Life in the Bateyes with Rustic Pathways

The Life in the Bateyes trip in the Dominican Republic was my first experience with Rustic. I went alone in the hopes of meeting some new people, as recommended by Rustic itself. We had 13 people, a group of 4, 2 groups of 2 (one of the groups of 2 knew the girls in the group of 4) and 5 people who came by themselves. With so many sub groups, it made it difficult to bond as a group as well as talk and connect with individuals. One of our trip leaders actually complained about it numerous times (not to us of course). Our base house was amazing! It was a NGO that worked to provide documentation to undocumented immigrants as well as legal representation for laborers. Meeting the nuns and learning what they do was extremely enlightening. The building itself was very nice and was beyond what I could have hoped for (minus warm water though it was so hot it didn't really matter). The service work was my favorite part. At some points though I didn't always feel that we were making an impact. All the work that we did though was sustainable which assisted in making us all feel like we were making a lasting difference on the bateye of Monte Coca. The packing list was pretty accurate for this trip. I did tend to wear more pants (blue jeans, capris, cargo pants) but I wasn't quite as effected by the heat as some of my fellow group members. Our trip leader were very conscientious of our health and always made sure that we drank lots of water and checked in with students to make sure that we didn't get any of the common illnesses that foreigners tend of get in the Dominican. When I got a splitter from a shell in the water on beach day, Angelica (one of the trip leaders) immediately put antibiotics on it and took out the piece that was lodged in my foot. Rustic is also very conscious of the many ways it can leave a minimal impact of the environment. Our base house was powered by solar energy and all the food that we ate was grown on the property. On our last few days in country we stayed at what is called an ecolodge, which is a whole mini resort if you will that has zero impact. Energy from solar panels, food from property, recycled rain water for sinks, toilets, etc. All in all I would recommend this trip to any high schooler as a way to practice some Spanish, learn about a different culture, and make a positive impact on someone life.