My 11th Birthday Party on Ice

Having fun with my friends was inevitable as, for some, it was a first, and for some, it just another great experience of skating on the cold, hard ice. One of my friends, Zindzi is a figure-skater and has practiced speed and figure skating for three years, but in a race, I nearly beat her!!

Our first guest to arrive was Inge. While we were putting on our ice skates, Kabelo arrived. Slowly but steadily, all my ten friends arrived. We skated around the jam packed ice rink. When any of us got a bit tired or tempted by the goodies on the blue and white themed table, we crashed on to it, to grab a bite.  When our savoury waffles from Milky Lane arrived, me and Zi-Yi both tried a salsa and jalapeño waffle. On the first bite, I was unlucky to bite into a jalapeño while Zi-Yi bit into a place without a jalapeño slice. After having said that it wasn’t that spicy, she took another bite, and this time, she ate a jalapeño slice! We both reached for our drinks and glugged them down.

Me, Zi-Yi and Zindzi got told off twice for making a chain of three people, but Zi-Yi needed a bit of help, so since me and Zindzi were around, we held hands with her and took her around the rink. 

When we cut the cake, our candles’ flames matched the colour of the candle! I was the first person to have those candles on my cake, so all of my friends thought it was wonderful. The cake was a fluffy fresh cream cake with vanilla sponge and a hidden strawberry jam centre. So hidden, in fact, we only found out when we all had a second slice at home.

Sometimes, in the ice rink, they turn most of the lights off and put on coloured spotlights. That happened twice during my party!

I fell twice on my right knee and once on my left knee, but I only have a bruise on my left knee!

I had a wonderful time and my friends were VERY thoughtful with their presents and I am thankful to them for coming and helping make my birthday a BLAST !

A memory of the days of drought

This is the truth, Mioli this is your destiny, and only you can save the Tribe from it....’”

The words echoed through Mioli’s head, waking her from her nightmare that had featured her Tribe perishing from a terrible drought.... Her head clouded with worry as she remembered, that had been no dream, just a review of the last few days’ events. Her Tribe had really suffered a great drought and not only she, but many of the Tribe’s members had gone through at least 3 days without a single half glass of water. Her mother, Spimawe and her father, Dodiliwe had both died when she was very young and she only had one memory: a small, torn picture of Mioli and her parents playing in the river near their home. She took out the picture from its hiding place. It seemed to be crying out, “these moments will never come back!”

 Just then, a flash of lightning sounded through the air, BOOOM!!!!!!! A menacing presence flowed through every hut in the Tribe, including Mioli’s and seemed to reach out into her darkest dreams and into her deepest secrets and wishes... a voice crackled through her head, “ People of the Tribe of Dust, this drought will only end when Miloi kills the Amakhi lion with her bare hands! Like a snake you must strike. This is your only chance, otherwise your Tribe will perish.....”

The presence receeded with the speed of a lightning bolt.

All eyes were on Mioli as the leader of her Tribe, Agico, came up to her and put a shaking hand on her shoulder. His eyes were full of fear as he spoke, “Mioli, did you hear the voice of our ancestors? All children,” as he spoke, his voice became louder and more determined, “have learnt that, in any case, the words of our ancestors are not to be ignored. Mioli,” he said, turning to her, “your destiny, thus laid down by our ancestors, is to kill the Amakhi lion, and so, you must do so! But,” he sighed, “you cannot attempt this alone,so I must send Casiko and Mikosi with you.” Casiko, he best friend, looked excited when Agico announced so, but Mikosi, a boy the same age as Mioli and Casiko but much more quiet, looked surprised and nodded with grim determince.

They set out the next day, each loaded with a ‘carrier’, a basket of food and a sword. They had’nt been traveling long when the lion leaped out of the bushes.

It raised its head and, instead of roaring, said, “Welcome. Ancestors of you spoke to me. Said I, the Amakhi lion, must die. Said I to them, ‘I was waiting for you to come and say so. I allow the chosen one to kill. But only if I am accepted into your ranks as Tribe’s ancestors.’ They agree, and you may kill me.” Stepping towards Mioli, he held out his neck. Mioli picked up her sword and cut the lion’s neck.

Suddenly, while the trio were staring at the lion’s body, lightning flashed and rain poured down.

The ancestor’s wish was appeased and rain graced the skies again.

Warrior Cats : Into The Wild by Erin Hunter

Fire alone will save the clan

ThunderClan is in danger….

With WindClan being driven out by the treacherous ShadowClan and RiverClan giving hunting rights to ShadowClan in their river, Bluestar, leader of ThunderClan and the rest of her Clan stand alone against the impending attack of ShadowClan. Indifferent to the hostility emanating from the four Clans, Rusty the house cat dreams of living wild, free of his collar and his housefolk (owners) only to be woken up by the rattling of food in his bowl.

The next day, Rusty decides to do what no other house cat has ever done before- venture into the forest. While he creeps up upon a mouse, a grey kitten attacks him. After tussling for a while, the mysterious kitten introduces himself as Greypaw, who was an apprentice for ThunderClan, out on his very first night out as an apprentice. Suddenly, the leader of ThunderClan leaps out of the bushes with one of ThunderClan’s most senior warriors, Lionheart. They had been watching Rusty fight with Greypaw, and were impressed since a cat of the forest would have beaten up any ordinary housecat, but Rusty managed to hold his own.

 Bluestar and Lionheart agreed to let Rusty join ThunderClan and become an apprentice with Greypaw. Rusty agrees to join and Lionheart meets him near to his home the next day to take him to the camp.

Just after Rusty arrives, a young apprentice runs wildly into the camp, claiming the Clan’s deputy, Redtail, to be dead. Lionheart is appointed by Bluestar to take up Redtail’s old post of the Clan’s deputy.

Rusty becomes Firepaw, Bluestar’s apprentice. Greypaw ensures Firepaw that becoming their leader’s apprentice is a great honour and he must not take any notice of some of the cats in the Clan, such as Longtail, who call him a “kittypet’ (a housecat.

Greypaw’s and Firepaw’s training goes well, and they are chosed to accompany Bluestar to the sacred Moonstone to share dreams with StarClan (depicted as the stars by cats who have died in a Clan), taking Firepaw, Greypaw, Tigerclaw, and Ravenpaw(another apprentice and a friend of Firepaw and Greypaw) with them.

Thereafter, many events take place, and also flowing with the changes happening around them, Firepaw and Greystripe are given their full warrior status and become Fireheart and Greystripe.  

But all is not well in the clan…… Fireheart has a lingering suspicion is that one of the senior warriors of his clan, Tigerclaw, is not as loyal as he seems……..

           

This book leaves a lasting impression of loyalty, faith and most importantly, the urge to believe that persistent gut feeling that is mostly ignored, but more than often, turns out to have been the right decision or choice at that point of time.

If you like the storyline so far but are reluctant to buy the book, full versions of selected titles of this series are available in pdf format on www.freebookspot.com  

This is one of those series that will remain one of my favorites for a long time, until some other author decides to write a book that I agree with.

Shooting Kabul

by N.H. Senzai

Fadi blames himself for losing his little sister, Mariam, who was lost while Fadi, his mom Zafoona, his dad Habib, his elder sister Noor and Mariam were trying to escape the unrest in Afghanistan, which was their homeland and the place where they were born, and then seek asylum in the United States.

 Mariam is lucky enough to have possession of a small Barbie doll, named Gulmina. Any toys that depicted human figures were banned by the Taliban because they were considered sacrilegious. Books were also banned, so that’s why people would buy and sell them on the black market. Fadi only had one book, called ‘From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.’

While trying to board the army green truck that would take them to Peshawar, a city on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, his little sister, Mariam got lost.  Fadi’s father had paid human traffickers twenty thousand U.S dollars, which was the family’s entire savings to get them into the adjacent country of Pakistan. Before Fadi could safely take Mariam to the truck, the Taliban arrived, and in that rush, poor Mariam got left behind. Later, all his family except Mariam were safe in the U.S. But Fadi never really fitted in his new school, only making a few friends. But then, along with the devastating news of 9/11, came the misjudged wrath of two American boys upon Fadi and a few other Afghani boys....

For me, this book was appealing because it showed and proved to me that not just the families of the people that were in the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre were affected but also the lives of many prejudiced refugees around the world escaping the Taliban but at the same time, being mistaken FOR the Taliban or al-Qaeda and framed as terrorists liable for all the terrorist attacks around the world.

It also made me realize how losing someone close to can feel, and the sense of guilt that one may feel.

It was a page-turning, exhilarating book that made me never want to stop reading. Definately a re-readable book in my view.

Camp Nelu

Camp Nelu has all that the new Grade 5’s in my class and the other classes could EVER want in a camp!

When we got to camp, we got out of the buses, took our bags and rushed to the lapa to meet our counsellors and find out which cabin we were in. I had diverse feelings about this camp. On one hand, I was happy to be away from school for three days at least, if not a week, while on the other hand, last year’s camp not being too good, I was a bit hesitant of this camp.....

But when we saw the cabins, the pool and the counsellors all my fears and suspicions were washed away with the fresh, crispy wind blowing gently in our direction.

Straight after that the counsellors introduced themselves to us as ‘Cupcake’ ‘Biscuit’, ‘Chomp’, ‘Mama Gigi’, ‘Peanut Butter’, ‘Nick Knack’ and ‘Dukes’. All of us knew that those weren’t their real names but we went along with it anyway. After the introductions, we divided into groups of 16 for our cabins. In our group there was Kiasha, Kika, Caitlyn, Gabriella, Tashmika, Eva, Alex, Taryn, Zindzi, Reuben, Masego, Mimi, Ashwarya, Neha, Priya, and..... ME, of course!! We were in the ‘rhino cabin’. We explored the cabins, claimed bunk beds, unpacked our sleeping bags and pillows and generally settled into the cabin which was our home for the next three days.

A bit later, a bell sounded and we ran to the lapa, hoping we were going to eat, but noooo we were getting divided into groups and then doing the activities that we did in our groups. I was in group 1 with Talya, Dylan, Babtiste, Gabriella, two Naledi’s, Misty, Fabian, Kate, Jabu, Moi and a few others. Mama Gigi was our group leader (yay cause she’s really nice). After meeting our group leaders and staying with our group for a while, we finally got to eat and fill our hungry stomachs with hot dogs and juice. Oh boy! the food at Camp Nelu is scrumptious!  Mama Gigi told us we could have seconds.

Later, we went to our cabins and put on sunscreen and our caps because it was time for our activities as a group. Our group went straight for the Discovery Hike in which we literally were BOILED, ROASTED and FRIED on the hot summer sun! Anyway, we got to scratch our names in rocks on the hike. It was kind of fun, I guess.... After the hike we went to do this seriously hard obstacle course called ‘Mission Impossible’ ,named after the new movie. The course’s name sums it up- ‘Mission Impossible’ it is..... I think it took us nearly an hour to finish it, THAT’S how hard it is. Another few minutes later, we ZIPLINED over the dam which is strapping ourselves into a harness with a hook attached to it and then attaching the hook to a strong cord that is stretched between a tree and a platform in a tree we then jump across the line. IT IS SO FUN!!! You get this adrenaline rush when you jump off and open your eyes and see the water rushing up to meet you.....

At night, we were learnt some songs. Here are two-

‘Baaaaby Shark, doododdodddododdo

Baby shark dododddddodododoo

Baby shark ddododododo

Baby shark.

Daaaaaddy shark dododddddodododoo

Daddy shark dododododododododo

Daddy shark dododddddodododoo

Daddy shark

Graaaaandma shark dododddddodododoo

Grandma shark dododododooodoooooddodoodod

Grandma shark dodododdooododoo

Grandma shark

(the song goes on for giant shark, whale shark, psycho shark, swimming, shark attack, where’s my arm, where’s my leg, found my leg and found my arm)’

The other one:

‘Peeeeaaaaanuuut  peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

First you take the bread and you cut it, you cut it

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you take the jam and you spread it, you spread it

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you take the butter and you plonk it, you plonk it

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you take the peanuts and you crush them, you crush them

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you take the peanuts and you sprinkle them, you sprinkle them

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you take the sandwich and you eat it, you eat it

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you take your belly and you rub it, you rub it

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you go to the toilet and you waste it, you waste it

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you take the paper and you wipe it, you wipe it

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you take the toilet and you flush it, you flush it

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam’

The first song’s called ‘Baby Shark’ and the second’s ‘Peanut Butter and Jam’ There were more songs we learnt, but those are the only ones I remember....  

That night, we first played these funny games in the lapa before going to sleep. What it exactly was, it was like ‘A minute to win it’ that show on TV, except we were competing for points, not cash. The games were funny and kind of average in the ‘difficulty’ area. We played lots of games but I found this one the most interesting - we were in pairs, and one of the Naledi’s was my partner and we had these two pencils each, all the four pencils tied to two strings. We picked up two of the pencils, placed another pencil on the middle of the strings and tried to put the pencil into a cup. That was easy enough but we only got one pencil in and that didn’t count. That was the only annoying part of the games.

That night, all the girls in our cabin didn’t sleep, like last time, but this time, no one could sleep. It was no one’s fault, but it was frustrating and annoying. I managed only about four hours of sleep.

After been woken up by Tashmika, (none of us were happy about THAT) we dressed and went to the lapa for morning exercises, breakfast and the morning activities. Long story short- fun exercises, yummy breakfast then we had our morning activities, which for us were the challenges and the low ropes. First up were the challenges- they were mostly games and logic games as well. 

There were three games but here’s the best one-the game was an entertaining logic game in which there was a half-circle of chairs. All the girls sat on one half of the half circle, and the boys sat on the other chairs, leaving only one chair empty in the middle. The objective was to get all the girls to where the boys were currently sitting and vice versa by moving one girl or boy to the empty seat. It was hard, but finally Reuben cracked it.

After a tiny break, we went to do the low ropes which was another, easier obstacle course in which we had to climb these taut cords stretched between trees and small logs..... but it WAS kind of hard since it was extremely easy to fall off. In the end, we all (luckily) finished it.

That evening it started to rain when only two people had started (and finished) the rock climbing so we had to abandon the activity and sprint to the lapa as fast as we could because there was already lightning in the sky.

At the lapa, we made a huge circle with our chairs and Biscuit called out things like “If you are wearing pink socks, find a different seat!” and anyone with pink socks on had to get a different seat. We played that game until it was time for dinner. 

After dinner, we all went straight to sleep. That night we slept wonderfully the whole night!!

The next day, straight after breakfast, we finished doing the rock climbing that we left off the day before. I got to go after the other Naledi in my group. Rock climbing ROCKS but is hard since you need to pull and push yourself up this nearly five meter wall with only Mama Gigi pulling you up.

When we were nearly going to go, we did archery with Chomp. It was fun but I only got one arrow in the target.It was challenging.

After we left Camp Nelu , we drove to Spur for lunch before going back to school and home again !

AND THAT WAS MY (AWESOME) CAMP NELU EXPERIENCE

http://www.campnelu.org/

My Kindle's First Impression

When my holidays started, I had mixed emotions. I was happy to be out of school for a month but... dread filled me when I thought of the bi annual cleaning out of my cupboards. My cupboards get so messed up in school days, it’s necessary to clean them at least two times a year. While doing my last clean up for the year, I was amazed by the astonishing collection of books I had amassed over the years. When I showed my mom my literally overflowing cupboards of books, we were both thinking the same thing- if we buy even more books to satisfy our thirst for knowledge and reading, our cupboards will burst!! It was a moment of inspiration when my mom said “What about one of those e-readers?” Then and there started our search for a good e-reader that would delay, and hopefully stop the impending problem of the books.

The search went on for shorter than one might think, the reason being there is only a diminutive selection of the e-readers available on the market anyway. We went through customer review to customer review on various sites and finally decided that the Kindle would be our best bet so far. When we found out that the Kindle was only selling on Amazon, we were first dismayed for Amazon only delivers in the US and nowhere else. But our spirits were lifted when we found out that Amazon was doing international shipping on the Kindle e-reader now!

And then we ordered the Kindle and luckily it was a very quick delivery.

It’s been a month now and we’re still satisfied. We’re still of the opinion that it was a good decision. It’s actually a good thing that I have my books on the light-weight Kindle, because one of my books has at LEAST 700 pages- no lie! It is so much of a relief to not have to lug a big, fat book around now! I used to think some of my books as ‘cuddly’ when I was much younger but I’ve outgrown that stage now. The screen of the Kindle isn’t in colour but it doesn’t matter now since all my books are black-and-white.

I remember when, not so long ago, I used to use pieces of tissue,ribbon, sweetie wrappers,pieces of rope etc. for  bookmarks while now I can make a bookmark at the touch of a button.I can change the font size at my pleasure.

Even though the screen is small and I cant cuddle up with it, its still a cute little thing!