2018-10-07
On the third day of my apprenticeship at the radio, Joselyn, the reporter, asked me to listen to interviews she’d conducted with some folks from Guatemala. Guatemala? Seriously? I didn’t come all the way to Ecuador to learn about Guatemala. But despite my apprehension, I sat down and went through the audio files. Among other...
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It is difficult to accept your privilege. Privilege is something I thought I didn’t have, something that only ‘rich’ people had. That is until I came to Ecuador. Somewhere in my mind, the word privilege had gained a negative connotation, that growing up privileged somehow made you ignorant and unaware of things. In this journey...
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2018-10-07
I listen to the mayor of Cayambe discuss the idea of dualism in Kayambi culture. “In order for the world to work,” he explains, “Balance is necessary. The sun needs the moon. The masculine needs the feminine. The rainy season needs the dry season.” In the Kayambi tradition, the universe is united through polar opposites....
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2018-10-06
It’s the freeing moment of slipping into my jacket and stepping foot outdoors, determination in my wandering footsteps and pressure against my chest as I struggle to breathe in the 10,400 ft altitude. It’s the way the clouds surround the rooftops and nestle themselves into the mountains, like a dress fitting around a woman’s curves,...
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2018-10-06
(View from my house 05/10/2018 evening) A strong feeling of homesickness comes to my 19th birthday here in Senegal. Nostalgia fills me when I remember all my friends and family members in my 16th and last birthday in Ecuador. Nostalgia comes to my heart when I remember my last two birthdays; by the fjord, in...
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8 Sept 2018 Today I arrived to my host family in this yet unknown country for me. My senegalese name is ‘Yaay Faatu’, the identity with which I will be recognised by my new neighbours. The life awaiting for me at this point is to observe, learn, play and feel necessary confusion. Someone told me...
Read More2018-10-05
I’d say it’s easy to fall in love with a place when the sun sneaks into your room through thin metal shutters at 7 am and the birds accompany it in song. When your instant coffee and breakfast baguette pair well with staring off into the sky carelessly. When walking down the street has become...
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