Tidbit for the Day

Image by Edgley Cesar via Flickr

After looking at the operating hours of an office here in Dar, I was completely confused when I saw 3:00 - 7:00. Then I found out that in Swahili, that means 9:00 to 1:00 PM. Why? You might well ask that.

In Swahili, time is represented by the rise of the sun which, being almost on top of the equator, is usually at 6 AM. So. Being pastoralists 3:00 is 9:00 because it is 6hours past the sunrise. Reverse for the afternoon - so 7:00 is 1:00 PM.

Thus endeth the lesson.