Amma worked at an architectural firm in Germany.

OK, like I said the Germany experience was a result of a previous study abroad. My class my architecture class was part of our, what class was that. World Exposure Class, some type of world architecture history and one of our professors decided were going to take a trip were going to Italy.

Were like fine, so we did like the whole Naples, Lomenta Coast situation Florence within like ten days. Why there we were approached by an architect Eva Dem Heber. Who was from Germany, Tongan Germany and she asked what we were doing. I guess it was rare for her to see black people there, especially a group of black students.

We told here we were architect students from the United States and she said, " Oh, we have a firm, we do this that and the other thing, we can offer two of your students internship position.." That relationship just built from there, so the first year my roommate Lana, and another student Terry they went and they came back and interviewed two more students.

Myself and my friend Preston was chosen. We went, the deal was the package would include our room and board, all of our food and a stipend in, either a stipend in or a plane ticket to Germany. Because Preston and I wanted to go other places in Europe before coming to Germany we decided to go ahead and get our plane tickets. And then take the stipend in.

We went to Paris for a week, before going to Germany. Love it, absolutely loved it. Just roamed around did all the touristy things, stayed in the low hotel in Montmartre.

Angela: Tell me about your job.
Amma: The job, OK. So, what they did with us, which later Preston protested and had to change, they split us up and I was working at the office which I was just, eternally grateful for, compared to what I heard Preston had to do.

The company we worked for, they were not only architects, they were developers as well and they did construction and especially for, like, retail stores and things like that and they would do from start to finish and do all the finishing and interior work and everything.

So, they placed Preston on site and he would have to get up at, like, 4:30 am in the morning and go catch a ride to Munich with some of the other busses of workers that were going to Munich and work on the construction site.
And they didn't have him doing, like, hard labor. So a lot of times, he was sitting around just like sweeping the floor or something like that.

"Why am I here? I'm an architecture student and I want to be doing architecture things."

While in the meantime I hadn't met the architect, like, I hadn't seen Eva. Eva was the architect. I was with one of her brothers, Johannes, and he had me doing just like regular work around the office and then like some color schemes for the general Demo Hubert complex, and then his younger brother Christian Demo Hubert took me to Austria for a week, which was beautiful.

I mean at first I was a little freaked out, like, "You're taking me to Austria." Like, "I don't know you." You just going to leave me with the boss's son.

What is going on? But they put me up in a hotel, and I worked at one of their sister companies, well, one of the sub companies [name] and they manufactured ceiling panel, steel ceiling panels and so there were some architects and designers there.

And most of the time, I was doing like clerical work when I was in Austria, but I had the opportunity to go and look in on what they were doing and then they would take me around town, and show me things and I go look at the mountains and eat food and that was it.

And Preston wasn't with me. Preston was my security blanket and I was his. So when we were apart, it was just like "I'm ready to come back!" [laughing] But, we had a good time.

So then, after the whole situation with Preston being put on﷓site and him protesting and me being taken to Austria, I really don't want to go to Austria by myself.

There was another architect that didn't work for Demo Hubert but worked with them. Enrique, we called her Eulee and she was our mother and we absolutely loved her.

And she was an architect and she gave us all types of architecture projects to work on. We were doing digital models, going out on﷓site with her, and half the time we didn't know she what she was saying but she was telling some contractor or the other, off. Or some engineer off. We'd just sit there and laugh.

But we had a wonderful time with Eulee, a wonderful time.

One week we told her we wanted to go to Italy. So she paid for our hotel, in Venice. She made reservations through her travel agent and we were trying to give her the money back and she's like "Oh, don't worry about it; you just go have a good time"

That's lovely, that's lovely [laughing]

[cont.] "Bring me back something, but don't shop at the market places." So we took a train to Italy and had a wonderful time. Spent a weekend in Venice.

Angela:  Did you get on any of the gondolas?

Amma:  No, they were like ninety﷓nine Euros! I was just like nuh﷓uh.

Angela:  Watching.

Amma:  Exactly! I took pictures of them, I got some beautiful pictures of them, but it just cost too much money. But it was beautiful, absolutely beautiful and it was great because of my Spanish background I could understand the Italian. I might not necessarily know all the responses, but it was like "Oh, I got this!"

We had our own car. [laughs] I had the opportunity to learn a stick shift in my first day out....

Angela:  Did you learn it?

Amma:  Yes.

Angela:  OK.

Amma:  I had to because Preston would go out on﷓site and I had to drive myself to work everyday. [both women laughing] And for the first few weeks....

Angela:  You were hopping up and down the street.

Amma:  Briggett would drive me to work because I was so nervous because actually the first day of work they took me out driving to learn how to drive this stick and that first day I got pulled over by the cops. So...

Angela:  What did they say? What did the cops say? And you couldn't speak German could you?

Amma:  Just a lot of stuff in German and I didn't have my passport on me.

Angela:  Oh, my goodness!

Amma:  I didn't have my driver's license.

Angela:  Were you by yourself?

Amma:  No, I was with another employee.

Angela:  So they could explain what was the deal.

Amma:  Yes, so they explained and even he didn't have his driver's license either.

Angela:  [laughs loudly]

Amma:  And it was just so all bad because I'm sitting here like "Oh my God, I'm going to German jail! I just got here!"

Angela:  [laughing] German jail!

Amma:  Yes, [laughing] and it was funny because we got to the police, he told us to go get your drivers license, get your documentation and come to the police station and we will verify it.

Angela:  He told you that?

Amma:  so we did that and I get to the police station and the officer looks at my drivers license and he said "

Asamoah, like the soccer player from Ghana, yeah we like Asamoah." And I'm like, "O.k. so I don't get a ticket? [laughing] I'm not going to jail? Great!" And it was fine.

And it's funny because even after that and we told Eulee about the situation. Apparently she speeds a lot, so she knows a lot of the officers that are on the autobahn. She got pulled over by one and she said "You are messing with my students! You were messing with one of my practicant." And told them off because they pulled me over. [laughing]