"There was never a good war, or a bad peace." -Benjamin Franklin

This past weekend, we went on an excursion! With our history and culture class, we went to visit some of the battlefields of South Africa. Over the weekend, we went to three battlefield: The Battle of Isandlwana, The Battle of Rorke's Drift, and Battle of Blood River. The Battle of Isandlwana (1879-the pictures of the big hill and the picture of the white rock piles) was when 1,300 English soldiers invaded Zulu land and was defeated by 22,000 Zulu warriors.
The English did not return to collect the bodies for a few months after the defeat due to fear, and therefore the bodies were left. The piles of white rocks are where many people died.
The Battle of Rorke's Drift (immediately following The Battle of Isandlwana) was where 3-4 thousand Zulu warriors attacked a hospital with about 150 British in it. No one really knows what happened exactly during this battle, but the English were attributed a victory. In 1838, 10-15 thousand Zulu attacked an unexpecting 470 Voortrekkers at the Battle of Blood River. The Voortrekkers put all of their wagons in a circle and defeated the Zulu without any losses to the Voortrekkers. We stayed at this cute little bed and breakfast which some of the officers of these battles stayed at back in the 1900s. This was a very relaxing weekend without internet or homework, but rich in good talks, great food, and fun times.
I had my last clinical at the hospice center and Thursday I began at another site where we do home visits to people in the community. It is such a blessing to be able to serve these people and share the Lord with them!
Wednesday was probably one of the most fun days so far on this trip. We went to the Indian Ocean! It was so warm and beautiful and, of course, I LOVE the ocean, so this was just a fantastic day. It could not have been a more perfect beach day!
I have not talked much about it, but obviously I am in school too! Many of my hours are spent participating in discussions about ethical decisions that need to be made regarding nursing and medicine in general. And lots of homework - but I am learning a lot!!
This was definitely a week of deepening relationships and my eyes were opened to new ways that I can love on and support this community! Excited for next week!!