2012-11-19
Playing soccer in the rain. Seeing a double rainbow on a bad day. Watching a loving bother hug his baby sister. Listening to a grandfather tell his granddaughter the story of Red Riding Hood (and letting her make some up as he goes along). Showing your 4 year old host sister one of your favorite Disney movies...
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2012-11-18
My first time stepping into a nursing home was a simple experience. I was not there to visit anyone or to share my talents with the residents or anything of the sort. I was simply waiting for a friend. I sat down on a couch alone in the midst of older people and people in...
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2012-11-14
Halloween isn’t well recognized in Los Bancos. On the thirty-first, my house boasted a jack-o-lantern in spooky solitude, and not one child could be found roaming the barrio in search of tricks or treats. Luckily, the festive spirit that I instinctively accumulated through October found another outlet two days later. The holiday is called Dia de Los Difuntos, or Day...
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2012-11-14
This is the poem I wrote as my “self documentation” when we stayed in our communities for one week last month to “get our feet wet.” Anxiety and loneliness are prominent Will the confusion ever end? The experience of a new culture In the heart of the Amazon. I focus on the horizon As...
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2012-11-14
A smile swept across my face while riding in the back of on old pickup truck. To be specific, a rickety but sturdy and faded green Chevy with lots of miles on the odometer and lots of life left in it. The wind whipped at my face causing a rucous in my overgrown hair. I...
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2012-11-14
Welcome to the Amazon. Where everything is a luscious green, drinking water is a luxury, the electricity is questionable, and spiders the size of your fist join you at bedtime. What…exactly have I gotten myself in to? I must have asked myself this question dozens of times since leaving the comforts of Quito. There I...
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“Why am I doing this again?” I thought after my honeymoon phase in my host community had ended. I was scared, feeling lonely, and was experiencing culture shock. My smooth sailing had come to an end and reality started to hit. The fact that I would be spending six months in my community and the expectation of “change...
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