Lots of candy but little coffee

Today we got to sleep in a bit because our flight didn't leave until 3pm. Some of the girls got up early and went swimming in the ocean; they reported the water was significantly warmer here in Durban than it was in Port Elizabeth.

We left about noon and headed to the airport on our way to Port Elizabeth. We have gotten so accustomed to the airports around here that the airport employees now recognise us, and we have had several repeat flight attendants on our flights. The girls love this candy store called Cosmic Candy, which is located in all the South African airports. At home we don't have the same candy that they do here. It is odd to see so many different candy bars made by Cadbury, as we usually only see Cadbury candy at Easter time in the US.

I'm definitely glad we are coming back to Durban in just a few days, because that means that we get to leave a lot of our luggage at our hotel and we don't have to lug it all to Port Elizabeth, as we will only be here less than 48 hours. This is great for the several serial over-packers of the group (including me). We have about 170 pounds of baggage each. Gimme a break: seven weeks is long time away from home. You never know what you might end up needing!

It's also very, very odd that all the retail stores in PE close at, like, 5pm! At home, most stores don't close until 9 or so, and Wal-Mart and Target stay open 24 hours most of the time. Jeanna Lee and I needed some hair products, more tights, some nail polish etc, and when we got to the mall at 5:15, all the stores were closed except Edgars - and there we had to hurry and get all of our shopping done in 45 minutes.

I'm getting very frustrated that neither India nor South Africa believes in large takeaway cups with secure lids for coffee to-go - the next best alternative to Starbucks. Most places just have these itty bitty cups, with lids that don't really fit, and so I end up with this tiny pint-size coffee that isn't nearly big enough to support my habit, and on top of that, about half of it ends up spilling before I can drink it! Very annoying.

Some girls walked down to the boardwalk, a cute shopping and restaurant area, and had dinner there tonight after we practised for a bit here at the hotel.