Swahili Time

Time is told differently here in Tanzania. Once you get the hang of it, the system makes a lot of sense. But it’s pretty darn confusing at first--as if we mzungus needed any more things to mix up!

The way time is told reflects how daily life is still quite driven by the hours of sunlight and darkness--much more so than for those of us living in the developed world where reliable electricity makes daylight less important, and nighttime less scary.

The Tanzanian day starts with the coming of the light. As Tanzania lies near the equator, this happens pretty much every day, throughout the year around what we call 7 AM. To the Tanzanians, our 7 AM is their 1 o’clock in the morning. Our 8 AM is their 2 o’clock in the morning and so on until our 7 PM, which is their 1 o’clock at night. (Talk about recipe for appointment disaster--”Please pick me up at 4 o'clock!” “Swahili time or mzungu time?”)

The day is divided into 4 parts:

Morning (our 7 AM til 12 noon)
Afternoon (our 12 noon til about 3:30 or 4 PM)
Evening (our 4 PM to 7 PM, or when it gets dark)
Night (our 7 PM until daylight comes)

The distinction between evening and nighttime is stressed because “We are afraid of the dark,” one of our Kiswahili teachers said. “It is in the dark hours that bad people do bad things.”

This wariness of night and darkness is something other Tanzanians we’ve had conversations with share, and makes us understand what a privilege it has been to have spent all our lives thus far living mostly unafraid of the dark. Nighttime, as we’ve been warned, can be lawless in so many parts of Africa, and many people still choose to be indoors by sunset.

Even in Mwanza, the second largest city in Tanzania, there are many neighborhoods that black out after sunset, with only the occasional wan lightbulb or small fire piercing through the darkness.

The sun-drivenness of life here does make for a generally shorter workday than back home. For most people, work starts usually around 7:30 or 8 AM but ends much earlier--4 PM or 5 PM at the latest and there are multiple tea breaks that also break up the workday.

As we keep learning (pole pole) about life, language and culture here, we are constantly reminded of what a privileged life it is that we lead. And we thank God for it--and continue to pray for opportunities to steward that privilege well.