which, I prayed, especially, that I would convey the message to my peers just how much this...
Read More2010-11-10
Let’s take a coffee farmer- we’ll call her Maria. She lives on and owns a coffee farm. On this farm she picks coffee beans. She then sells her coffee beans. For this venture, she has two options: She can sell her beans on the open market at a price that is below her household cost,...
Read More2010-11-10
After finishing the first month in Quito, I said farewell to my wonderful first host family, and prepared for the next step. I have been placed in Ibarra for the next six months to begin my apprenticeship. Ibarra is a small, four-hundred year old city with antique-style buildings and churches, narrow stone-patterned roads, and is...
Read More