Not quite the same; not quite different

What I have had the most trouble coming to terms with here is that life in South Africa is not quite the same as life in the US, but it not quite different, either. Water is still water, college students are still college students, some people are nice, some people are rude, everybody has to eat, and everybody has to go to the bathroom. However, that doesn't mean all those things happen in the same way. Water isn't always accessed from a faucet inside the house (in rural areas), and even in the city, they have two faucets in most sinks-- one for hot, one for cold. Food is obviously different, people have different customs and phrases, and even pit toilets are not the same. Port-o-Johns are a luxury compared to the literal holes in the ground that they have in rural areas.

I think I've just realized that life is still life and people are still people, no matter where you go...it's all just in different packaging and with a different label.