Fellow Stories
True gap year stories from Fellows abroad!
Check out the latest blogs from Global Citizen Year Fellows in Brazil, Ecuador, and India!
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Class Year
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Desole, I thought you were Senegalese!
Mathew Davis
2009-10-04
As everyone I have ever come into contact with knows I like to talk. I love to have discourse about things of substance. I know there are different forms of communication but it pains me to not be able to speak French or Wolof. I have so many questions. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy...
Read Moredancing barefoot, heading for a spin
Victoria Tran-Trinh
2009-10-04
So.. my plans to write more frequent blogposts didn’t come to fruition. Obviously. I had every intention to update my blog, but the U.S. Training Institute was such a constant whirlwind of activity. Any and all free time that we Fellows had was devoted to reflecting, talking and just catching our breaths. True, some of...
Read MoreNeighborhood Sortie
Alec Yeh
2009-10-04
I couldn’t sleep last night. The terror of not being able to communicate with the Senegalese, the fear of being alone, kept me up most of the night. I woke up at 2:30 in the morning and didn’t sleep the rest of the night. Perhaps it was the jet-lag. Who knows. But I couldn’t stop...
Read MoreA Smattering Of First Day Moments
Ananda Day
2009-10-03
October 3, 5pm. By the way, the theme song for this year’s GCY fellows was decidedly Cat Stevens’ Wild World. Sweet sweet song. Hmms. So a quick recap of the world as is, and has been for about a day. I got a red hard cover moleskin in the airport because I think I’ll run...
Read MoreFamiliar First Impressions
Gaya Morris
2009-10-03
(Here is a journal entry i wrote yesterday morning. The “quartier” we are in is in fact called “SICAP rue 10.” I am able to post this blog thanks to the amazing persistence of Ananda who managed to find a internet connection at about three feet off the ground in the doorway in between the...
Read MorePasteles y trajes de baño
Michael Wilson
2009-10-03
This morning I awoke gradually in utter darkness because there is no outside window in my hotel room. I woke thinking there was a frequently traversed railroad track behind the hotel, when in reality it was just cars on the cobblestone streets outside the hotel. Thus began a day of exciting exploration. We first went to...
Read MoreHappy Birthday To You…
Laura Keaton
2009-10-02
Today was our first day in Guatemala. Already I feel a warm spot in my heart opening up to embrace this place! I must admit though, that I was finally able to name the fear that has been lurking behind all the excitement and euphoria of the last 12 days, and that fear is the...
Read MoreThe Smell of Chinatown
Alec Yeh
2009-10-02
We arrived early this morning. When we landed, the condensation immediately collected on the windows. The plane said it was about 85 degrees outside. With the temperature combined with the humidity, I knew it was going to be awful. I began to sweat profusely the moment I stepped off the plane. It was disgusting. Yet...
Read MoreOooh Baby baby it’s a wild world.
Michael Wilson
2009-10-02
Oooh baby baby it’s a wild world. This famous Cat Stephens song, Wild World, unofficially became the GCY founding class theme song the other day after Marguerite requested it a million times over on every van ride. I don’t think any of us have been able to get it out of our heads yet. Seriously...
Read MoreA Speech!
Gaya Morris
2009-10-02
Here is a copy of the speech I wrote for the Global Citizen Year reception and “fellow send-off” in the Bay area, last Tuesday, September 29th. Despite some rather chilly weather and a power outage, spirits ran high and I felt so honored to have to chance to share some of my writing and some...
Read MoreWalking Away to Discover Something New
Alec Yeh
2009-10-02
I just finished packing for Senegal. I can’t believe it. In three hours, I will be at the airport, waiting for my flight to DC, then my flight to Senegal. In 24 hours, I will be in a different country, a different continent; across the Atlantic Ocean. I never actually thought this day would come,...
Read MoreI Can’t Believe I Wrote That.
Laura Keaton
2009-09-28
Today Tori Hogan was here at Ions leading a session on Media Training during which we discussed filming, photographing, and blogging about our experiences in the coming year. Tori asked who among us had prior experience in any of these arenas and it caused me to remember that in middle school I actually did have...
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