South Africa Day 3 (Sun July 28 2013)

Today we went to a South African church service. Almost the entire thing was in Zulu, so I couldn't understand most of the service. I could still feel God working through me, though. Everyone sang so loud and clear, and everyone could harmonize so well, even though they probably didn't have training. All in all, it was amazing. 


We also had lunch at Pastor Khumalo's house, which was fancy. I had plain rice with beef, carrots, and a chicken thigh. It tasted so good. They even had dessert made for us, and it was vanilla pudding with a wafer in it. And some bananas and orange jello. It was absolutely delicious! 

 
 Everyone after that got in the car (and did I mention that South Africans drive on the wrong side of the road like British people? It kept freaking me out 'cause I would forget...) and we drove to an area where there were old traditional buildings where Christians sought out refuge to escape persecution. We also saw some old South African huts, and I crawled into a few of them! I was fun until I realized there were hives of wasps in them... 

 
 Later we hiked up a short trail behind an old church that looked really cool in the inside. There was a raised pulpit inside the church, and there were little bits of stained glass in the windows.

 At the end of the trail we saw a large fort which the Christians used as a defense from their enemies. There was only one door, and there were two large open areas, the first section used to hold people, and the second section held animals. There also was a lookout where we got to see the area from a higher view point. God gave us a beautiful gift, sunset at the end of the day, and the effect was beautiful.

South Africa Day 2 (Sat July 27 2013)

Today we packed up our things again, and headed towards a lion park. There, we got to go inside a lion cub cage and pet the baby lions. One kept trying to bite Mrs. Klein's shoe, and it was hilarious to watch. We also got to feed a giraffe and ostrich.




After that, we went through a drive-through "camp" of lions where we saw some white ones. It was amazing to see those wild animals that God created so close up.

We also went to an Apartheid museum where we learned more about apartheid and what it meant to the blacks. This was the day where we finally got to the Del Rosa, where I want to sleep but have to write this...I think I'm done now, though...sleep!

South Africa Day 1 (Thu July 25 - Fri 26 2013)

 The flight to South Africa was long and tiring; not that we flew ourselves. We had a plane. It's because we didn't sleep and because we weren't used to the time difference. On the plane there were little personal TVs, and we watched some movies on those. We also read books on our iPads, too, and when we didn't want to do anything else, we would stare out the window. The time where you could still see the ground and be way up in the sky was breathtaking. 

On the flight from Washington, D.C., when we took off you could see tons of buildings glistening with silver sunlight (I couldn't find the White House or anything like that, though). When we arrived at the rest stop where we refueled (Dakar, Senegal), it was beautiful to see all the sparkling goldenrod lights and black silhouettes of the buildings at night. And, when we finally arrived in Jo'burg,the blue, yellow, and red lights looked amazing.

When we arrived, we quickly made our way to a hotel in a white van that we rented. Mrs. Klein drove, and I felt a little scared as we kept accelerating a little faster than expected. She was getting used to using the stick shift with the left hand. She isn't a bad driver; the car just didn't drive smoothly and the car kept stalling and spazzing out. 

When we reached the hotel, we had to wait while we rented our rooms. The hotel was huge: there were around 19 floors. The inside was very elegant, and the outside had a small fountain with lights, and later that day we found rubber ducks in it. Yes, rubber bathtub ducks. There was only one downside to this: Kayleigh got sick. She had to rest in bed while we had dinner at the hotel restaurant where we ordered cheeseburgers. Yes. Cheeseburgers at an elegant hotel restaurant in South Africa. After that, we went to the top floor where there was a pool that was freezing cold (according to Jodie, who put her hand in). There was also a gym. Finally, we went to our rooms on one of the topmost floors and got ready for bed, doing all the usual stuff we do to get ready for bed. I hope the next day Kayleigh feels better and I can find some sleep.