Which One? #7

Which American Girl movie do like best?

Africa, Part 5: Victoria Falls

We had made it to Victoria Falls - the mile long stretching across, 400 feet tall, biggest waterfall in the world, one of the Seven Wonders of the World phenomenon! We were soaked instantly. Everything was lush and green - just like a rainforest minus the animals! The falls were amazing! I felt so refreshed after! :) I also took some photos of different flowers we saw - beautiful! :)

The falls

Rainbow!

The flowers were so pretty

Love this plant/type of flower!

Lovely!

Come back Sunday for the final part of my journey! :)

My birthday! :)

By the way, yesterday was my birthday! Happy 13th birthday to me! I invited Lissie, Julia, Kit, Jess, and Allison for a sleepover party! We had a blast! :)
~ Rosalyn*

Africa, Part 4: On the Road

We were now going to drive through Botswana and Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls and then head back down to South Africa. Along the way, we saw...

A river-side home

African women

The Zambezi River

The sunsets were beautiful!

Africa, Part 3: Chickens

Before we left Zambia, my family and I had to partake in something African women and girls have been doing forever. Buy a chicken, kill it, cook it. And thats exactly what we did. A woman named Foster went with us to the market where she chose three chicken. She then sawed the heads off. I couldn't look. The poor chickens were still moving even after they had died! She then pored hot water over them and we were instructed to pluck them. Not a single hair remaining. Let me say, it was very tedious work. And long! Six of us were plucking three chickens and that was hard enough, but Foster said that she and one other woman killed, plucked, and cooked eighteen chickens the other day! Wow! My poor brother, Will, who's a vegetarian, looked sick the entire time. It was definitely a unique experience. After we had plucked them, Foster took their insides out. Seeing a chicken's heart, stomach, liver, and intestines gave me a squeamish feeling that wouldn't leave. Then came the easy part - cooking them and eating them. Though, eating them was harder than I imagined. I'll never look at a chicken the same way again. I might even give up eating chickens. They were pretty tasty though.

Buying the chickens...

Waiting for their death sentence...

Cooking...

The finished product!

What's Happening This Week

Happy Sunday! :)
Tomorrow, my brothers are off to summer camp (for a whole week-yes!) and I start as a Junior Counselor at a day camp called Kruz Kidz at our church! And, Tuesday is my 13th birthday! Yeah! I can't wait. :) Tomorrow, I will post the third part of my adventure in Africa. You won't want to miss it! :)
~ Rosalyn*

Africa, Part 2: Zambia

We landed in Johannesburg, South Africa and drove 1-hour north to Pretoria, where our church's missionaries, Mr. and Mrs. Combrinck, lived. They trained pastors, worked with AIDS orphans by giving them food, clothing, fresh water, and by sending teams from the USA to play games, sing songs, and make crafts with them. That's what we were going to do. We flew up to Lusaka, Zambia (more flying!) and drove the rest of the way to Mansa. Africa is very different and took my breath away. We past by brick huts where the people lived, markets filled with food, animals, and trinkets, children playing in the streets with dirty, torn clothes, and women balancing baskets on their heads and carrying babies on their back. My heart swelled with compassion for these people who led such simple and hard lives.

Right next to the orphan center is the church Mr. Combrinck's friend started. The service goes twice as long, the music is very upbeat and loud, and my mom, brothers, and I had to sing a song for them! I was really nervous! Then, when church let out, we had to stand at the back of the church and shake everyone's hand! And there were a lot of hands to shake! But, in the end, it was fine.

I loved working with the orphan kids. They were so full of smiles and love for each other. We laughed constantly. The little girls braided my hair, the older boys followed and talked to me, and the older girls and I played games and made necklaces which we exchanged with each other. I wear mine all the time.

At the end of our stay, they put on a show for us. I will never forget them. Maybe someday I will go back to Mansa. Here are some photos of our time in Zambia. :)

Church

A brick hut on the side of the road

The kids - they were very happy to see us!

Working on a craft

They loved getting their picture taken!

Fiddling with Lisa's, who's staying with the kids for two weeks, hair.

The well our church built for them

Kids from a village we past on our way to Mansa

The kids dancing for us

The older girls singing for us

Which One? #6

Which Historical Character do you like best?

~ Addy ~

~ Josefina ~

~ Kaya ~

Africa, Part 1: England

We flew out Sunday, May 27, headed to England. That was a looooong flight - about 7 hours! We would spend the night and then go site seeing the next day. We got on a double-deckered tour bus and drove around London, seeing Big Ben strike 12:00 noon, Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, the London Eye, the Tower Bridge, river Thames, and more. :)

View from the tour bus

A statue

Big Ben

The Eye

Policeman

Telephone booth

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

A guard

Sun, Here We Come!

Happy (Official) First Day of Summer! :)

Africa Was AMAZING!

Hi everyone! It feels sooooo good to be back in my town, my house, and room. I do miss Africa already though, I had such a great time! I have sooooo many animal pictures that I will put on a separate page and then the rest of my story in parts on the front page. I have so much to tell you! :)
~ Rosalyn*
P.S. Wow! I get back and I see that I have 19 followers! Thank you sooooo much! :)