Seasons

Fall is currently upon the United States and so as I scroll through my Facebook feed, I see lots of pictures of changing leaves, apple picking and people starting to bundle up.  In just a few short months those pictures will change to those of people frolicking in the snow and drinking hot chocolate.  In the course of a year, the temperature can fluctuate over 100 degrees Fahrenheit!  It's such a surreal thing because there are no true "seasons" here by U.S. standards.

There are some variations in temperature between the cooler season in June/July/August and the hot season in December/January/February.  But these temperatures don't really fluctuate all that much. Throughout the year, I go from sleeping under a sheet without a fan to sleeping on top of my sheet with my fan directly blasting on me on the top setting (or on the rare, extremely miserable night - actually running the A/C...assuming there is power, of course).  Right now things are starting to heat up quite a bit during the days but the nights have still been pretty comfortable and so I'm still only at fan setting #1.  I'd like to feel that I've acclimatized to Tanzanian heat, but I think it's honestly been a bit cooler this school year so far.  Knowing the magnitude of the heat that lies ahead is both good (I made it through once before!) and bad (It's not fun to have sweat rolling down your back for weeks on end!)

There are also some variations in precipitation.  During the true dry season, there is really no chance of rain for weeks and weeks.  That itself is kind of surreal to me, coming from a climate where it rains every few days (or if it doesn't - it's newsworthy!)  Even though everything is outside, no one makes a rain plan here.  Part of this is because for most of the year, it really won't rain, or if it does - it will be fast and furious and over pretty quickly.  Part of it is just a different attitude toward the rain. If it rains, you run under a tree (there aren't many thunderstorms here)...or you get wet.  It's not ever cold and you'll dry!

While home this summer we were really struck by the differences in the role that weather plays in daily life between here and there.  Here, I'll go many days without checking the forecast and I'm not really sure what the weather will bring.  There, most people were checking weather apps multiple times per day to see the Doppler radar and verify the percentage chance of precipitation on an hour-by-hour basis.  We were startled by the heart-stopping weather alert functions on phones to alert everyone to the possibility of flash flood or heat advisories.

It was also noteworthy that in the climate-controlled environment of the West, it's possible that you may not even notice the rain outside!  Here, with the tin roofs and downpours, it is always readily apparent.

I feel that these differences are due to both conditions and culture.  In Tanzania, there isn't a need for up-to-the-minute weather tracking because there's not all that much variation from day to day.  Will it be hot or beastly hot today?   Will the humidity be high or oppressively so?  Although there are a few sudden storms, it's not like the U.S. where dangerous squalls can pop up out of nowhere.

I think it's also due to culture.  Like I mentioned earlier, the weather just really isn't an issue in Tanzania.  It doesn't usually change people's plans and it's typically not even commented on (except by us Westerners).  I wonder if the U.S. obsession with the weather is due in part because it's one of the very few things in Western life which is unable to be controlled.  By predicting and tracking, we can try to keep it contained, but the reality is that we still don't have the technology to provide the kind of accuracy that people are looking for.  I can't tell you the number of times that the forecast called for a "0%" chance of rain, only to have showers pop up.

By contrast, here in Tanzania, where not much in life is able to be controlled, the weather is just one more item that whatever happens, will happen.  As with most everything in cross-cultural comparisons - neither of these attitudes are right or wrong....they are just different.