Author: Giovanni Ortiz

Giovanni Ortiz is a 21-year-old journalism major headed into her senior year at Stony Brook University. She is from Queens, New York and enjoys having long walks with her three dogs. Currently the social media manager of The Stony Brook Independent, she likes social commentary, figuring out origin stories and knowing why the caged bird sings. She is the middle daughter of three girls who grew up telling ghost stories under a sheet in their living room floor. She now plans on getting her Master’s degree in English and traveling more. She decided to go on this trip to Ecuador, not only to learn and write about the Sápara, but to also connect with another culture and lifestyle. There, she met a group of people who welcomed her into their home and treated her like family. She walked the Amazon Rainforest, drank fresh water from a vine and fought off a monkey trying to take a sock off of her foot. This was one of her greatest experiences and hopes to return one day and see the young kids she once played with older and happier than ever.