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Merle Nye

Merle is passionate about the natural world. He is involved in his school's environmental club, cross country team, and nordic ski team. His goals for the year are to learn an live in an initially unfamiliar community with a different way of life and learn about himself through this experience. His favorite quote is "I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center." - Kurt Vonnegut

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PDT video

Merle Nye

2017-03-30

A quick look into what PDT was like. [vc_video link=’https://youtu.be/vH4pGgNXN-4′]

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Dia de los Difuntos

Merle Nye

2017-03-30

Ecuador celebrates their Day of the Dead on the night of November 1st through the afternoon of the 2nd. In the days leading up to this celebration, you can find "guaguas de pan" and "colada mordada", the traditional food and drink for these festivities, on every street corner, in the school cafeteria, or in the...

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The Super Bowl in Cuenca

Merle Nye

2017-03-30

 I decided a fun bonding with my new host family, who is very interested in American culture, would be treating them to some hamburgers while watching the Super Bowl. As you might imagine, American football’s popularity here is comparable with that of watching rugby or Cricket in the United States. Still, I had confidence that...

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My Global Citizen Year Apprenticeship video

Merle Nye

2017-03-30

I recently put together some footage I had of my apprenticeship to give friends and family an idea of what my apprenticeship is here in Ecuador. [vc_video link=’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpAP9rHI0h0&t=57s’]

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Climate Change in Ecuador

Merle Nye

2016-12-19

Ask almost any member of the Illescas family about the effects of climate change in Ecuador and you are guaranteed an answer relating to water. A logical concern in a country more most rivers per square kilometer than anywhere in the world.   Living here, in El Valle, Ecuador, with the Illescas family, whose income...

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My apprenticeship

Merle Nye

2016-10-19

I’ve often talked with my mom, a high school teacher, about the seven fifty minute periods at her high school being crazy and wondered how she could be expected to keep track of grades for  two hundred plus kids, let alone remember their names. So far, my teaching schedule here has made that look like...

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