Chapter 170: Shopping
It was another beautiful day.
The Fischer family began preparing for Christmas. Unlike inland cities, Dar es Salaam, as an open port, had easy access to a wide variety of goods thanks to ships from all over the world. As a result, currency here had real utility. European and Arab merchants would set up stalls in the open zones of Dar es Salaam to promote their products.
"Dear, you're back," Anna asked sweetly. Since arriving in East Africa, the Fischer family had enjoyed a stable and secure life, no longer living as frugally as before. Their spirits had become more optimistic and positive, shedding the gloomy expressions of the past.
"Yes, I just went to look around Trade Street. Here's what I bought, come take a look," Fischer said as he handed Anna a basket.
Anna took the basket and saw a wax paper-wrapped package, a bag, and a jar inside. There was also something at the bottom she couldn't identify.
"What's this?" Anna asked as she first picked up the wax paper package.
"Open it and see," Fischer replied.
Anna unfolded the package along the creases, revealing a string of sausage-like items.
"They sell sausage in East Africa?" Anna asked in surprise.
"I didn't expect to see it being sold on Trade Street either. It's really rare and not too expensive, so I bought some. The clerk said it's imported Viennese sausage from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The taste isn't too different from what we had back home," Fischer explained.
"I haven't seen food from the German regions in ages, and even in Germany we could hardly afford it," Anna said with delight.
Although the Fischer family didn't worry about food and drink in East Africa, they had their concerns. In the eastern region, rice was the primary crop. Each month, Fischer received both a salary and a family ration from the East African colony.
The ration in the eastern region was rice, since wheat was mainly grown inland and flour, being an important export product, was mainly supplied to Europe. Rice was different—it had no market in Europe, and since both the Far East and India were rice-producing regions, the price remained low. Since it couldn't be sold, it was simply distributed to the immigrants as food. As part of Fischer's salary, he had no choice in the matter.
Thus, the Fischer family was forced to eat rice. Fischer could afford to buy flour, but while the rice was provided for free in East Africa, flour had to be bought with cash.
People in this era were highly conscious about saving money and food in case of emergencies—after all, one never knew when the next meal might be uncertain.
However, eating only rice became difficult for the family, so Fischer spent some money to buy a bit of flour to occasionally improve their meals.
"Dear, we don't have to live like we did in Germany anymore. Life will only get better," Fischer said to his wife.
"Mm!" Anna nestled into Fischer's arms.
"You haven't looked at the rest yet!" Fischer reminded her.
Anna took out the jar. Through the glass, she could see white granules inside.
"This is salt. Don't we already have some at home?"
"No, this is something I bought from the Heixingen store. Take another guess."
Anna shook her head. Aside from salt, she couldn't think of anything else.
"This is white sugar, imported from the Far East," Fischer revealed.
Sugar was not cheap in Europe, mostly reliant on imports. Ordinary people couldn't afford it regularly. In the German regions, sugar beet cultivation had begun, but the scale was small and output limited.
Currently, most sugar imported into Europe came from the Caribbean and other regions. Though East Africa could grow sugarcane, it had too many other crops to cultivate, so sugarcane was only grown in small areas around the Great Lakes.
The sugar Fischer bought truly was imported from the Far East, brought to East Africa along with immigrant ships as a side shipment—the main destination was still Europe.
"This must've been expensive," Anna said with concern.
"It was a bit pricey, but now we can afford it. And with Christmas coming, we should give the children some extra nutrition," Fischer explained.
In East Africa, Fischer's job was considered high-paying. Only government officials and employees of the Heixingen Consortium earned more than him.
In fact, most ordinary people in East Africa lived reasonably well—at least they had enough to eat, which was already quite good. East Africa lacked almost everything except food. With vast farmland and natural resources, paired with a sparse population, living conditions were naturally not too bad.
Of course, having enough to eat and occasionally enjoying meat was the standard of living for immigrants.
Fischer's edge over ordinary immigrants was his technical expertise, which was needed in the East African colony, and thus his salary far exceeded that of regular settlers.
The extra income meant the Fischer family had more choices than most immigrants, like shopping for what they needed at Trade Street.
Trade Street in Dar es Salaam was essentially the commercial area closest to the port, specifically catering to merchants and sailors.
Locals who could afford to shop at Trade Street numbered in the mere thousands. Considering the total population of East Africa was approaching two million, this showed the level of consumption Trade Street represented.
As an important port, Dar es Salaam housed many offices of the Heixingen Consortium and government agencies of the East African colony. The staff of these institutions were the real consumers at the Dar es Salaam market.
Fischer was a true employee of the Heixingen Consortium, recruited to work in East Africa—actively brought in talent rather than nominal settlers.
While ordinary immigrants were also listed under the Consortium, it was clear to any observer that they were more like subjects of the Heixingen royal family. Especially for German and Slavic immigrants, life in East Africa didn't feel much different from that in Europe.
In fact, it was much like the life of former serfs—whether called serfs or farmers, the distinction was mostly nominal, and not a big issue, especially for immigrants with low cultural literacy who didn't mind much.
Far Eastern immigrants, on the other hand, didn't have the same impression. The Far East lacked European-style nobility. These immigrants mostly dealt with village landlords, who didn't hold the same political prominence as European aristocrats.
After all, Europe placed a greater emphasis on social hierarchy, especially among nobles. There was a clear divide between nobility and commoners, and it was very difficult for a commoner to become a noble—at least there were no formal channels.
In contrast, in the Far East, theoretically, ordinary people could improve their social status through hard work. For instance, a farmer could become a landlord, or a commoner could pass the imperial exams and enter the scholar-gentry class—though the difficulty was extremely high.
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