Chapter 431 Residence
Kurland and his team first had to report to the city hall. After registering at the city hall, Kurland and several agricultural experts each obtained a property in Soga City.
Although he got a property for free, Kurland was a little worried and asked, "Does this house really cost nothing? What about its quality?"
"Don't worry about this. Allocating housing is a very common operation in East Africa. As high-quality talents introduced by the East African government, you will enjoy better treatment than ordinary immigrants or even officials."
Hearing is believing, seeing is believing. Later, Blanco took a few people to visit their new home.
"Each house is 140 square meters in size, with three bedrooms and one living room, two bathrooms and one kitchen, and a small garden. Soga is also a garden city. You see, in addition to the gardens of every household, there are also things called green belts on both sides of the road. This is a unique product of our East African cities."
However, Kurland's focus was obviously not here. He asked Blanco, "I always feel that you are using the land too generously. The sidewalk in front of the house is fine, but isn't the road we just came from too wasteful? I used to live in Landshut, and I have also been to Munich, Berlin, Vienna, Paris and other cities. To be honest, the roads in Soga are a bit too wide. It's understandable that there are many people in Dar es Salaam, but there are not many people in Soga, and the utilization rate is too low."
Blanco said indifferently: "It's not a big problem if the road is wider. As for the low utilization rate, more and more people will come to Soga in the future. There is no need to worry about this. After all, cities are developing. Nowadays, the roads in European countries are much wider than before, although the improvement is not big."
Even so, Professor Kurland said: "You are a little too urban."
While talking, Kurland also noticed that the street lights in Soga seemed to be electric lights, which surprised Kurland a little.
"I am increasingly doubting that the East African Kingdom is not an African country. You have also popularized electric lighting in cities. This is something that can only be done in the capitals of various countries."
"Electric lights are also rare in East Africa. Only the capital and Soga have achieved universal access to them. Cities like Mombasa and Dar es Salaam have only a small number of them. As for other cities, only the two industrial cities of Nairobi and Mbeya in the inland have electric lights. In other areas, only a few government agencies may use them."
Blanco opened the door and carried Brand's luggage into the house.
You can see that the quality of these houses is very good, without any cutting corners. I just looked at the outside, and the interior has everything it should have.
"It's all solid wood furniture, but considering your preferences, we've only prepared a few basic pieces of furniture, a desk, two chairs, and a bed. If you have any needs, you can go to the furniture store and get what you like."
"Each room has a light, and this is a pull-cord switch. But I want to remind you that using electricity is very dangerous. Do not modify the circuit at will, or touch the wires and circuits with wet objects, including metal or your hands. If there is a problem, go to the power company and ask professionals to repair or modify it."
This kind of popular science is very necessary. The Second Industrial Revolution has just started, and electricity, as a new thing of the Second Industrial Revolution, is still relatively unfamiliar to many people of this era.
"The living room actually has a mezzanine, which can be used to place a desk and bookshelf. It faces the balcony, so the light is very good."
"This is the bathroom, equipped with a tap, a sink and a flush toilet and a bathtub, with water supply 24 hours a day."
"We haven't decorated the kitchen too much. Just like the furniture, you can decorate it according to your own ideas. However, Soga City also has a public canteen that can solve the problem of eating. The bad news is that you have to pay, but the good news is that the price is very cheap and the chefs are very skilled. Currently, the public canteen is configured according to the scale of 700 people. Because there are not many people in Soga, only one is used. It is in the northwest corner of this block."
"There are three bedrooms in total. You can bring your family members from Europe to live with you. Otherwise, it would feel a bit empty for one person to live in such a big house."
Brand was quite satisfied with the living environment here, but he soon thought of a problem, that is, the problem of communication with Europe.
"Is there a telegraph office in Soga?"
Blanco: "Of course, Professor Brand, the telegraph office, shops, cafeteria, etc. are all in the northwest of the community. The telegraph here can communicate directly with Europe."
"That's great. I think I can invite my family and friends over after a while," Brand said.
This is also great for East Africa. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. As a biologist, Brand is destined to be well-known in his circle.
However, Brand also said that he would have to wait for a while because he was still in the investigation stage in East Africa, and most importantly, he had not yet carefully inspected the working environment.
Soon, Blanco dispelled his doubts.
"This is the East African Rice Research Institute. It's a little off the beaten track because we chose to locate it in the suburbs, considering that the experimental site is different from general scientific research. However, it's not far from your residence, only less than two kilometers away. The government will distribute East African traffic rules notices and transportation tools to relevant personnel later."
What means of transportation? The answer is bicycles. Bicycles are not rare, but the Hexingen Daily Necessities Company did not mass-produce them. Instead, they were luxury goods. The main reason is that East African rubber has not yet been mass-produced. The rubber used in European bicycles is imported from Brazil, and the rubber production in Brazil is not high. As for Southeast Asia, there is no trace of rubber now. Historically, it was not until 1876 that Britain began to introduce rubber to Southeast Asia. Currently, the only country in the world that grows rubber on a large scale and is ready for commercial production is East Africa.
Moreover, the bicycles produced by the Heixingen Daily Necessities Company are quite peculiar. Their tires are solid and are only used for shock absorption. Therefore, the bicycles are relatively easy to use on flat ground, but are much worse for off-road. This makes bicycles a novelty that is only enjoyed by the rich and the nobility because of their poor practicality.
Of course there are hollow pneumatic rubber tires. The Hexingen Consortium has applied for a patent for the technology, but Ernst does not want to promote it on a large scale right now. The main reason is that he does not want Brazil to make the money. Brazilian rubber now monopolizes the market, and the pricing power of raw materials is not in the hands of the Hexingen Consortium.
However, this situation will change this year, because the rubber in the Great Lakes region is ready to go into production. In addition to the Great Lakes region, there are actually several small rubber planting areas in East Africa during the same period, mainly distributed in Turkana Province and the rainy areas where the coastal plains and plateaus meet.
As for the larger tropical rainforest production area, that is, the west side of the Mitumba Mountains, it will take a few years because the planting time is relatively late. However, the output of the Great Lakes region and several small production areas is enough to meet the needs of the global rubber market.
Hexingen did not open up bicycle technology production in Europe, but adopted the form of squeezing toothpaste, constantly innovating in appearance and decoration. After all, bicycles are now toys of the nobility, and the more luxurious they look, the better.
When East African rubber matures, the company will plan to invest in building a number of factories centered on the rubber industry in East Africa, and bicycle tires are one of them.
Blanco went on to say, "Of course, this distance is not that far. It won't take long to walk there, and there are public carriages available."
"In addition to these, there is a library in the city center where you can look up some non-special information. Because it was just built, the collection is not very rich, but it is always being supplemented."
(End of this chapter)
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