CAS Live In Tasikmalaya

On December 20-21, 2010, grade 11 and 12 from Sekolah Pelita Harapan went to do the CAS Live In program in Tasikmalaya. It took 4 hours to do the journey from the school to the village. When we arrived, we needed to ride pick-up cars in order to go into the village through the narrow roads. We arrived around midday, and we were brought to the house we are going to stay. In this house, I ate lunch with my friends that are going to do the work in the tea leaf plantation. The house's owner is also the owner of the tea plantation. He was very welcoming, and we ate our lunch that was prepared by his wife. My group consisted of 4 people. After the lunch, we went to the tea plantation, around 50 meter away from the house. We were taught about the tea leaves, which leaf is best to be picked and which needs to be picked later on. 

After that, we went back to the house to take a bath. Actually, this house is not my real live in house, because I was there only to get ready for the tea plantation group. My real house's owner was the 'kapol' (balsam) man. I stayed there with 2 of my friends, Elka and Yves, and also Ms. Hana. At 6 o'clock, after taking a bath, we ate our dinner and get ready to entertain at the village's school. 

My job were to serve food and sang Indonesian songs, such as Laskar Pelangi, Sempurna, and Bendera. After singing, our EO brought an Indonesian CD also called Laskar Pelangi, about a boy from a village, who became successful in the big city (Jakarta). At around 10, the activity ended. I also cleaned up the classroom before we left. 

The next day, after breakfast, I went to the tea plantation again. Then, I went back to the house of the red sugar man (gula merah) and tried it. It was sweet but delicious. After taking photo of all the students in front of the school, we went to the water fall. It took 15 minutes to walk through the tea plantation, on the narrow, steep and slippery road (and small river) to the water fall. But the view was very beautiful. I stayed only for 5 minutes and return to the tea plantation to have lunch. After lunch, we went back to take a bath and went home at midday. 

This is an unforgettable experience, that i got to live in a place that i did not imagine i will be able to live in. The view was incredible. The food were delicious, but most importantly, the people were very welcoming and solid, as they lived together in a village. Thus, I learned the importance of being able to try new things and be able to go beyond my limit (taking risk) in the tea plantation, as I do not like doing outdoor activities.