Today was our last day at the batey. Our last day in the Dominican Republic.
I think the reason that this was such a new, moving experience was not just because of how we helped and what we did. It was because of the people we met. Whenever I have traveled in the past, it has been a planned schedule of buildings we will see on certain days. I’ve oohed and ahed at a lot of monuments and learned some history many times. This trip was different, though. I will remember Santiago not for its streets and its Monumento A Los Heroes, but for Lazarro, our awesome hotel manager who took the time to get to know us these past two weeks. The people already have made an imprint on my mind more than any building could, and I have never gotten to know a country this way before.
I think this is the better way to learn about a country. What is a historic building if there aren’t any people to keep the culture alive? I’ll remember Batey Libertad for all the laughter and singing I heard there, despite it all. This also makes it a lot harder on me, and the group, to leave. So many e-mail addresses have been exchanged, I don’t see how people will be able to keep up with them. In the end, it’s the people of the DR that I’m going to miss the most.
Isabel Vazquez
University Laboratory High School
Urbana, IL