2018-06-07
Pink is the color of love. Past loves and new loves, soft love and hard loves. All of which I experienced in these 8 months. Side note/interesting fact: My mom calls these flowers Hoa Giấy or “paper flowers.” These flowers are abundant on the coast of Ecuador, and reminded me of my home country and of my...
Read More2017-12-16
Say yes more! Carpe diem! Sometimes you end up on a pleasant walk, sometimes you end up at your nephew’s Baptism (severely underdressed). My host brother Freddy, his wife Andrea, and their bootiful children Nico and Andy 🙂 Laugh. You don’t have to get the joke (and they probably know you don’t get...
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2017-12-08
This blog post is a little about two things I already knew intersecting to create a new lesson. Serendipity and Obama. Serendipity is a fortunate happenstance. I like to think of it as when you find a dollar on the street. Something good happens to you by chance, without you putting the effort...
Read More2017-11-10
In response to Ivan Illich’s address to CIASP in 1968, titled “To Hell with Good Intentions," a speech made to a group of volunteers about to embark on a service trip to Mexico. He basically tells them they are not wanted, that they are insulting the host country they are trying to help, and could...
Read More2017-10-09
I forgot to mention some logistical things when updating my blog posts..so here you go 🙂 We started with 50 Ecuador fellows at Stanford. Our cohort of 50 was split into the Northern Hub and Southern Hub. I am in the South. In the Southern Hub, there are three groups of 10 each. My...
Read More2017-09-29
I don’t write much anymore, which would normally be a red flag but not this time. I’m trying other outlets of expression and art. Bear with me. [vc_video link=’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_k5yhCiRwQ&feature=youtu.be’] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_k5yhCiRwQ&feature=youtu.be
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2017-09-11
“No comprehendo.” “No hablo espanol bien.” “Estudio espanol” And silence. Smiles. Smirks? An abundance of shame. The car ride to my host family’s home was unbearable. The welcome to my Quito home was an overestimation of my social skills. Those had expired the moment I set foot away from my cohort. I was loitering in...
Read More2017-08-23
Yup. That’s me. You’re probably wondering how I got there. So for the purposes of this initial blog, let’s start in the beginning. The beginning of senior year that is. It was October, I had just received my rejection from Quest Bridge as a Finalist (which was, at least then, life ending). So the plan...
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