45, 46

During my Portuguese lesson Ilídio revealed that tomorrow is his birthday. Based on his year of birth, he will turn 45 years old, mathematically speaking. Today he is 44. Yet he said tomorrow he will turn 46. Then we had a conversation to unpick our different ways of calculating age. In Mozambique, as in various other countries I’ve visited, it’s normal to give yourself the age that you will turn on your next birthday, as you have entered that year of your life. We don’t do it in the UK as (speaking for myself) the average Brit is much more anally retentive then the average Mozambican, and we couldn’t cope with the factual inaccuracy.

By that logic I’d already be telling people that I am 40. No. That can wait until next November.

The Mercado do Povo near my flat has had a recent paint job.