My time in jail (2)

After some of the comments on my previous posts I feel I need to explain that the prison I went to isn't anything like the things you see in movies. Everything is strictly regulated with the wellbeing of inmates in mind and the showers are in a sort of bathroom with two stalls with lockable doors. So soap-grabbing isn't a problem.

Dinner time came at 4:30, again unlike the movies where you have to shield the grub they feed you from other inmates to prevent them from stealing it, food is brought to your cell where you eat by yourself. The food mostly consisted of potatoes with some meat and veggies. Wasn't great, wasn't terrible either. If you like you can ask to prepare your own food. The kitchen where inmates can cook has all the basic stuff: refrigerator, freezer, induction cooking plate, a large knife (fixed to the wall with a short chain). You can buy certain foods from the 'shop' and make a pretty decent meal this way. All under strict supervision of course.

The cell is no place you'd want to spend a lot of time in, although at first I found it to be pretty luxurious for a jail cell. It's about 7x4 foot big, it has a bed, a small TV, a toilet with mirror, a small refrigerator, a microwave oven and a window looking out into the courtyard. You might be able to imagine how such a cell would appear to get smaller and smaller as you spend more time in it. The worst part however was the door. It's a heavy solid door with fire-proof insulation consisting of a sort of rubber band on the edges of the door that expands when it's heated up. This means that the door will be impossible to open should a fire break out. I was literally told that if a fire breaks out in my cell they wouldn't be able to do anything for me. I'd either have to try to put the fire out myself with my clothes and bedsheets or burn to death. There would be no way of opening that door until the fire has gone out and the door has cooled down again. This was mulling around in my head and cost me quite a few hours of sleep at nights.

Continued in next post.