Differences in culture

It’s all very different out in rural Tanzania to the main cities, and even more different to Western culture. Greetings are very formal and must be adhered to properly to avoid sounding rude. For example, you say Hujambo/Mambo/Shikamoo to a person (child/similar age or lower class/elder or important figure) which all roughly mean “hello, how are you?” and have to respond to them accordingly. You follow up Mambo with Poa, Shikamoo with Marahaba and Habari (another “How are you today?) with Nzuri… unless of course you are not fine.

The word for thank you, Ahsante, is used frequently but please is not. Not even amongst the Tanzania volunteers (although this may be the translation from Swahili to English)

Generally here the sun rises at 6.30am and sets at 6.30pm. And unlike in the UK, when it sets it SETS. The sky doesn’t stay a light grey blue for an hour or two after, it drops. It’s literally a dark, inky blue within 15 minutes of the sun going down. You have to plan your time to get home otherwise be prepared with a torch in your bag, or risk walking home down the road in complete darkness. It leaves the sky ready for the stars to come out straight away, which is good for me because I get to gaze at the Southern Cross again :)

The writers of the guide books don’t describe time here as ‘African Time’ for nothing. You have to put your food order into a place at least an hour and a half before you want it, and even then you wait around. People work on the whole “pole pole” (chill/ take your time/ gently) system of doing things, which generally means they take their sweet time. This is something I have had to SERIOUSLY adjust to, for everything. Asking for a spoon may take 15 minutes, asking to meet someone at a specific time means to generally add 2 hours. Everything here is so relaxed that no one seems to have any sense of urgency. This is great, although I worry how we will cope with only 3 weeks to create a whole new library space!