Experience to The Palm River (Sungai Enau)

Last semester holiday, precisely on June 27 to 30, 2013, we, as the Young
Catholics of the St.Yosep Pemangkat parish were invited to join a meeting of the
Young Catholics of Pemangkat Parish in The Palm River, Tebas. On June 27, around 9
a.m. we all gathered in the rectory. There were ten Young Catholics altogether, one of
our coach, and a priest going there.
About half an hour later, the truck that would take us there arrived in front of
the rectory. The weather was pretty hot on that day and the sun was shining with
intense heat. The truck had no roof, so you can imagine how hot it was. To avoid the
scorching heat of the sun to our heads, we used the newspaper as a head covering. We
reached Tebas at around 10:30 and then we turned right to the path toward our
destination, The Palm River.
During the trip there, the view was incredibly beautiful and scenic. Well, I know that
I rarely go to such a countryside where the atmosphere is so natural, with trees
growing magnificently, beautiful green grass and rice fields in sight. At about a half
past twelve we reached the destination. We directly headed to the place where we
would stay at the home one of the residents there called Mr. Johan. The home owner
was very friendly upon welcoming our arrival and we were invited in and we stored
our luggage.
There atmosphere there was a far cry from Pemangkat. The stream water was
so crystal clear and flowing fast incessantly, the trees were growing magnificently that
the air there was cool and fresh, the pigs and dogs were left to roam in search of food.
The Dayak people made up of almost the entire communities there and there were
some Chinese people as well. During our stay there, we had a lot of very interesting
activities. The activities were such as yelling competitions, sport competitions
(volleyball, tug of war and football), scripture reading competition, and so on. We
conducted these activities in a specific house, more like a house on stilts, called The
Longhouse (Rumah Betang), except for the sport events where we conducted them on
the field in front of the Longhouse.
We participated well in the events. I myself participated in the game of volleyball, tug
of war, and the scripture reading competition. Praise the Lord, for we won the tug of
war competition and I won the scripture reading competition, not bad as the second
winner for the tug of war competition and the first winner for scripture reading
competition. I met a lot of Young Catholics friends from other parishes there.
Our activities on the last day started with the Mass, then the distribution of prizes for
the winners, followed by the delivery of the message and impression we had there
during the activities as well as the election of the chairman for the Young Catholics of
Saint Joseph Pemangkat parish , in which at that time I was a candidate as well, but
the elected one was Brother Joko from Begatuk parish. After that we gathered again at
the home of Mr. Johan, and a farewell event followed shortly thereafter and after that
we went back again to Pemangkat. During the activities there, I met a lot of friends
and also got a lot of friends and a lot of experience, so when I got home it was hard
for me to adjust myself because there were no longer my friends, I miss the
atmosphere there and some friends back there. Until now I still keep in touch with
them either through facebook or texting them via my mobile phone. Its a very
wonderful and unforgettable experience for me.