2018-05-30
For my capstone project, I went back to an my choir group, that I was apart of through middle school and high school, to share my experiences and what I am doing now. It was a bit strange at first, walking into the room full of my old choir members, who I used to spend...
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2018-04-03
Gaby was my incredible spanish teacher. She works in the Amauta Spanish School. Although she is from Cuenca, instead of Sigsig I wanted to include her story here as well. —————————————————————————————————————- My father went to the United States when I was 3, in 1991. He went to Manhattan, while I stayed with my mother and...
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2018-04-03
Jose and Ivonne work in the gym that I would go to often during the week. Jose is an exercise instructor and Ivonne is the secretary for the gym. —————————————————————————————————————- Life in the United States wasn’t for me like it is for you. We were illegal immigrants — we couldn’t drive a car, go to...
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2018-04-03
Esteban Alexis Salinas Sanchez was my host brother. He is 13 years old, and is a student in the high school next to our house. —————————————————————————————————————- My dad moved to the United States when I was 4 months old, and my mother when I was two. They left me and my older sister here in...
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2018-04-03
I had the pleasure of having Nube as my host mom during my time here. I lived with her, her husband and two children. She does not work right now, instead caring for her two kids Lisseth, aged 17 and Esteban, aged 12, and her nephew Mathew, aged 2. ——————————————————————————————————————– I was 19 when I...
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2018-04-03
Maria Brito was my coworker at El Centro Gernontologico. We worked in an elderly home together in the center of Sigsig. ——————————————————————————————- . When I was 22, I decided to move to the United States. I had two children already, aged 4 and 5. I tried to get a visa, but they just told me...
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2018-04-03
Diego Calle works in the government offices of Sigsig. He is also one of the supervisors for my project, and will be putting the stories and photos of my interviewees in a gallery to hang in Sigsig. ———————————————————————————————- My father immigrated to the United States when I was 9 years old. He moved to New...
Read More2018-04-03
As a requirement for Global Citizen Year, all fellows must complete a Final Community Project. The purpose of this project is to give something back to the community that you have lived in for the past 7 months. When I first began to consider what I could do for my project, I was at...
Read More2018-03-19
One thing that has passed through my mind more than once throughout this year is: “What is the biggest challenge, the hardest part about this experience?”, and I think it’s safe to say my answer has changed through the course of my stay. In the beginning I would have said, without a doubt, the...
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2017-10-04
Ever since I stepped on that plane for Ecuador, I expected to go through some sort of culture shock. I think what I imagined was that in that first week or two, I would feel completely out of place and have my mind-blown by this new culture. I anticipated feeling completely foreign at first, but that...
Read More2017-09-28
I have now been in Ecuador for around 4 weeks, and a lot has happened. This post will more be about updates of what I've been doing the past few weeks, and in future posts I hope to dive deeper into specific events and how they have affected me. Quito was an amazing city. With...
Read More2017-08-24
My name is Natalia Fischl-Lanzoni, and I am 2 days away from embarking on my Global Citizen Year, which I will be spending in Ecuador! It's crazy to think that in just a few days, I will be leaving my home for 9 months and living in a place I've never been before, with people...
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