Life is a journey: Live it (Part 56)

The other autobiography
As we knew that some Ghanaians obtained their visas without knowing any German, it was a useful strategy that I employed. In an email exchange with the German Embassy, I used a specific tone that indicated what I knew and that my SPD membership would make it possible to provide information to higher-ranking persons whom I knew personally, as these channels of communication could cause confusion. The lady of the German Embassy finally agreed for us to book a hotel for at least three months. I had good contact with a hotel in Wedel, Hotel Kreutzer, asked them for a reservation confirmation, presented it to the German Embassy and the visa was granted. When I worked for the Hamburg Hotel and Restaurant Association Hotel Kreutzer was one of my clients. We were relieved.

The hotel option was very expensive. I contacted my old friend Josef Scherer and his Iranian wife Sarah in Hamburg Rahlstedt. At Hamburg Mannheimer insurance company I was his supervisor after he and Derek Bull at the same time had left McDonald's where they were both Human Resource managers. Together with my best friend Detlef Schütte in Timmendorfer Strand we were a team for ensuring the hospitality sector in Hamburg. Everyone had their district to care for. Mine was Altona with a focus on Blankenese and the red light district St. Pauli. While after three months all three left to run Hesburger German Franchise, Derek Bull that was in different locations, Detlef as a HACCP Consultant to advice companies on their obligations under the law of all aspects of hygienic food production which as pensionair he still does today three times a week to keep himself entertained and Joseph Scherer first taxi driver and with his wife Sarah owner of a Café near the Hamburger Straße police station opposite U-Bahn Dehnhaide.

Derek Bull became my best man at my wedding with my ex-wife Emma Heerde, Josef Scherer a friend and helper and Detlef Schütte my best friend. As a Taxi Driver, Josef Scherer had heart attacks and underwent bypass operations successfully. He was overweight and a heavy smoker. In addition to it, he had an overall negative view of everyone and everything in life. He knew everything better. His life depended on the support of his wife who took control of him, her son from her previous marriage and the household. They met as she worked with him, her boss…while employed with McDonald's in Frankfurt am Main.

Sarah and Josef looked after their mother who lived five hundred meters away from their own apartment. Sarah had lost her job at an Iranian bank due to the embargo against Iran. As a computer, she was not able to find another employment but wanted to keep her lifeclass including running a car. She constantly looked out for sources of income besides the government support and the early retirement pension of her husband. She was happy to hear that my wife Alberta and I would come back to Germany. The offer she made was loud and clear. Her mother would move into one of their three-room apartments and we could use her mother's apartment for as long as it was needed. When willing to pay her the normal rent the deal could go ahead. The deal was settled.

My wife Alberta and I left Ghana on December 27th 2017 and arrived the next morning in Hamburg. It was winter, cold and Hamburg was full of snow. I was used to much higher temperatures. To find the apartment proved to be a challenge. Finally, we settled in. We paid Sarah her monthly rent, looked around for jobs and our own apartment. The three-month visa given to Alberta was about to end. The time came when she stayed in Germany illegally.

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