jgbrandt's blog

Finding Time for Election Coverage

jgbrandt — Fri, 3 Oct 2008 11:19:17 -0500

My first month in Ecuador has been filled with news and talk about the important election that took place last Sunday for a revised constitution. Because I've been thinking and dealing with all things Ecuadorian, I haven't had much time to focus on the upcoming election back home in the United...

Strange Vibes in a New City

jgbrandt — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 19:51:26 -0500

What is it to truly be immersed in a culture? You're not something special, just another person. After a few days in Cuenca, I'm starting to feel that just being a gringo isn't really that big of a deal. You're just another person. Take for instance, the way no one seems to care about including me in...

Arrival in Cuenca

jgbrandt — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:56:01 -0500

I am now writing from the city of Cuenca, which is sort of in the southern part of the Ecuadorian Andes. Last night was a fun last hoorah in Quito with the group of volunteers. We had dinner at a Cuban restaurant and then danced Salsa and slowly filed out as the night went on in groups of 2 or 3....

Almost Time to Move On

jgbrandt — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 23:14:25 -0500

It's hard to believe that it's almost time to leave Quito. Tomorrow is my last day in the capital city, and without exaggeration, the three weeks or so here have flown by. I've survived a bus hijacking and learned to live (at least very minimally) in a developing country. I'll be leaving very early...

A Busy Week

jgbrandt — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 22:24:39 -0500

Enough has happened in the last week to write several blogs, but since there isn't enough time and probably not enough interest to read through it all, this is just going to be a recap of what's been keeping me occupied in Quito these last few days. Continuing with the practice teaching, lectures,...

A Slice of Life in Quito

jgbrandt — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:26:05 -0500

A walk through of a typical day in Quito:

You hear the roosters crowing or roostering, whatever it is that roosters do. It's still dark out, and you look over at your clock and see that it's 1 a.m. That doesn't even make sense. What in the hell is the rooster doing up so early? Quito is probably the...

Still Here

jgbrandt — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:59:03 -0500

Since the bus incident on Friday night, a lot has been going on. We actually made it back in time to get to the soccer game on Saturday afternoon, and it was a great way to forget about what had happened the night before. On Sunday I finally got through to my parents, which was probably the hardest...

The Great Bus Heist

jgbrandt — Sat, 6 Sep 2008 21:09:15 -0500

The first blog post I put up when I got to Ecuador was titled, "Alive and Well," and let me reiterate, I'm still alive and for the most part well. Though what you're about to read might seem like fiction or some elaborate farce, it is absolutely the truth. I couldn't make this stuff up.

Bryce, Katherine,...

The First Few Days In a New Country

jgbrandt — Wed, 3 Sep 2008 19:25:44 -0500

After long days of travel and getting adjusted in Quito, we met our host families on Saturday night. Along with two other volunteers, Bryce and Craig, I was picked up by Miguel, Marcia, and their son David. It's a big family with two sons, a daughter and son-in-law who have a 1 year old baby,...

Alive and Well in Quito

jgbrandt — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 16:19:40 -0500

This is just going to be a short post, as I don´t have much time at the Internet cafe. I am now in Quito, alive and well. and though I´ve been battling fatigue and the rigors of travel, I am here and safe with the rest of the WorldTeach volunteers. It´s a good group, and though orientation will be...

Last Train Out of Prague

jgbrandt — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:17:02 -0500

There was a little gravel path for pedestrians, and behind it were little patches of well kept grass and large bushes with some sort of pink flowers. Though there was a chain to prevent people from going on the grass, as well as a sign in Czech saying the same, we started straight for the green....

Machala, Machala

jgbrandt — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:38:54 -0500

After months of waiting and desperate anticipation, I finally found out last night where I'll be living and teaching in Ecuador. The first month will be spent in Quito for orientation, but after that initial phase, I'll be moving south to the small city of Machala. The city has a population of...

Saturday in Boston

jgbrandt — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:09:17 -0500

I only live about a half hour from Boston and a half hour from Providence, really the perfect distance to pick and choose where and when I want to go into the city to do something. But 30 minutes is relatively far away. First I have to drive to either the Commuter Rail station in town, or to the...

The Itch to Travel

jgbrandt — Tue, 3 Jun 2008 21:40:15 -0500

It's hard to believe, but this month marks the 4th anniversary since I really started to travel. I'd been on a bunch of family vacations before and throughout my childhood, but it wasn't until I backpacked through Europe with my sister that I really started to get the travel bug.

My sister and I were...

The Different Sides of Massachusetts

jgbrandt — Tue, 3 Jun 2008 13:03:50 -0500

On Saturday I went to my friend Paul's graduation party in Leicester, which is next to Worcester. For whatever reason, Massachusetts seems to be split into different communities and areas, almost like mini-states. Separately, they could be their own little states, but they all come together to...

The Strike That Failed

jgbrandt — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:32:16 -0500

Sitting in class one day, we suddenly heard loud noise coming from outside. Banging on garbage cans, screaming, and air horns disrupted the entire university. The teachers had expected this, and my Spanish professor, Penelope, told us it was "una huelga." After trying to figure out what she was talking...

The First Press Trip

jgbrandt — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:46:48 -0500

Today I was reading Laura Kammermeier's article on Matador about surviving your first press trip, and I couldn't help but think of my own first (and only, so far) press trip. It's a smart and interesting article that really examines the kind of emotions and challenges you have to face on a press trip....

Crashing at James Joyce's House

jgbrandt — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:17:47 -0500

We were sitting in some small, off-the-beaten path coffee shop in the back alleys of this city that didn't care much for the morning after. The place smelled like over-cooked sausages and greasy egg Mcmuffins, but who were we to complain? After all, we smelled like last night, the night before...

Where Are We Really From?

jgbrandt — Mon, 7 Apr 2008 00:56:00 -0500

Last semester I tutored/peer assisted with a new grad student to UMass. The student, Yiming Li, had just arrived from China and didn't have very strong conversational English skills. Since I was already thinking about teaching English abroad, I thought this would be a great experience. The experience...

Some Shameless Self-Promotion

jgbrandt — Tue, 1 Apr 2008 16:08:48 -0500

At the risk of shamelessly plugging my own article, I wanted to share a couple of paragraphs from the article I recently had published for GoNOMAD. Let me know what you think, because I'm really much more interested in improving the writing than getting a few hits on the article.

We all waited...

Un Techo para mi Pais: Uruguay

jgbrandt — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:47:24 -0500

Well the trip is over now. I got back into JFK International Airport at 5:30 am and was back in Amherst by 11 am. Uruguay was awesome. I've never participated in a trip like this before. Usually my traveling is done in a selfish and vain sort of way. I go to the places that I've always heard about...

Rambling Thoughts in Uruguay

jgbrandt — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:11:28 -0500

Here I am in my hotel room in Montevideo, Uruguay, with a rare few spare moments to get some thoughts down on paper (well, electronic paper of sorts). I came into Uruguay on Monday morning after a ten hour flight from which I got almost no sleep. I took a sleeping pill, and as a result, was a...

All iPods Go To Heaven

jgbrandt — Mon, 3 Mar 2008 23:13:06 -0600

I suppose this is a sort of obituary for my iPod. Last week my iPod was stolen, and needless to say, I feel a loss that can best be described in the first few primal responses that come to mind. Shock, anger, frustration, sadness, and numbness are the emotions that came to me after I realized my...

On Traveling Alone

jgbrandt — Sat, 1 Mar 2008 15:29:47 -0600

Traveling in groups can be a great way to see a new place. Not only do you have the security of being with guides and other people your age, but you can have people to eat and drink with, as well as pass the time with. If you're traveling with one or two other people, you tend to rely on those...

Hostels: A Love/Hate Relationship

jgbrandt — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:43:06 -0600

For young travelers backpacking throughout the world, often the cheapest place to stay is in a Youth Hostel. A hostel is kind of like a hotel, except it's filled with other young backpackers, you share rooms and sleep in uncomfortable bunk beds, and they can offer you a range of activities to...

Skydiving in Switzerland

jgbrandt — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:14:29 -0600

One of the coolest and craziest things I've ever done was skydiving in Interlaken, Switzerland last May. This decision to jump out of an airplane didn't come overnight. It was the result of a gradual increase, through baby steps, in becoming more adventurous and daring. The truth is, I don't even...

The Tourist

jgbrandt — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 20:26:48 -0600

One of my favorite bands, Radiohead, has an old song that really speaks volumes to those of us who love to travel. I'm talking about "The Tourist," off of OK Computer. The song, which comes off as a slow melodic tune, has a much deeper meaning than the lyrics might offer. Thom Yorke sings about tourists...

Travel Without Leaving Home

jgbrandt — Mon, 4 Feb 2008 21:28:40 -0600

The nice thing about music is that sometimes it can bring up memories you didn't even know you had. Things you'd either long ago forgotten or just haven't had time in your busy life to think about can suddenly spring into your head, fresh as day, the second you turn on your iPod. Maybe those...

A Wet Day in Normandy

jgbrandt — Sat, 2 Feb 2008 12:12:53 -0600

Being a history major and huge World War II buff, when I visited France, the first thing I had to do was go to Normandy for the day. I was going to spend 7 days in Paris, and it was the end of my experience of living in Europe. I was saving the best for last. I met up with a guy named Brooks from...

Riding the Bus in Bratislava

jgbrandt — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:03:16 -0600

Cheap flights--they'll be the death of me. I suppose I have to thank Ryanair. They really know how to reel in the students. Our spring break was coming to an end, and we needed a way back to Sevilla from Vienna. Most flights were so expensive it wasn't even worth thinking about it. Taking trains would...