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Livin’ the DReam!!

Trek Description

What better way to begin your business school experience than to visit one of the coolest tropical places in the world with some of the wildest students at Ross?

We promise to give you a trip to the Dominican Republic that blends adventure, fun, relaxation and a lot of partying! From canyoning and whitewater rafting to horseback riding and more, we will take advantage of the DR’s amazing coastline and beautiful lush “landscapes”.

We guarantee this trip will have you Livin’ the DReam!

Summary Information

Location	Dominican Republic
Overall Trip Rating	Moderate
Dates	August 11th through the 18th (8 days)
Cost	$1200 - $1400 (+ $600 DTW airfare estimate)
Gear	Beach Wear, Hiking Boots/Walking Shoes

For more detailed information about the trip and general island information from the outfitter, visit http://www.4tdomrep.com/mtrek2007.html

Day by Day Breakdown
	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6	Day 7	Day 8
Location	Santo Domingo	San Cristomal, Cabarete	Cabarete	Cabarete	Cabarete	Cabarete	Jarabacoa, Santo Domingo	Santo Domingo
Accommodations	Budget Motel/Lodge	Budget Motel/Lodge	Budget Motel/Lodge	Budget Motel/Lodge	Budget Motel/Lodge	Budget Motel/Lodge	Budget Motel/Lodge	None
Activity	Traveling	Cave Tour, Beach Bonfire	Horseback Riding, River Tubing	Beach Exploration	Canyoning	Catamaran Sail, Snorkeling	White-Water Rafting	Traveling
Rating	Relaxed	Moderately Active	Strenuous	Moderately Active	Strenuous	Moderately Active	Strenuous	Relaxed
Experience	None Required	None Required	None Required	None Required	Swimming	None Required	None Required	None Required
What do these activity ratings mean?

Trek Leader Bios

Caro”Line ‘Em Up and I’ll Drink’Em Down” Koskinas	Matt “Tank” McMurtry	Elaine “Miso” Horn	Kevin “Pinner” Dundek
I know what you are thinking, is Caroline always so serious?  We've tried to figure out where she gets her energy.  Caroline is the humble daughter of a rancher and came to Ross after a career in economic consulting and perfecting her skills at obscure drinking games in NYC.  When Caroline isn't studying, dreaming of being a rock star when she grows up, or playing on the MBA woman's ice hockey team, she may be attending a Rolling Stones concert (Six in the last year to be exact.  Yes, SIX.)  In the fall, when this Colby College (that's right, it's in Maine) graduate wasn't cruising the old folks homes looking for rock stars, Caroline spent her energies trying to bring Beer Die to Michigan.  Perhaps, if you're lucky, you can help her spread this mind breaking drinking game to the DR as well . . .	Tank first led in action when he escaped the womb only to instantly shot-gun a brisk natty-light.  While clearly not displaying much “leadership in thought” as a young tike, Tank revitalized himself and graduated with an engineering degree from Virginia Tech.  Prior to disrupting the peace at Ross, Tank was keeping the world safe through defense contracting in Washington, DC (sadly, “Tank” was not an upshot of his career, but rather a result of his dedication to follow in the footsteps of the great “Frank the Tank”).  After his dreams of being an underwater demolition expert were dashed, Tank decided to come to Ross and get in touch with the natural side of life by joining the ERB institute – don’t worry, we think we’ve cured him of his tree hugging rants!  Tank looks forward to helping you make your transition into the best two years of your life memorable (we’ll take pictures!).	Elaine “Miso” Horn was indeed a student athlete at Duke University in both softball and rugby (sadly she wasn’t a hooker…). The parties that she and her roommate Caroline (look two photos to the left) throw are crazy fun, but no one gets hurt unless they are really askin’ for it. When she’s not ruling the flip cup tables, Elaine likes to dream of ways to find work in the Bay Area (that’s San Francisco if you are an East Coaster). She has even considered using her MBA, plus her background in renewable energy, to come up with a sustainable way to make sourdough. According to her roommate, Elaine has a beautiful singing voice. Imagine if Gwen Stefani and that guy from Bush had a baby…. Wait they did! Could it possibly be Elaine, come to the DR to find out.	Pinner was spawned as the lovechild of Eddie Money and Tina Turner in a small suburb outside of Chicago.  Spending his childhood years wondering why his parents were so much tanner than him, Pinner distracted himself by engaging in books, sports and cabbage patch dolls (read: ladies, he’s a sensitive one!).  After his last cabbage patch doll head fell off, Pinner realized it was time to pursue another passion, quickly becoming the preeminent beer pong champion at Washington University while also managing to dominate the Chicago marathon.  As Pinner moves on to pursue an illustrious career in consulting, he continues to make his mark here at Ross by being one of the brightest in the class, not to supersede of course his “pinning” antics at Ricks!  Eager to follow in his father’s footsteps, Pinner promises to ensure you two tickets to paradise as you begin living the DReam!

Day 1 – The DReam Begins

This day will be devoted to traveling down to the DR (Santo Domingo). Once on the ground in this tropical paradise, we check into our hotel and get generally oriented for our adventure. We have a dinner planned at Zona Colonia and will be exploring all that the night life has to offer. Be ready to see some really sweet dancing... Pinner is the only person we know of who earned his nickname on the dance floor.

Day 2 – Playing with Fire

We begin with breakfast at the hotel followed by an exploration of the Yestermorrow anthropological caves, where we will be guided by experts of the caves (who said that cavemen were extinct?). Yestermorrow is considered one of the most important anthropological sites in the Caribbean (it’s said to be what the Pyramids of Giza are for Egypt!). We will then go to Caberete to check into our swanky beach front hotel. Later, we will enjoy (like it or not!) an exploration of the Yasica River, followed by a beach bonfire for dinner. After dinner we plan on chilling and really getting to know each other. Your job will be to find out which one of the leaders has been literally on fire more than once in their life.... First to answer correctly will get a prize

Day 3 – If you wanna go and take a ride with me

Have you ever wanted to get on a horse and ride through the mountain then tube down a beautiful mountain river? Well then day three is for you! After our riding, both horses and tubes, we will head to a beach bar for a nice dinner. If we are really lucky Caroline and Elaine will sing for us while Kevin does his best beat box impression.

Day 4 – What happens on the beach...

Today we take a day trip to Rio San Juan. This small fishing village and quiet tourist town is best known for its five beaches and the Gri Gri Lagoon with its towering labyrinth of mangrove trees. After a journey through the lagoon and along the Atlantic Coast, we have the opportunity to search out sea-life by snorkeling or scuba diving. Tank is a certified diver and looks forward to taking other certified divers diving! Our buffet lunch will be served on the sprawling and beautiful Playa Grande Beach. Finally, we will all take part in a cultural exchange – we will take meringue, bachata & salsa lessons and Tank will teach the locals how to shotgun.

Day 5 – Beware of “El Tigre”!

Today, we are going canyoning. What is canyoning? Well, it is basically like a challenge on Road Rules. We get to rappel down a water fall and jump off cliffs! Don't worry, we will be with professionals who will make sure we don't kill ourselves. This will finally be our chance to see if Elaine really was a professional cliff diver. Just to keep with the danger theme for the day, we will have dinner at El Tigre. For those of you that don’t habla espanol, El Tigre is spanish for THE TIGER!

Day 6 – Come Sail Away

Today we are going to take it easy. We will spend the day hanging out on a giant Catamaran. You can snorkel or sun bath or just sit back and enjoy the great views, fun Caribbean music, and a refreshing beverage. Rest up though, after dinner we plan on going out. This would be a good opportunity to ask Caroline to explain her love for old (and I mean OLD) rock stars. How many times can one person see Tom Petty in concert?

Day 7 – Tank Overboard!

We plan to go out with a bang or a splash. Today we will go whitewater rafting on the Yaque del Norte river (the longest river in the DR). It will be exciting tackling these Class III rapids with names like Mike Tyson and Mother-in-Law. Sadly, we will get a workout pulling Tank back in the raft. Later that day we will head back to Santo Domingo where we will go out in the capital city one last time to celebrate the end of our trip together, including dinner at Meson de la Cava, a cave where pirates and Buccaneers camped in preparation for their assault on Santo Domingo.

Day 8 – Where can I meet this Rick fella?

We will return from Santo Domingo to Ann Arbor for the start of RLP, football season, and two great years of living the dream!

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