Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12MP |

I’m planning to buy a decent zoom lens and flash for my Canon Rebel XT soon but i don’t know where to start and what to look for. Obviously I’m still an amateur, so help would be appreciated. I’m looking for lenses probably not over 500$ as well. Thank you.
I currently have the kit lens, EFS 18-55mm.
I was thinking i could use a better flash since at night, it can never focus and it does that thing where it flashes repeatedly.

What lens do you have now?

What kinds of things do like to shoot?

Stick with a Canon dedicated flash unit.

I have seen some pictures of the Canon Rebel XT (digital) and am going to be borrowing one to use in about a week, and in the pictures, it shows a strip of something about a centimeter above the LCD screen… What is this for/what is it’s purpose?

It is the status display that shows general information about settings.