It's been quite the celebratory month here on unit 2F at Vanier institute for women. First was Easter, which we observed by eating huge hot breakfasts on Friday and Sunday. Some guards were perhaps a little too into it: I counted three of them wearing pink bunny ears. That's right, bunny ears. This got mixed reviews from the inmates but my favourite comment came from a woman sitting at my table who said, "They'd better be shitting out chocolate eggs or they can take those fucking things off." Indeed.

April 1 2012

Hi everyone,

So it seems there's been a bit of a hold up with the blog, and that it has been causing a bit of stress. Don't worry! Everything is still fine -- I have just run into a logistical snag with the mail system here. I dictated this post over the phone.

On March 11 I sent out my 9th post, entitled Women, the Police and International Days, but it was never put in the mail. I know this because on march 23 I was given a large stack of letters -- some of them had been received by the jail at the end of February! and a couple of them were addressed to Leah -- and there it was. So I sent it out again on march 23. I assumed it was an honest mistake, however as of today Ali still hasn't received it.

Today, February 4, we didn't get let out for breakfast. Or after breakfast

LOCKDOWN.

When this happens, the hatches in our cell doors get opened so the range workers can pass our food through. (range workers are inmates who've been around for a while. They do laundry, clean the range and help with meal distribution). Then the nurse comes and passes the meds through. When that happens there's usually a guard too, so when they got to us my cellie took the opportunity to ask her why we were locked down. "There's something going on," she replied. Wow, really? What a spectacularly informative answer, thank you.

Well, I've been here almost four weeks now, I'm all settled in and I've got the routine down. So now it's time for me to answer the question I get asked the most by folks on the outside: "So what do you do all day?"

Come, spend a day on Unit 2F, in the maximum security wing of Vanier with me!

The other day I opened a book appropriately entitled Liberation. On the very first page, written in pencil, was this:

Why I am here?
How long am I going to be here?
How do I get out of Prison?
Who put me here?
Who do I speak to, what do I say?
Who will help me?
What do I need?
What type of help do I need?
Where do I go? for help.
When do I get out?
When does someone tell me what I am supposed to do?

It's Sunday, Jan. 22 and this is my 10th day. So far things are going well, there haven't been any problems and I have no regrets about my decision to do this time.

Since I got here I've been taking it easy and learning the lay of the land -- which hasn't been very complicated since I'm in Unit 2F, the same one I was in while waiting for bail. Not much has changed since the summer of 2010 -- just some little things, like now we get compostable "ecotainer" cups instead of styrofoam, and instead of real soy milk there's this horrible "Smart Milk" non-dairy milk replacement powder. Kosher, vegan and gross.