Abigail Bethke

Abi is passionate about language learning, traveling, human rights, education, political activism, music, compassion, and understanding. She participated in the cultural immersion and volunteer program, Amigos de las Americas before her senior year, where she spent seven weeks in Paraguay living with a host family, working with leaders in her community on sustainable projects, and hosting after school workshops with children. Afterwards, Abi became a trainer for Amigos, encouraging high school students in her community to immerse themselves in other cultures. Abi’s goals for the summer are to grow as a leader, become fluent in Spanish, gain a broader perspective, and make lifelong friends. The daughter of a guitarist and singer, Abi is inspired and motivated by the beautiful songs and music written by her close friends and family.

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Highly unqualified…and loving it.

Since September I've been kind of baffled, and I've never really blogged about it. Baffled by the fact that I was a teacher for 7 months. Even though I just graduated from high school…this is something that hit home even stronger when I came back to Wisconsin. I had no degree, no experience, just barley…

02 June, 2017

The Day After

I wrote this blog post the day after I left Cañar in my notebook while we were all still in Quito. I didn’t get a chance to type it up that same day (parasites were slowly killing me), and I just imagined I would get back to it a little bit later when my stomach…

30 May, 2017

Fear of the Faded Accent

Written on March 9th, 2017. Tomorrow would be my dad’s 47th birthday. I just got off the phone with my grandma…after she sent me a text saying she felt sad but also grateful to have been so lucky. After getting over the grief that comes within the first two years, that is the ever lasting…

10 March, 2017

Profesorita Abi

In the beginning, hearing “Profe Abi,” “Profesorita,” or “Senorita Abi” made me a little uncomfortable. I had no idea what kind of apprenticeship I initially wanted when I joined Global Citizen Year. There were really no expectations. I knew teaching English was of course a possibility, encompassing the majority of apprenticeships, but during the interview…

21 December, 2016

“Ellos son como una familia real.”

This will sound incredibly cheesy, but I never could’ve imagined finding another family I feel so comfortable with when I initially signed up for Global Citizen Year. Yes, I definitely had hopeful expectations of really getting close with these people, especially considering I’d be staying with them for 7 months…but after only 2 months of…

18 November, 2016

And the Journey Awaits…

Well, I’ve now been in Quito for two weeks and with Global Citizen Year for three. It is still baffling to hear myself say this, but the fellows I’ve met here feel like lifelong friends. After 3 weeks. I think that definitely has to do with how co-dependent we are on each other right now….

11 September, 2016

Uncertainty and Unexpected Discoveries

I feel like I’ve been hesitant to write this blog post for a long time, because for months and months, I had absolutely no idea what I was diving into. I knew a dear friend who had done Global Citizen Year and spent eight months in Ecuador, and that was my only connection to the…

27 August, 2016

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