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Fun fact, other concepts, Swahili time, measured from sunrise to sunset, examples that confuse, communication with locals, making clear what you're talking about, being late is normal and a little life hack
A really fun fact - and one I didn't understand until reading about in the Hello Tanzania Blog. It does make totally sense but at the same time it's so weird. I mean, there's a whole other concept of time somewhere on this world and I found out about it only when I got there! 😄
Swahili time is 6 hours different from world time!
Say what? Yes, exactly my reaction to that when I heard about it the first time. 😅
So basically in Swahili the time is measured from sunrise to sunset and sunset to sunrise. Most Swahili speaking countries are located on the equator and the times for sunrise and sunset are mostly identical for the whole year. Therefore their clock determines its time according to how many hours it's been since sunrise and sunset.
Let's make an example: 1 o'clock in the morning in Swahili time is 7.00am - basically one hour after sunrise. Same goes for 1 o'clock at night, which is the first hour after sunset so 7pm for us.
Yes, this definitely is stuff to be confused about and surely needs some getting used to it!
Also, communicating with locals and asking about a meeting time you usually need to specify if they're talking about Swahili time or English time. If someone speaks English, they are or should be aware that there is a difference between the two so you need to make clear which time you are talking about. Best if you confirm several times to really be sure. 🧐
At the same time I have to mention that it's totally normal for people to turn up late! Being late at least 30 minutes or more for a meeting or appointment is very common in Tanzania. This doesn't mean that they forgot about you though. 😁
A little hack that might help is setting the meeting time for at least 30 minutes earlier than you actually intend to meet the other person. This way the chance of them being on (our) time is slightly bigger. 😉
Sabbu ❤️
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