Swahili-time

There’s an ad for some drink (Malibu or something) and the gist of it is that wherever Malibu is made everyone is chilled out. And if everyone got stressed in this place (wherever the hell Malibu is made), it would never get made!!

Reminds me of Africa really! We waited for a bus one afternoon, to take us from the coast back to Arusha. As we stood on the side of the dusty road in the middle of nowhere, some men passed in a truck and offered us a lift. We said no thanks as we didn’t fancy traveling in the back of a ute with around ten other men crushed in. They told us the 4pm bus wasn’t coming today. We smiled, knowing they were just trying to con us to going with them (like, why??). The bus didn’t come! Fortunately there was another one a few hours later. We were lucky – neither of the buses came the following day!

Sometimes we summon a parent to the school to talk about a child. When they say they will come at 3pm, sometimes they aren’t just a late by a few hours – they come a few days late!

Which leads to another complication. In Tanzania (and indeed anywhere they speak Swahili), they have what’s called “Swahili time”. So basically the way it works is this:
At 6am, it’s known as 12am (so you to the opposite side of the clock). That means that at 9am, it’s 3 in Swahili time! So if you tell someone you will meet them at 9am, they will probably come at 3pm. Get it? I don’t really. But if you tell someone English time, you have a chance of meeting them at the right time. If they understand English or English time!

Why this is unique to Swahili speakers baffles me. This is Swahili time not African time (that’s just the concept of being late or things not happening when they’re meant to).

So don’t say I didn’t warn you if your cab turns up 6 hours late!