lessons learned

I've just about made it through my first week of classes at UKZN and my second week in South Africa. I really can't believe it's been just that short amount of time. It seems I've done and learned so much already. 

A list of eleven (mostly not so serious) things I've learned from South Africa thus far:

1. Patience is not a virtue, it is an absolute necessity if you wish to avoid going clinically insane. You need something done quickly? Time to talk for a few hours. It's lunch time? Nothing is going to get done for the next hour so you might as well sit down and eat something yourself. It's almost two-thirty? It's still probably lunch time. It's four? Everything is closed. Try again tomorrow. 
2. A good conversation trumps everything. See item 1.
3. Pedestrians do not have the right-of-way. There are no designated crosswalks. You're on your own. Also, if you happen to be American, remember the cars are coming from the opposite direction you would expect. Real live Frogger! 
4. Cabs are taxis and taxis are minibuses and minibuses are... well, nothing. If you're feeling lucky or like the rush of gambling, take a taxi. If you enjoy a level of certainty in your life (me), take a cab.
5. Copyright laws are fuzzy. I actually do not know the details of this, but I just received a bound book full of photocopied texts for each of my classes. As a poor college student, I am all for copyright anarchy. As a (possible) future starving writer, I am a bit concerned.
6. Ketchup is not a universal concept. Here, they have tomato sauce. Essentially the same thing, but sometimes it tastes like grape jelly. (You think I'm kidding.)
7. South African soda cans have heavier bottoms. This observation might sound ridiculous, but you would notice the same thing if you had your head tipped all the way back almost falling out of your seat trying to get to the illusory remainder of your drink. 
8. KFC=McDonald's. Colonel Sanders is creepin' everywhere. 
9. Granola bars are not available in packs, but are sold individually like candy bars. This hypothesis has not been thoroughly tested, but I found this to be true in two separate and unique grocery stores. Also, granola goes incognito under the name muesli.
10. Ordering lemonade will result in drinking Sprite. Upon preliminary questioning, it seems that real lemonade does not actually exist here under any alternative name. Further investigations will follow. 
11. Mango juice is readily available and unbelievably delicious. Forget lemonade. 

(I'm beginning to realize that my posts tend to digress towards food + drink. That's just a realization, not an apology.)

Here's to many more adventures and lessons to come! I'm ready!