Chapter 714 Yilinga
After five days of travel, the train finally stopped at Yiringa City. Almost every time it reached a station, the train had to stop to replenish supplies. Yilinga City is also a big station, so it will The stop lasts a little longer.
As Wells’ hometown, he also wants to meet his family here.
Stepping out of the carriage, Wells felt a little hesitant. First of all, there was a strange station building. It was two stories high and built with red bricks. It was no different from Europe. When Wells left Iringa City, At that time, there were only a few small houses and a simple wooden station sign, and there was no platform at all.
Stepping on the platform made of cement and masonry, looking at the station building in front of me, this is not the "Iringa City Railway Station" in Wells' memory.
"What's the matter, Wells?" Mary hugged her son and asked, seeing her husband looking a little at a loss.
Wells stabilized his mood and said: "Maybe it's because of the shyness of being close to home, and the station in Iringa City is very different from what I remember, so my mood is a bit complicated."
Ai Delis: "Mr. Wells, this station should have just been built three or four years ago. Although I often use the Central Railway Line, I don't remember the construction time of each station clearly, but there used to be many stations in East Africa. The conditions of the station are very poor, so it is understandable that there is a big gap between it and your memory.”
“Yes, the Iringa City Railway Station was not so luxurious at that time, and the entrance to the station was all in use. It was surrounded by a simple fence, surrounded by mud and grass, and the train stopped on the railway. It was very difficult to get on the train. You had to move the boxes to the car first, and then climb up by pulling on the door frame." Wells recalled. road.
He stamped his foot on the ground, "Nowadays, concrete countertops are used. There is only a small gap in the middle when you get out of the car door. If you put the pedal, you can walk from the car evenly."
As he spoke, he pointed to the corridor of the station: "There used to be only four small rooms here, and I remember there was also a warehouse. Now they are gone and turned into a grand waiting hall. Are passengers and goods even separated now?"
"The freight station has been moved. You should have seen it when we passed through Dodoma City before. Now it is separated by branch roads. This can greatly improve efficiency. I think there should be such a branch road not far ahead. Freight terminal,” Edlis explained.
In the past, there were very few trains in East Africa, and most of the trains had a mix of passengers and freight. The special passenger train that Wells and his party are taking now was not common in the past.
“If even a small, unknown city in East Africa like Iringa can be built so well, then other cities in East Africa should be good,” Wells said.
"Actually, Iringa City is not a small city in East Africa! After all, the entire railway line, from Dodoma to Mbeya City, Iringa City is considered a larger city." Ai Delis said.
The development of East African cities is unbalanced, especially those cities with national key development or obvious location advantages. Of course, apart from these factors, in general, eastern cities are stronger than other regions, mainly because they were developed early.
"The question is who will pick you up now?"
Wells has been away from his hometown for so many years, and it is impossible for Wells to run home with such a lot of luggage, mainly because his home is in In the village, not in the urban area of Iringa City, so the distance is far.
“The government has notified your family, but the train is not a very punctual means of transportation. We may have to wait here. If not, we will have to go to the post station in the postal system to survive. It's night," Edlis said.
Trains in East Africa are not guaranteed to be on time, which is common in this era. However, unless there is an emergency, such as a severe natural disaster, the error will generally not exceed six hours, and Wells The group's trip went smoothly, so they shouldn't be too late.
Wells raised his watch and looked at the time and said: "Our train arrived an hour early. Could it be that they picked us up according to the normal schedule?"
Adliss: " I'll ask the staff first, should you wait here, come with me, or go back to the carriage first?"
"Mr. Edlis, thank you for your kindness, but I still want to do it. Wait here!" Wells said.
He doesn’t want to be separated from his family because of his mistake, so it doesn’t matter if he waits here for a while. Seeing this, Edlis had no choice but to find a place to rest by himself. He would definitely not be willing to accompany him on the platform.
"Wells, it's quite sunny here, so I'll take Wiggins to the carriage first!" Mary said.
"Well, let's go first!" Wells said.
Although the current Iringa Railway Station has changed a lot, it is still an open-air station without a shed to protect it from wind and rain. Of course, this is also a common phenomenon around the world.
Wiggins could only wait alone on the platform. In order to pass the time, he had to walk around and chat with the railway employees at the station.
A local employee who was responsible for maintaining order all year round started chatting with Wells.
"Are you an East African who returned from studying in Germany?"
"Yes, not only that, I am also a native of Iringa City."
"That's really amazing, there is no real talent. It is difficult for people to go abroad. You must be a genius. The boys in my family are not focused on their studies and can only wait to work in the society after graduating from middle school.”
"Actually, I'm not a genius. The curriculum in East Africa is still very simple. I have a deep understanding of this in Europe. Europeans learn more than us, and their schools are more strict."
"Sir, you are too modest. Very few people from East Africa can study abroad every year. They must be smart, otherwise they won't be able to compete with so many people."
Wells could only smile and say nothing. He was telling the truth. There was indeed very little that could be learned in East Africa at that time. Including his primary school and middle school, teachers basically followed the textbook.
So learning mainly depends on self-study, and Wells only concentrates on studying the knowledge in textbooks, because some principles and the like may not be clear to the teacher.
But after arriving in Germany, Wells discovered that the students there were really broad-minded and sometimes had to learn several languages, unlike in East Africa where only German was taught.
Of course, East Africa is different from Europe after all. There are so many countries in Europe, so language is a very important subject, otherwise I may have to settle in my own country in the future.
But Wells, who only spoke German, felt pretty good because there were many German states. However, in order to understand new technologies, he also taught himself English and French.
"Knowledge is always useful. Even in Europe, our generation can find good jobs with knowledge, settle down, start a family and be employed. After all, in the industrial age, the country attaches great importance to the value of knowledge-based talents," Wells said.
"Who says it's not the case! It's a pity that I have a few ineffective gadgets in my family and don't know how to make progress. Successful people like you should be their role models."
In this regard, I am afraid that this is the drawback of universal compulsory education in East Africa. It is too easy to obtain and not easy to cherish.
“This is fine if you don’t have a big pursuit, just like I have been in Europe for many years and have very few opportunities to meet my family.” Wells said, this is Wells’ The real feeling cannot be compensated by the quality of life.
Of course, this situation will definitely improve in the future. After all, East Africa is opening up step by step, and restrictions on the movement of social personnel will be further relaxed.
(End of this chapter)