2013-04-04
My trip to the Amazon is characterized by one word: unfathomable. Nothing can prepare you for what the Amazon truly is. For me the Amazon was a rainforest with majestic sunsets, stunning waterfalls, and a plethora of wildlife. You can look at it on a map with its physical boundaries and geographical identity, but walking around inside the jungle,...
Read More
2013-04-04
There are three big topics that come to mind when I think of things that have been a struggle to deal with while here: gossiping, machismo, and alcoholism. This blog is dedicated to the issue of alcoholism. Before coming to Ecuador, of course I knew about alcoholism and that it was an immense and very...
Read More
2013-04-04
In the 8th grade, I was voted class clown, and was also frequently castigated by teachers for disrupting class or commenting incessantly. High school was not much different, and I still found that I was not much liked by teachers in classes I found less interesting than others, since I used conversation and unruly actions to...
Read More
2013-04-04
In the words of political scientist Joseph LaPalombara, it is a “society in which a narrow circle of families control most of the wealth and much of the political power. While universal suffrage and mass-base parties have brought democracy…they have not unseated…the ruling political class” (111). Guess what country I am talking about? Seeing as I’ve been living in Brazil for...
Read More
2013-04-04
Below is a video I made for our ‘Day in the Life’ assignment. Enjoy!! Day In The Life Video
Read More
2013-04-04
“Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real.” ― Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses Basically, terrible. I’ve picked up a few pounds and my skin has decided that one bout of puberty just wasn’t enough. I am covered in flea bites, mosquito bites, scorpion stings, and acne scars....
Read More
2013-04-04
Right now I’m sitting at the mall in Riobamba, and I’m reading over the blogs that have accumulated over the past 7 months. We have roughly 1 week left in our sites before we are taken from the lives we have gotten to know and love – forever. So right now, I’m just sitting here pondering how much everything...
Read More