Typical Day in South Africa

Now that I am getting into kind of a "routine" here with school, rowing and a social life there is starting to be some "normalcy" in my days here in South Africa.  "Normal" here is NOT anywhere near what it is in the United States though.
First off, it gets light out here really, really early.  Like 4:30-5am early!  I attended a rowing practice the other day at 5:30, and the sun was already out, beating down on me hot as ever, as usual.  So, when we go to bed at night we are sure to close ALL of the curtains super tight, so that the sun wont wake us up.  Its also ALWAYS windy here.  Some days, more than others obviously, but there is always, always wind.  Sometimes so much of it that it will wake you up at night, or keep you up when you are trying to go to bed.  Some nights I honestly think my flat wont be standing by morning.
On a typical day, I get up at about 9am, lounge around for a little bit, (unless I have class of course) eat some breakfast and get ready for the day.  At home, my typical breakfast would be a bowl of cereal, but here, no.  Milk spoils here way too fast to even make it worth buying, and it also dosent taste very good, in my opinion at least, so to my greatest disappointment, I cant have my usual bowl of cereal here.  (This is one thing I greatly look forward to when I get home!)  Instead, my new kick on breakfast instead of Peanut Butter Captain Crunch, is bread with Nutella or a banana with crunchy peanut butter and Nutella.  Clearly I have replaced my cereal obsession with Nutella!  Then, eaither I go to class, or, lay by the pool or go to the beach.  Before I came to South Africa, I used to really hate the beach.  I hated the salt water, the idea of what lived in the ocean beneath my feet, and I especially hated getting beat to death by the ocean waves.  Now however, (and I cant believe I'm saying this!) I have grown to really like the ocean.  I still have my reservations about going out too deep, because shark attacks and drownings are a very real thing here, but I have learned how to handle it.  Salt water doesn't bug me as much anymore, and I have cleverly realized that ocean waves "break" at a certain point in the water every time, so go past that point to swim, and then there is no longer huge waves tearing you apart!
Another thing that is typical on any day here is taking a Kombii.  This is one is the most interesting experiences here in South Africa.  A Kombii is kind of like a taxi, but to the extreme.  A Kombii is a mini-bus that fits about 15 people, drives like a crazy person, plays extremly loud music, (usually some Celion Dion or other heart felt 90's music) and brings you from point A to point B for 8 Rand.  (Less than 1 American Dollar)  On Kombiis you meet pretty interesting people, locals to PE who are always nice, sometimes some sketchy people, because lets be honest, its cheap, public transportation, and my favorite, older ladies who are super nice to you and tell you interesting stories.  Kombiis are a great way to see the typical South African person, hear typical South African music, and get to know how they really drive here.
On a typical day, I also find myself saying "Well, this is Africa.."  As in, "Ohh, the internet is down again? Well, this is Africa."  Even tho locals, when we talk to them and tell them how unorganized something is, or how our professor swears more in class than any thing, they too tell us "This is Africa!"  I have gotten so used to things going wrong, things being weird, things not working out, that if something DID work out the first time or I didnt have to run all over campus simply to get my student I.D card, I think I would be shocked.  At the end of the day, through it all, you just sigh and say, "Well, this is Africa."
What I see on an every day basis is also different.  Here are some of the random places and things I see in a normal day here in PE:

The school.  The tall building you see, is what they call "the main building."  I can see this building from my flat, a little over a mile away, at Annies Cove.  There is obviously much more to the campus, so from an areal view, it look like this:

What I find most interesting about the campus here is that, if you can tell by the picture, what looks like the tops of the buildings, it is actually where people walk the most on campus.  Its hard to explain, but the building obviously have a "roof" but then on top of that, is where every one walks from place to place.  At St. Cloud everything is on one level, and in order to go to one of your classes, you enter a building, and go up to your class.  Here it is different.  You go up to the top to find the entrance to whatever building you want, and more often than not, you are usually going down to find your classroom.  Its a strange concept.
On a typical day I also see these places: 
     
  
Obviously you recognize KFC, but the others are Spar, Pick N Pay, Wimpy and Steers.  Spar and Pick N Pay are the two main grocery stores here in PE.  Wimpy is a fast food chain you see EVERYWHERE.  It has pretty good food, like wraps and burgers for cheap.  Steers would have to be my favorite.  They have amazing ice cream cones, good burgers and AMAZING fries.  Its all really reasonable too.
Here are some more pictures of what campus looks like:
 This is kind of what "Atwood Mall" would be but South Africa's version.  There are a few restaurants, and this is mainly where every one hangs out during the day.
 This is a view from the top of all the building, where people walk, right outside the International Office.  That stairway leads to two of the biggest buildings on campus that house the dental and botany classes.
 This is a view from near the place I compared to Atwood Mall.  This is also where people hang out during the day, but be careful, dont eat outside!  Monkeys are scary.
 They look cute, but take it from me, their not.

Also different from home, are the days people go out here.  Instead of Thursday, Friday, Saturday being party days, its normal here go to out Tuesday for karaoke at Barneys Tavern, or Captians. People also go out on Thursdays, to a dance club called Beliza.
  Barney's.
  Captain's.