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Leisure Time

Interview with Lily and Dawn

JM: What types of facilities were available to help pass the time?
Lily: none
Dawn: One day a week the jail offered the women a church group, an AA/NA meeting. Those meetings gave us women a chance to get out of our cells or blocks for an hour. We also had a recreational area where most of the women would exercise or if it was too noisy in the block itself I would go into the rec room to read.

JM: Did you have regular access to the entertainment or was competition fierce? Give details.
Lily: no
Dawn: There was no competition amongst the women for entertainment. every week woman from a church group who volunteered at the jail would come by with a cart full of books. the women usually shred these books in the block. A person was able to purchase playing cards off of their commissary and they would share their cards with other inmates. the television was always on and the jail did not charge anyone for it. It stayed on AMC unless we asked to watch a specific show usually during the holidays.

JM: Did you have a hard time staying in shape while in jail?
Lily: no
Dawn: No I did not. I actually lost 9 lbs. I used the recreation room to work out. They did not allow us to use equipment of course but i did a lot of walking.

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?
Lily: only to go to court
Dawn: We were not allowed to go outdoors. By having a rec room however we were able to walk. do pushups, situps, ect... Mainly the woman did a lot of walking. mostly do to boredom.

JM: Did the jail offer church services? If so, what were they like and when were they held?
Lily: on Sundays, i like it very much
Dawn: I can not remember when they were held. We did have church services. The woman would walk to the c block and were provided a television where the pastor would read scriptures from the bible. we also would sing hymns.

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