'I'm only 23,' my friend replies, while we are drinking champagne, struggling with the amount of candles on the cake at her birthday party tonight at Slipway.
'But how old are you for real?' 'one of the guests repeats the question.
'I'm only 23,' my friend repeats.
'But how old are you?,' the guest turns to me and asks.
'I'm one year younger,' I say. Which is true. I happen to know my friend's real age.
The deal here is that you always state your age younger. It is just not a question of vanity. Partly maybe. However, here the age for retirement is relatively low compared to Europe, so many Tanzanians lie themselves younger in order to keep up employment.
'And that's why I won't say my real age,' my friend explains. 'Because then they will add on to that, assuming I'm much, much older.'
Champagne on an ordinary Tuesday surely makes me feel younger.
