in prison

the woods at work... where i normally park my car.. iphone photo, using "lomob apps"...


***


i havent been talking about my present work/placement: the prison service for alot of reasons.

i am bound by legal and ethical premise to my profession, and i really wasn't sure of what to say, without giving too much away. well, you can guess, the best bits to share, are the ones which would give away which place i am.

but me, being me, i cannot resist a good chinwag about what i am currently busy about, and getting so worked up every morning for.

so here are some interesting bits i want to remember about my current place of practice without making a distinct point to which HMP (Her Majesty's Prison) prison i am in.


-the first day i arrived at the prison, i was searched from top to toe. well everyday i am searched thoroughly. but because, my face has been familiar to the guards, they have stopped searching me like a fugitive, or someone with a plot to hostage the place.


-on the first day, i immediately learned that i am not allowed the following: mobile phone, USB drives, camera, tin foil (yes!, tinfoil!). i had to unpack my sandwhich and wrap it with a tissue, and put it in my bag (*sob*). and warned every single day that a chewing gum is not allowed in. i had to walk back to the carpark and leave the "goods"--mobile phone, USB, camera,etc..in the car.


-whenever a Vietnamese inmate sees me, they immediately speak to me in Vietnamese and think that i could immediately translate for them to the doctor. i apologize and say "im sorry,i do not speak Vietnamese. Im from the Philippines", and most often than not, they look disappointed (even annoyed) and even sometimes insist, that i should speak Vietnamese,LOL.


-i feel safe inside the confines of the prison. there are alarms and cameras everywhere. the sad thing is you cant pick your nose, or fix that knicker-wedgy lest the officers checking the cameras 24/7 will put it on YOUtube, LOL.


-eversince i started working there, i have been getting alot of water infection.

as a temporary staff, i am not given the set of keys to make me move from one part of the building to another. every part of the place has doors which are locked. if you're the secretary,and you need to photocopy some papers, you need to unlock your office to come out. once youre out, you need to shut it close and lock it with your keys. go to the end of the corridor to where the photocopier is, but in the middle of the corridor (between your office and the end of the hallway, there is another locked door, so on and so forth). you cant walk a few metres without having to unlock/lock doors.

so you can imagine how many doors we need to lock and unlock to get to the toilet to pass urine. and because i don't own a set of keys, someone has to come with me, to open and lock doors, walk to another part of the building, and lock/unlock doors again, and wait until i finish with my toilet business, and walk me down back again.

tiresome! and totally embarassing.

this made me think before drinking water (so i end up dehydrated) and i end up holding my wee until someone wants to go to the toilet. not good for someone who has diabetes.

thank goodness, i have won the hearts of the staff that they are happy to walk me through around 5 set of heavy doors, unlock and lock them, then wait for me while i pass water. oh! the joys. i know how it feels to be prisoner somewhat now. imagine not having control when to have a wee, or when to eat, or when to go out? its quite dehumanising.


-i hate closed claustrophobic work spaces. it has been a consideration eversince i started working, that i normally am better and more functional in places with access to big open windows with more light coming in. and guess what!

the health department office is quite small, and there are tiny windows. no wonder my migraine has been setting off every morning since i started in the prison service only because 'fluorescent' lights does that to me. it triggers migraine attacks. and boy do i suffer every day. no fail.

-the prison is hidden behind vast countryside, and you have to go through a walk of woods. the parking lot is quite a distance to walk to the big gates, where a guard meets you, then lets you go to another set of gates where another guard meets you, asks for your drivers license, writes your name,and asks to ring the department where you're going and asks someone to pick you up from the bottom of the building. that routine i know by heart now.


-the first few weeks when i first started working, i always walked quickly to the gate as i was scared if there was any escapee prisoner lurking around waiting to jump on me and asks me for my car keys to do a runner. now, i'm beginning to feel safe with my solitary walk.


***

a classmate of mine woke me up with a phonecall. we chatted about our present practice, AND they were worried why i erased all of them (16 classmates,and 11 schoolmates) on my FB.

i lied. i said, i'm keeping FB for family only now.

truly, i unfriended them in december because i didn't ask permission that i was going to be a week late from my placement because i was planning to overstay in cebu. i didnt want them to see photos of me happily enjoying the sun, while they were slugging themselves in the middle of winter being dedicated students. although my lecturer knew, i just felt it was too unsensitive of me, asking special consideration for a holiday while the rest aren't given he privilege.

plus, everytime they update their status' of how hardworking they are, i cannot update my status with glorious appreciation of blue waters and powdery sand. and the fear of tagged pictures of myself from my siblings looking worse for wear.

i didnt want the questions, and the reminders when i'm trying to unwind.

oh, and i think i got the second highest mark for my DVD/reflective work in december, so thank you to my lovely sister who taught me how to jazz up my DVD and my brother Roi, who was splendid actor in the DVD. (my lecturer commented: commendations to the actor who portrayed the role very well).

plus, thank you to myself, for the hardwork. *self hug*


rare, but it happens.


***

one day, i will post my video here. you'd find it funny and hopefully, informative about occupational therapy and adaptive equipment,LOL. x

i gotta ask consent from the main actor first.