After a five-day journey, the train finally stopped at the city of Iringa, and the train had to stop to replenish supplies at almost every station, like the city of Iling, which is also a big station, so it will stop for 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, an unfamiliar station building, a total of two stories high, built of red brick, no different from Europe, when Wales left the city of Iringa, there were only a few small houses, and a rudimentary wooden stop sign, and there was no platform at all.

Stepping on the platform made of concrete and masonry, and looking at the station building in front of you, this is not the "Iringa City Railway Station" that Wells remembers.

"What's wrong, Wells?" Mary put her arms around her son and asked when she saw her husband at a loss.

Wells stabilized his mood and said: "It may be that I am afraid of my hometown, and the station in Iringa is very different from what I remember, so my feelings are a little complicated. ”

Adlis: "Mr. Wells, this station should have been built just three or four years ago, although I often take the central railway line, but I don't remember the construction time of each station very clearly, but in the past, many stations in East Africa were in very poor condition, so it is understandable that there is too much difference from your memory. ”

"Yes, the railway station in Iringa was not so luxurious at the beginning, at that time the place to enter the station was fenced off with a simple fence, surrounded by mud and grass, the train stopped on the railway, it was very difficult to board the train, you had to first move the boxes to the car, and then pull the door frame to climb up." Wells recalled.

He stomped on the ground with his foot, "Now it's all on the concrete countertop, and there is only a small slit in the middle of the door, and you can walk through the car flush with the pedals." ”

As he spoke, he pointed to the station building and said: "There used to be only four small rooms here, and I remember that there was a warehouse, but now it is gone, it has become a magnificent waiting hall, and now even the passengers and goods are separated?" ”

"The freight terminal is transferred, you should have seen it when we passed through the city of Dodoma before, and now they are separated by forks, which can greatly improve efficiency, I think there should be such a fork to the freight station not far ahead." Adelis explained.

In the past, there were few trains in East Africa, and most trains were mixed with passengers and goods, such as the passenger special trains that Wales and his party take now, which were not common in the past.

"Even a small city like Iringa, which is unknown in East Africa, can be built so well, then other cities in East Africa should not be bad." Wells said.

"Actually, the city of Iringa is not a small city in East Africa! After all, the entire railway line, from Dodoma to the city of Mbeya, is considered a large city. Adlis said.

The development of East African cities is unbalanced, especially those cities with national key development or obvious geographical advantages, of course, in addition to these factors, the eastern cities are generally stronger than other regions, mainly because of early development.

"The question is, who's going to pick you up now?"

Wells had been away from his hometown for so many years, and it was impossible for him to run home with such a large amount of luggage, mainly because his home was in the village, not the city of Iringa, so it was far away.

"The government has informed your family, but the train is not a very punctual means of transportation, so we may have to wait here, if not, we will have to go to the post station of the postal system to survive the night." Adlis said.

Trains in East Africa are also not guaranteed to be on time, which is common in this era, but unless there is an emergency, such as a severe natural disaster, the error will generally not exceed six hours, and the Wells group is very smooth on this trip, so it should not be too late.

Wells lifted his watch and looked at the time and said, "We're still an hour early for this train, could it be that they picked up the station according to the normal schedule?" ”

Adlis: "I'm going to ask the staff first, are you waiting here, or are you coming with me, or are you going back to the carriage first?" ”

"Thank you, Mr. Adlis, for your kindness, but I'll wait here!" Wells said.

He didn't want to be staggered with his family because of his mistakes, so it didn't matter if he waited here for a while.

Seeing this, Adlis had no choice but to find a place to rest first, and it was definitely unwilling for him to accompany him on the platform.

"Wells, it's still quite sunny here, I'll take Wiggins to the carriage first!" Mary said.

"Well, let's go first!" Wells said.

Although the railway station in Iringa has changed a lot, it is also an open-air station, with no shed to protect it from the wind and rain, which is of course a common phenomenon all over the world.

Wiggins waited alone on the platform, and in order to pass the time, he had to go around and chat with the railway staff at the station.

A local employee who has been responsible for maintaining order for many years chatted with Wells.

"Are you an East African returning from studying in Germany?"

"Yes, I'm not only that, but I'm also a native of Iringa."

"That's really amazing, it's difficult for people who don't have real talent to go abroad, you must be a genius-like person, like my boys, they don't concentrate on studying, they can only wait until they graduate from middle school to work in society."

"Actually, I'm not a genius, the East African curriculum is still very simple, and I know this very well in Europe, Europeans learn more than us, and their schools are stricter."

"Sir, you are too modest, every year there are very few people in East Africa who can study abroad, they must have a good brain, otherwise they can't compete with so many people."

Wells could only smile and not speak, but he was telling the truth, there was really little to learn in East Africa at that time, including his primary and secondary schools, and the teachers basically read from the book.

Therefore, learning is mainly self-taught, and Wells only concentrates on the knowledge in the textbook, because some principles and the like may not be clear to the teacher.

But when he arrived in Germany, Wells found that the students there were really broad, sometimes learning several languages, unlike East Africa, where German was taught.

Of course, East Africa is different from Europe, there are so many countries in Europe, so language is a very important subject, otherwise I am afraid that I will only have to go around in my own country in the future.

Wells, who only speaks German, feels good because there are many German countries, but he also taught himself English and French in order to learn about new technologies.

"Knowledge is always useful, and our generation, even in Europe, can find a good job, can settle down, start a family and work, after all, in the industrial age, the country attaches great importance to the value of knowledge-based talents." Wells said.

"Who's to say it isn't! It's a pity that I don't know how to motivate a few things in my family, and successful people like you should be their role models. ”

I am afraid that this is the disadvantage of universal compulsory education in East Africa, which is too easy to obtain and not easy to cherish.

"It's fine if you don't have much pursuit, just like I've been in Europe for many years and I don't have the opportunity to see my family very often." Wells said that this is the real feeling of Wells, and it cannot be compensated for by the quality of life.

Of course, the situation will definitely improve in the future, after all, East Africa is gradually opening up, and restrictions on the movement of people will be further relaxed.

(End of chapter)