Grandma in Africa
I chose to do my interview with my grandma Ellen Cannell. She married my grandpa Bob when she was 18 years old. They have been married for over 60 years. During the earlier days of their marriage my grandpa decided to do a abroad teaching assignment, The program was through AIS and you had to apply for it, and if accepted you would go to other countries and teach for 2-3 years. You did not get to pick where you went, you just went where you were told to. Their assignment was to Lagos, Nigeria, and they lived there from 1974-1977. Her, my grandpa, my dad, and all 3 of his brothers and sisters went to Lagos Nigeria together on this teaching program.
When it came time for my grandma to pack for there time in Africa it was hard to know what to pack or what she may need. They only had a certain amount of pounds that they could ship over there. The school district paid for all the shipping costs. She packed lots of general goods such as cooking necessities, basic items needed around house such as toilet paper, even things such as hundreds of packages of kool aid and sugar for my dad and his siblings. They did not know what they would be able to get in Africa and they were not used to African food so decisions were hard to make. Whenever anyone would come over to visit they always got a long list of items to bring, such as candy for the kids or gum. Stuff that was hard to come by there.
On there way to Africa they stopped by Washington D.C. and England, then finally made it to Lagos Nigeria. My grandma was not allowed to work while she was over there so it was only my grandpa working as a teacher. She would spend her time volunteering at the school to keep busy. They lived in a very nice house for African standards over there. She did not do any cooking, cleaning or yard work. She had a butler named Mundae who lived in a house behind theirs along with his entire family. Mundae did all the cleaning, cooking, and all house needs for them....