Chapter 289: Instruction
Abbot's family finally settled into one of these houses with a distinctly "East African style," noticeably influenced by German architecture – quite unlike anything they had seen in Venice.
They didn't have much luggage, just a single trunk holding some clothes, all covered in patches. "This place seems all right," Abbot remarked. "It's got a bedroom and kitchen, all in one. Andrew, you take the first bedroom on the left; Annalina, the second. Your mother and I will be in the bedroom on the right."
He found the space larger than expected. A smaller room, presumably the future kitchen, was narrow but had a chimney opening; otherwise, it was empty – presumably the reason the policeman said each family would set up its own stove. As for toilets, they would be using a communal facility outdoors. It wouldn't be long before these Venetians realized just how strictly East Africa enforced public hygiene.
The policeman who'd guided them had too many new arrivals to deal with, so he'd only hinted at the region's sanitation rules. In eighteenth-century Venice, people handled sewage by dumping it directly into the canals; drinking water came from the city's thousands of wells. They and East Africa were starting on similar ground. Even in the prior century, Italy's public toilets were few, often required a fee, and not cheap at that. Only inside private homes could one expect any convenience.
East Africa, for economic reasons, couldn't yet give every house a private toilet – that would require a complete underground sewer system, which only the capital (the "First Town" where Constantino resided) had, thoroughly revamped with water mains and sewers. Elsewhere, East Africa relied heavily on communal latrines, typically "dry" pits in a line. It was cheap, easy, and the collected waste would be taken away for fertilizer – a task often handled by immigrants from the Far East, who were well-versed in such methods.
That evening, after a long day, Nairobi's government staff began guiding the new arrivals to a canteen for supper. Abbot and other families followed a policeman around midday.
"My name's Hayden. I'm Austrian – I'll be the policeman for this district, handling a lot of responsibilities. Anything you can't resolve by yourselves, bring it to me. If I can't fix it, then you can go to some higher office." East Africa's administration was straightforward; because they lacked enough personnel, cops performed many functions.
Hayden added: "We'll go to the canteen for dinner now, but I'll warn you: though the food is fine, the utensils won't be so friendly to us Europeans. If you brought your own silverware, you'd do well to keep it handy."
The newcomers weren't sure what that meant; as long as utensils existed, wasn't that enough?
But arriving at the canteen, they got it: all that was there were chopsticks, stood upright in bamboo holders.
Hayden picked up a pair and demonstrated: "You hold them like so… see? Simple, right?" Yet seeing their blank faces, he grinned mischievously, recalling his own struggle to learn. "If you can't manage, here's a cheat: hold them together and tilt the bowl to your mouth. Now let's queue for our meal."
That night's dinner was mostly rice and flatbread. The staff had discovered that boiling rice required less hassle than kneading dough, so they often used rice now. They still made bread for themselves, but the main fare tonight was rice with beef and potatoes – something special for the first arrivals to ease homesickness. They'd also prepared a small portion of fruit, though there wasn't enough for seconds.
Hayden got a big bowl of rice, while everyone else mimicked him. Then, returning to the tables, Hayden said, "Now the practical part. Watch how, once you're fluent with chopsticks, you can pick up your food – or scoop a chunk of fruit – and bring it to your mouth easily. Of course, for beginners, just raise the bowl to your lips. No shame in that."
And so the confused Italians embarked on a comical first meal. "Mr. Hayden," asked Repp across the long table, "who invented these tormenting little sticks? It's almost inhuman!"
"That's just because you haven't mastered them," Hayden said. "Once you do, you'll see how convenient they are. They can handle anything, even spaghetti. They're also easy to produce, cheap, and simple to wash."
"Mr. Hayden," asked another, "is this white stuff real rice?"
"It is. How does it taste?"
"It's a bit better than mashed potatoes, but I'd still prefer bread."
"Bread's good, yes, but East Africa grows a lot of rice – especially west of Nairobi in the Great Lakes area."
"This beef and potatoes tastes great!"
"You're lucky. East Africa's livestock sector has really grown. When we first came, we had to eat all kinds of weird meats, lion or crocodile. The government banned that eventually."
"Why ban it?"
"Because wild animals can carry parasites and disease, and East Africa really fears epidemics. Our hygiene rules are strict. I guess you've heard that Africa can be rife with disease; East Africa prevents that by focusing on sanitation," Hayden said. "On that topic, never drink water except from a well, and boil it first. Your personal water flasks haven't arrived, but in a few days they will. Once they do, you must boil even well water. If you break that rule, you'll be fined. Right now, we're letting it slide since you've just arrived."
At the dinner table, Hayden patiently explained East Africa's laws and tips for daily life, so these Italians could adapt to their new environment.
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