2015-05-15
A picture can really be worth a thousand words. Thus, I’ve compiled many of my photos into a photo blog. I also included a digitized version of the Humans-of-the-school-where-I-taught-English book, which I created and left in hardcover form at the school. This project was particularly meaningful to me, as the school was such an integral...
Read More2015-04-08
When I think about my Global Citizen Year, I consider leaving out the last two weeks. That way, I can describe life in my rural community, painting a picture as bright and beautiful as the polleras my indigenous used-to-be-host-mom wore. It can be a picture as complete as my five-year-old used-to-be-host-sister’s drawing of her family”...
Read More2015-02-18
It was a lazy Saturday, mÌÁs o menos. I rose around 6 AM, normal time. Breakfast was lentil soup with a special treat: warm milk, straight from cow that Abuelita milked before the sun painted the greens of the fields and blues of the mountains with the colors of daylight. And then MamÌ_, PapÌ_ and...
Read More2015-01-26
I wrote this post in September shortly before leaving Quito. For various reasons I did not publish it at the time, but I find that the sentiment still rings true. I didn’t expect the first word I learned from my Quito host family to be autismo, autism. But after hugging and kissing and hopping into...
Read More2015-01-09
One morning in early October, Abuelita and I were the last two at the breakfast table. As we finished eating, she turned to me and asked, Did you have any dreams last night?” I looked up from my lentil soup and nodded
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2014-11-21
I’m learning to love 8:00 AM rotisserie chicken on market days. Coated with herbs and freshly cooked, it really does taste good. It also really does wake up my taste buds, smacking them with a burst of flavor in the morning that is becoming more familiar every week. Saturday market days begin with the beeps...
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2014-10-13
On Sunday afternoon I was playing house with my five-year-old sister and five-year-old cousin. The girls promptly instructed me to be their mom and began to set up an abandoned cement house as our home. I asked what I should do and my cousin replied, “You know, Mom Things. Cook, clean, tend to the cows.”...
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2014-09-04
We were about to leave the hostel, to cross the street and meet our Quito host families. I hoisted my backpack onto my back, grabbed my small duffel bag and reached for my rolling duffel. Balancing everything, I took a deep breath and prepared myself to exit the hostel. Looking down at my rolling duffel,...
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2014-09-03
Last Thursday morning, on the first day of Pre-Departure Training, Abby Falik welcomed the 2015 Fellows with an inspiring speech. More emotions than I could count filled my heart as I thought about the journey I was about to begin, the friendships I was about to cultivate and the challenges I was about to encounter....
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2014-08-03
I’m writing this from my bed at sleep-away camp, putting pen to paper, this time as a counselor, much as I did years ago as a camper on Letter Writing Days. Looking around at my campers, reflecting on the past six weeks we’ve spent here, remembering the previous seven summers I’ve been at camp, I...
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