7 years younger

What nobody told me when I first came to Ethiopia but what you definitely need to know for surviving! Here´s the story: 

There is this lovely swimming pool I Addis where I went to do some exercise. After a while I asked somebody outside the water: “What time is it, Sir?” to check whether I had completed my hour of swimming. 

I knew it must be something between 2pm and 4pm. He replied: “10 o´clock”. “Whaaat?” sure that I misheard. Again, he said 10 o´clock. What the hell. I am not stupid. With all respect, there is still daylight outside! Angrily I turned away.

***

Two days later I found that Ethiopia has a different time system:-D They have only a 12-hours clock and their clock face is ordered in a different way. See the photo above! It is exactly the opposite to our system. If we have 3pm they have 6pm.

Plus: In addition to the Ethiopian clock system they have another time feature what confuses many travellers. Ethiopia is based on the Coptic calendar, which has its roots in ancient Egypt. That means, the Ethiopian calendar is seven years ´behind´ our Gregorian calendar and that you are 7 years younger here.