Life at Camp (#5)

The most common question I find myself writing the answer to is "What is life like there?" I'm "encamped" at a federal prison camp. Taft is a minimum security prison camp. By minimum I mean it. There are probably 550 prisoners (last count as of 5/24/07 was 589 - VCmoney edit) here and from what I can tell, only 6 guards. From what I can tell, the guards spend most of their time standing around. This is not because they are lazy, but what else are they to do?

The inmates live in 4 dorms. The dorms is like a gym with cement cubicles in each dorm. There is no ceiling to each cubicle. In that respect, it's like a big office with rows of cubicles. However, here there it is perfectly acceptable to yell for someone 10 cubicles away.

Some of the cubicles house 3 people and some only 2. The longer one is here, the better the cubicle assignment. I live in a cube with 2 other guys. We have a bunk bed and another bed on a metal cot. I sleep on the top bunk. The bunk bed people have a fairly spacious locker. The other cot has only two drawers. Clearly the lower bunk on the bunk bed is the best. Usually these go to older men with health issues. There is also a small desk in each cube as well as a few posts on the walls to hang towels and jackets.

The dorm also has a large bathroom with 7 urinals and 7 stalls. The stalls are completely closed as you would find in an office restroom. The showers are also stalls. You probably have more privacy here than you do in most fitness clubs. The bathrooms are typically clean, mainly because the inmates clean them 3 times a day. Nonetheless, everyone wears shower sandals when they take a shower.

The dorm also has 3 television rooms and one multipurpose room. The multipurpose room has 3 televisions also. The multipurpose room also has a table where people play games. The other tv rooms are split for hispanics, african-americans, and whites. I have gone into the hispanic room to watch soccer a lot. So, it's not like you are going to get beat up. There is also a quiet room, and I go there to read and write.

Sleeping is a challenge. People are up all night long. The kitchen crew wakes up at 3 am. People stay up and watch movies. So, in order to sleep, you have to get used to noise. The mattresses leave a lot to be desired. It's a foam mattress with a plastic cover. There are a few cloth mattresses, but they are hard to get.

The food is not horrible. They have a 4 week rotating schedule, but breakfast tends to be repetitive. I don't know how to describe the food. It's a lot like food you would have at a retreat or camp. That have some great vanilla cake, and I'm partial to the coffee cake. So far some of the new foods I've eaten are grapefruit, cantaloupe, honeydew, Lima beans, grits, and 3-bean salad. There are a lot of people who cook in the dorms. The commissary offers a lot of food, oddly , no Dr. Pepper and no cereal - although on occasion the will have cereal - like this week I got Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Some people will eat all of their meals in the dorms. This is very expensive, but it is amazing what people can do with a microwave and some hot water. I don't see much difference between the chow hall and the dorm in terms of taste. I think the dorm is different, which around here means a lot. (Jeff does buy some snacks at the commissary, like cookies and sodas at times for variety - VCmoney addition)

What do I do all day? That is the big question most of the time. The recreation yard is pretty good. They have a softball field, a tennis court, a basketball court, a volleyball court, a horseshoe pit, boccie ball, and a small soccer field. Mingled in are some grassy areas with tables and chairs. There are a number of trees on the rec. yard as well. Around all of this is a 1/3 mile track. It's made of compressed dirt and sand, not a real track that you would find at a college. They also have a racquetball/handball court and several stairmaster and stationary bikes. there is actually a lot of opportunity to exercise. You can check out tennis rackets and some other equipment. You have to buy tennis balls and handballs. I spend my time walking and playing soccer. I'm also in an exercise class, which is probably the hardest thing I've done. I still haven't finished a full session.

There is also an indoor recreation area, but I don't go there much. Inside they have 3 pool tables and a Foosball table. you can check out guitars or play on a drum set as well. They also have a woodworking/leather working room. You have to be here 120 days and then you can apply for access to that. The same is true for the "hobby shop." There is no shop, but you can order specialized hobby supplies when you qualify. This might include special paper, paint, yarn, etc. I'm going to sign up for this when I am here long enough to qualify.

If you are a more studious inmate, they have an education department. They do offer some some classes from Taft CC. They aren't great, but the popular classes are excel and word, probably because you get to work on a computer which is foreign to a prisoner (Federal prisons do not allow computers at the camp, and there certainly is no internet access or email - VCmoney addition). Some inmates teach classes such as the exercise class I take. Some classes are yoga, herbology, horticulture, beekeeping, and truck driving. Herbology appears to be popular. You can also take classes from schools who offer correspondence courses, like the ones I hope to take through Ohio U. Some guys here have multiple masters of theology degrees, but that is expensive.

Also in the education department is a library. The library has 2 sections, the legal library and the regular library. I use the regular library frequently. They get the Wall St. Journal, so I read that daily. I read books from there occasionally. I mainly read books from the chapel library. The chapel library is also part of the education dept. It has it's own small library that serves all religions.

The chapel deserves special mention. In the chapel there is a tithe box run by the non-denominational church I attend (inmates are not allowed to give money to other inmates - VCmoney addition) The tithe box contains essential items that any new prisoner would need. The main things are shower shoes, soap holder, and deodorant (all of which a the inmate must purchase). This was the only good thing I found on my first day (I do not recall if I mentioned this in the blog, or an email, but Jeff's money order took about 2 weeks to arrive, so he had no money to buy these sorts of essentials, not a great way to start out in prison - VCmoney addition). I'm thankful for the things the tithe box provide for me. I have since provided pencils, (I couldn't get a pencil for several days), stamps, socks, and toothbrushes. these were things I would have liked on my first day. They are gone already.

I believe I wrote about the church in my first blog contribution. That's another thing to do. I should comment on the "program." You have heard the phrase, "Get with the program." That is true here. Your case manager and counselor track your "programs." They want to know you are involved. It sounds nice, but if you don't get programmed, you get the bad jobs and bad bed assignments. In order for them to determine if you are getting programmed, you sign a sheet every time you attend something. My exercise class is a program. All of the church services are programs, so I'm getting programmed. Quite frankly, this place reminds me of the movie called the Island with Ewan MacGregor and Scarlet Johansen.

I'll end this blog supplement talking about work. There are numerous work assignments. The good and bad of them depends on who you are and what you want to do here. For example, working in the garden is hard, long work, but there is a waiting list because you get to leave the general compound. The guys who have done this say you don't even know you are in prison. On the other hand, you may have to clean the bathrooms. It's messy work, but only an hour a day.

My work assignment is cleaning and watering a portion of the rec. yard. What I actually do is a bit different. I have 2 rose gardens in my area. So, in the morning I weed one rose garden and pick up trash. In the afternoon, I water about 15 trees, pick up trash and weed the rose garden. It takes about 2-3 hours a day. Most people complain about their job assignments. I don't mind my job. It's hot in the afternoon, but I hang out in the shade of the trees. I water and listen to my radio. It's quite pleasant. I also take pride in the rose gardens. They have been neglected, so it's nice to see them looking cared for. Taking pride in your work is almost non-existent here. Basically, people perform to what they get paid, and since most inmates make 12 cents an hour, there isn't much motivation (A prisoner who does a poor job does not get increased time, and a prisoner who does a good job does not get his time reduced. It's not what Americans are used to with incentives and such - VCmoney addition).

Jeff

I just got a letter from Jeff today with another blog update about his visit with Laura. I will add that this weekend. Scott.