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Leisure Time

Interview with Bruce, Jen, Crystal, Allison and Deanne

JM: What types of facilities were available to help pass the time?
Bruce: One of the tents had a television in it...with no sound. Other than that, we were allowed to bring in a paperback book to read. I mostly read books and the guys were pretty good about sharing the books with others in the tents. I think everybody just wanted to do their time and get out of there.
Jen: Books or magazines were the biggest items used to pass time, there was no real facilities to use to pass time or to exercise in. A lot of speed walking was done on the yard for exercise and playing cards was a huge pass time for many.With no real outlets a lot of arguing would happen, mostly im sure out of boredom
Crystal: We were able to bring decks of cards in so we spent a lot of time playing card games. We were also able to bring books and magazines in so I spent most of my time reading. Me and some of the other woman also spent time walkling the grounds to burn calories.
Allison: There was only books , they dont give u stuff to do you work all day n then are so worn out you want to sleep it is horrable to pass time in there u mostly just sleep the time away causr thats all you can do or you can walk
Deanne: I thought the best part of the Maricopa Tent Jail was the tent in which we could watch tv on from specific hours only. There wsa also lots of magaizines around for you to look at and daydream about.. I dont recall anything other than those 2 leisure activities being available.

JM: Did you have regular access to the entertainment or was competition fierce? Give details.
Bruce: There was no problem with watching the television if we wanted...There was no sound, so it was not all that entertaining to me anyway. Usually sports is what was on and not having sound was not that big of a deal. We mostly read or played cards to pass the time.
Jen: Entertainment that is a joke right? The only entertainment was playing cards and visiting with other inmates, there is no other source of entertainment. I would write to my family a lot and read to entertain myself and sometimes play cards. The jail is really scarce for much else to do
Crystal: No real entertainment. We always heard rumors that the male tents had a TV so we never though it was fair that the female side did not have that. People were pretty good about sharing magazines and books once they were finished. A lot of the time we just talked with each other and shared stories.
Allison: I dont even no y u would want me to say 50 words when I already said there was absoloutly no entertainment thats cause in joed jail thrrr is no entertainment no fun no loudnessi u really have to sit anf wait n wait sum more and sum more .
Deanne: I thought the best part of the Maricopa Tent Jail was the tent in which we could watch tv on from specific hours only. There wsa also lots of magaizines around for you to look at and daydream about.. I dont recall anything other than those 2 leisure activities being available.

JM: Did you have a hard time staying in shape while in jail?
Bruce: Not really. I never really ate the jail food and just ate when I was out on my work time.
Jen: In the summer time I lost a lot of weight because of the heat and always being sick to my stomach in the winter time when I went inside the dorms with even less to do and no where to walk around a lot I gained weight
Crystal: The jail diet is composed of junk and processed food. In order to stay in shape every evening and twice on the weekend we speed walked around the pe
Allison: No I stayed in shape by walking or do sit up at u bed u also work so thart helps
Deanne: Not applicable, although in my opinion would be that it could be difficult to stay in shape while in jail

JM: How often did you get to go outside? What did you do outside if you were allowed to? If you were not allowed to go outside what could you do for exercise?
Bruce: I was released from 7:00am to 7:00pm during the week and 7:00am to 1:00pm on Saturdays. I did not have my job on Saturdays so I would just go to my house or my friends houses and stay there until I had to me back.
Jen: If you were in tent city you lived outside 24 hours a day and if you were in the dorms you could go outside for 1 hour a week, nothing to do for exercise except walk
Crystal: We were always outside but at certain times we were put on lock down. When we did go outside we walked a lot. The guards did not like you to do anything else but walk and if you started running laps you would get yelled at.
Allison: You livr outside in a tent and all u can do is walk and walkeb is how u stay in shape and u work so
Deanne: The tents are all outdoor facilities, so I was outside the whole entire time. The only coverered rea was the restrooms which was near where check-in was located.

JM: Did the jail offer church services? If so, what were they like and when were they held?
Bruce: I think that they did but I never went. I was never into religeon so I did not go to any of the meetings.
Jen: They offered a few different church services on Sunday, they were in a small room with some singing and words of encouragement
Crystal: I don't believe there were church services. Maybe for the male side because they had access to an enclosed room and it was on their side of the fence.
Allison: Well yes they did but I did not go to church so I would jyst hear them call church n stuff
Deanne: No, I do not recall ever hearing about or recieving any information about church services being held and who is allowed to attend.

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