2011-12-01
I took a moment to appreciate the beautiful baby girl in my arms. Just around 4 minutes ago, she had been a bump in her mothers’ stomach. I watched as she opened her eyes to blink at the big new world she was now a part of. I smiled and handed the unnamed baby to...
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2011-11-30
My baby sister On November 18th, my host mother here in Tena had a baby. She had a girl. It is very difficult to explain having a baby to people in Spanish. I received a call from my host mom at 3:20pm, on the 17th. She said that she was in labor. She called me because she...
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2011-11-30
Throughout Fall Training at Stanford, Global Citizen Year asked us what we expected when we got to Ecuador. Although I do not know what I expected when I got to Ecuador, I never thought I would be a well-known local celebrity. I figured that I would be just another volunteer coming to change the world. As...
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2011-11-30
I know few people funnier than Connor Delaney, an amateur comedian and my best friend back in the US. A standard night of Connor and I hanging out consists of us walking to the beach or waiting in line for ice cream and sparking up conversations with other kids. Just when our new friends begin...
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2011-11-30
Sex: Female. Age: 29. Children: 3. Status: Married. Income: $600 per month. Primary/Subsequent: Primary. Diagnosis: Tentative. Breast Cancer, Stage 4. Recommendation: Immediate visit to oncologist, Hospital of Tena. Filling this chart leaves me empty. My pen drops. Because how much can you see in the statistics, even when the notes are well-enough detailed? How...
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2011-11-30
Yesterday evening while sweeping the patio floor, I had a moment of realization. Examining the line of my life, I saw America, the sidewalk before me. And India, the concrete floor, and here I was sweeping the wooden slats of a Latin American patio, in a country verdant green, with the calls of chickens. ...
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2011-11-30
I got to go to the river the other day with my family in order to shower and wash my clothes because there was no water in the tank at home. This time I was prepared with dirty clothes and a skirt to change. I was relieved to find that this was only a laundry...
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