People are strange, when you're a stranger.

South Africa's greatest natural resource is without a doubt her people. Before the trip, nearly all the sites I read spoke highly of South African hospitality, and that was before the World Cup. Undoubtedly, many of the locals are riding a wave of national pride at the opportunity to host the World Cup and show off their country.

Everywhere we've been thus far the people have been mostly cheerful, talkative, and welcoming. Even those who have no direct benefit from the tourists are jovial and engaging. In the restrooms of Johannesburg airport, the man mopping up the floor would shout to new entrants, "Welcome to my office. Come in. Have a seat."

In some cases, like driving to stadiums, they would post three or four people on each corner to give directions to each crawling car, even though a sign probably would've been just as informative and allowed traffic to flow better. South Africa's high unemployment rates surely must've taken a dip this month.

Of course there are going to be exceptions. I read in a paper this morning that a police officer in Sandton near where we were staying, pulled over a minibus with six Americans in it, claiming it was overloaded. Now, I don't know how many seats a minibus has, but it sounds like it could accomodate six. Even my diesel beast of a minivan had 6 seats, and some of these small pickup trucks are loaded with locals stacked on each other in the back. The police officer offered the Americans the opportunity to "take care of the matter on the spot for a 4,000 Rand bribe (which is a few hundred U.S. dollars), but was talked down to 1,000 Rand. The Americans then went to the local police station to report him.

In general though, the people of South Africa are so outward and friendly that an introvert like myself is getting exhausted. One of the things I'm starting the miss about the United States is that people are apathetic and avoiding of each other. There are other things I miss too, like not having to think so much when I drive, my own bed, my gym, and of course The Blonde keeps saying how much she misses her dog. I also miss my mobile phone.