20 Fun Facts About My Life in Cape Town

I have been in Cape Town for one whole month. As with most things in life, I came in with a lot of presuppositions about what my experience might be like. Some of them have been accurate, some blown out of the proverbial water, but no matter how ignorant or educated I might have been on January 23rd, I can honestly say that I have a few fun facts under my belt that were not there before (a few extra kgs there too. I mean it's inevitable with all the sugar I'm drinking in my 4+ cups of tea a day). I would like to take this time to enlighten you, my few and faithful readers:

Things I have learned...
1. Rondebosch is an area of Cape Town and the place where I and the the University of Cape Town dwell.
2. UCT is about a 25 minute walk from my house, and one making this journey via main road will pass about 15 restaurants/bars, 3-7 beggars/homeless people, 5+ suspiciously aimless characters, 4 self-proclaimed car watchmen, a mini mall, an Anglican and Methodist church, a Pick N Pay, and Jacob Zuma's house.
3. South Africa has not yet embraced the 21st century when it comes to bandwidth.
4. In spite of fact #4, the Chinese teenage boy community still manages to pride themselves on their DOTA skillz.
5. The neighbors' baby has some serious pipes.
6. If you go to a braai, you should allot more time than you would for your stateside barbecue and should likely bring your own meat and maybe a sleeping bag (just in case).
7. "Shame," "hey," "Cheers," "is it,?" and "hectic" are indispensable parts of the Cape Townian vocabulary.
8. Safety is a constant priority, but one has little real control over it.
9. "Necklacing" is not a fashion statement.
10. South Africans are just as uncomfortable with Zuma's polygamy as the rest of the world.
11. The beach is beautiful, but the water is cold and the wind can be brutal.
12. 1 in 4 (need to check this statistic) people in Cape Town are HIV positive. To help combat this problem, free condoms have been placed in toilets all around the city and campus for your personal convenience.
13. Hot Chocolate is not just for wintertime.
14. Bar Ones and Nik Naks are where it's at.
15. Students are not adults and thus, should not expect to be treated as such.
16. Most things do not happen on time, but it's chill, bru.
17. Teachers have no shame in calling individuals out in front of the other 200 students in the class.
18. Southern friendliness translates into getting hit on by creepy, middle-aged men.
19. As an American, you can expect to have all kinds of conclusions formed about you before you even open your mouth.
20. There is a bird that sounds like a possessed goat and frequents our neighborhood in the wee hours of the morn.

I hope these fun facts help illustrate the context of my current 5-month stay. Happy reading!