journey to the east

In the mid-2010 I was chosen by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture of Indonesia to participate in their program, called Arung Sejarah Bahari V. This is the annual program for students to know their national culture by visiting province and getting closer with the local people.
I went to Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) Province. This is one the provinces in the east of Indonesia. That was my first experience visiting this place. Before participating in this program, I thought NTT was not interesting, since the areas are full of steppes and very poor. The nature and weather in NTT is so dry. But now I changed. NTT is not always about steppes. It has also a really, really, amazing view. I went to Fuilain, an area in NTT which is located in Rote Island. Before arriving to Fiulain, we had to be on road from the port of Rote Island. On the road, around me, I saw many kids coming to school by walking about 10 kilos from their home, only bring a bottle of tuak (palm wine)! They only wore sandals. And they kept talking with friends, as if they didn't notice that it was already afternoon, and sun shone too much. When I came to Fiulain, I saw a 'heaven', a beach which is really beautiful. The water consist of three colours, light blue, blue, and little bit green. It was awesome! I can't imagine that people around this beach are just traditional fishermen, and even they can't speak Indonesian, the only speak local language. The most important, the kids, they didn't go to school, since the only school is too far from home. They help their family. It's very ironic. I live in the same country as them, but I can graduate from college, and even they can't read! They will spend their life as fishermen, because there's no facility to study.So I think this visit gave me new experience that I must be grateful with what I got. The kids there, they are still happy without education, and I, here, sometimes I blame the condition that can't make to get what I want.