Greetings

One of the most readily apparent differences between Tanzanian and Western culture is the heavy emphasis placed on greeting one another here.  Coming from a somewhat-unfriendly area of America (NJ) I was definitely not prepared for this!  Back home, I might smile at a store clerk and occasionally give the non-greeting of "Hi, how are you?" (which may or may not have received a response), but I definitely would never inquire of their family or ask how their job was going.  Even to my friends, it was always a casual, "Hey!  What's up?"

Here in Tanzania, greetings are pretty essential.  My non-scientific analysis seems to show that 2 greetings is a good amount for most people.  Most of the time, this is fine, but if I'm feeling particularly task-oriented or introverted, I long for the days of the anonymous store transaction or the casual "Hi!" across the playground.

Tanzanians love their greetings and seem to have an infinite variety.  My gardener, in particular, is always trying out new ones on me which I then look up in my dictionary.  The good news is that for the vast majority of greetings, the correct response is "Nzuri" (good)....even when things are not nzuri.  You can also deviate into "safi," which literally means "clean."  That one always makes me laugh, because with all the dust and grime here, I don't think I can ever report than I am truly "safi."  Another option is to add "sana" (very) if you're really doing well.  Nzuri sana!  Safi sana!

Here are a few examples from the vast array of greetings.

Time-related greetings:
Habari za asubuhi (how's your morning?)
Habari za kuamka (how did you wake up?)
Habari za mchana  (how's your mid-day?)
Habari za jioni (how's your late afternoon?)
Habari za usiku (how's your evening?)
Habari za leo (how's your day?)

Note that "habari" actually means "news," and so a more literal translation would be "what's the news of your morning?"  However, since no actual news is ever given, just the "good" answer, I think that's a more accurate representation.  I find the mchana and jioni ones a bit tricky, as "mchana" is only technically from 12-4 and "jioni" is only from 4-7 pm...I realize this obsession with correctness is not very African, but what can you do?

Then there are more specific greetings:
Habari za nyumbani (how's it at home)?
Habari za kazi (how is your job)?
Unaendaleaje?  (how are you continuing?)

The tricky one for me is the category of "problem" greetings because in Swahili, the way to say negative things changes depending on the subject of the sentence:
Hujambo?  (you have no problems).  Response:  sijambo (I have no problems).  Again, even if you do have problems, you don't report on this.
But if the person asks about your kids, they would ask, "watoto hawajambo?" and the response would be "hawajambo" (they have no problems).

Finally, there are the one-word greetings (my favorites):
Salaama! (peace)  Response:  salaama
Mzima!  (everything)  Response:  mzima
Mambo (how are things?) Response:  poa (calm)
Shikamoo (to elders) Response:  marahaba

Most days I walk to school to pick up the kids and I pass a large contingent of Masaai on the hill.  Every day I try out a new greeting on them, so I'm remembering quite a nice variety these days.