Words From Ecuador
Lily Ellenberg
March 30, 2012
I am from eight thirty bedtimes and rising with the sun. From devious little cousins and younger siblings. From fresh fruit juice, ecua-shoes, and a new system of time. From seemingly shy women and overtly forward men. From fried yucca, comidas tipicas and yogoso sabor a naranja. I am from open-air classrooms, school uniforms and...
Read MoreMaking the Grade
Lily Ellenberg
March 27, 2012
My one week site visit to San Ramon De Kuyaloma got off to a slow start. The first day I sat in the office, chatted in broken Spanish to the director of the school, Fredy, and ate lunch at 10:45 am. Day two seemed it would be more of the same…until, Fredy led me to...
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A Lesson On Grieving
Lily Ellenberg
January 25, 2012
The house sits on wooden stilts, sunken down below the road. When we arrived it was already full of people. I didn’t know our destination until we arrived; I didn’t know our purpose until I saw the small wooden coffin. It sat atop a table covered in tall white candles. My stomach dropped and my...
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Cleanse
Lily Ellenberg
January 2, 2012
It’s a quiet Sunday in the Andi-Cerda household. We’ve just finished lunch when I notice my host-dad Juan cutting up something brown outside. “It’s tobacco, we’re going to mix it with water,” Irene, my host-mom, explains. “Its part of our culture,” Juan interjects, “want to try?” Although I dont know what it...
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We’re Everywhere…
Lily Ellenberg
November 9, 2011
The last thing I expected was bagels. I never imagined the heaven of a brunch of Jewish comfort food. But indeed I had the opportunity, along with two other Jewish fellows, to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur with the Jewish community in Quito. To get into the synagogue we had to bring copies of...
Read More El Jugo De Kambic
Lily Ellenberg
October 18, 2011
The second week with my Napo host family has begun. My family consists of parents, Irene and Juan, and two younger siblings: one boy, Kambic, age nine, and one girl, Nina, age three. They are both rather adorable if I do say so myself. Kambic acted comfortably towards me from the first day, but I had...
Read MoreCuriosity and Discovery
Lily Ellenberg
July 28, 2011
Hello, my name is Lily Ellenberg. I have lived in Portland, Oregon my entire life (so far), and I just graduated from the Catlin Gabel School. I went to Catlin for fifteen years, the vast majority of my life thus far. Both my parents work at the school, and my little sister also attends. In...
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