2011-07-28
Hello! I’m Jake. My story? Well, I was raised in California and spent the first 13 years of my life in the suburbs and Jewish Day School—the next four were spent in the same suburb and public high school. OK, that sounds pretty dull. There was definitely fun thrown in here and there. But, for...
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2011-08-30
Global Citizen Year is damn good looking. But when I met everyone for the first time when US training began, we were truly motley crew. At any given lunch table, I’d catch slang from the cornfields of Iowa, the mountains of New Hampshire, the swamps of Florida, and the hills of San Francisco. Initially, cultures...
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2011-09-23
I’ve adopted various nicknames in the past. They have included Blondie, Stretch, and Bird. But in Ecuador, it’s “El Supergringo”. I stand out here. I am very white, very 6 foot 2, and very Supergringo. I’m the only blonde no matter where I go. My Spanish accent is terrible, and my Spanish is worse. I...
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2011-12-30
Dear United States, Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve blogged. So here’s my attempt to make up for lost time: seven different 100-word slices of Ecuadorian life. 1. My new “hermanos”, or siblings, and the dog, took me exploring by the small river behind our house. I slipped on Vans and a sweater, and...
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“Let’s thank Jesus for coming into our house this Christmas. We’ve never been able to have Turkey before…” My mom chokes up. I feel the whole family’s eyes are all on me. Just smile and don’t look anywhere but at her. “And we also want to thank Jake, for coming to this poor house. Thank...
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2012-02-13
February marks my sixth month in Ecuador, and I still haven’t posted something about my work. I guess that’s been a little difficult to describe because I’ve bumped around doing three different things. But here’s one of them: Main apprenticeship: Jambi Huasi: Intercultural Health Center (October – April). I work Monday-Thursday: working at the receptionist...
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2012-05-21
Microfinance is a word. A very fancy word. And a word I feel most people don’t really understand (even when they claim to). I, for example, don’t understand it. I spent three months this year trying to learn about it. I made a video about it! So you should check it out! You can...
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