JM: What types of facilities were available to help pass the time? Katy: They would bring books once a week. You could
go to church. They had GED class once a week.
They had TV with basic channels. Sarah: There was a gym for days that were too hot or
rainy for outdoor recreation. The gym had 2
basket ball hoops and an outter ring to run. A
water fountian was also available. There was also
a small outside area that was concrete, about 1/3
the size of a basketball court with no available
water. Laura: We had rec for an hour a day (if we were lucky) we
usually went to the gym play volleyball, or went
outside and sat. They had church on sunday, AA on
Saturday and they started a GED class but I don't
know what day that was on. Think that was it
JM: Did you have regular access to the entertainment or was competition fierce? Give details. Katy: There was only one TV for the whole pod.
Sometimes it was hard to have a choice on the
channel. Its hard to hear what you are
watching. Sarah: The types of entertainment were a television that
had 4 channels and shows were to be agreed upon.
If there was an argument the TV would be shut
off. There were also playing cards and books to
read. If an inmate had financial ability
magazines, drawing paper, writing paper, pens and
colored pencils were available to purchase. Laura: My entertainment was watching the CO's yell at
people, or watch people argue, or watch the new
people cry and complain. Watching TV was pretty
much impossible. It echoes so bad in there and
there's so many people in that pod, it's hard to
have everyone be quiet to watch it
JM: Did you have a hard time staying in shape while in jail? Katy: Yes, because there is nothing to do in there.
You can't walk up the steps, its hard to get any
exercise. Sarah: I did not attempt any type of physical activity
outside of walking back and forth. That was all
that I could really do. Laura: YES! I was 105 when I went in and 145 when I went
into rehab. All you do is eat
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? Katy: We were supposed to go outside once a day but it
didn't always happen like that. It was supposed
to be for 30 minutes to an hour, but we only
went out if there were enough guards and weather
permitting. Sarah: We were offered Recreation one time per day.
Depending on the weather and which officer was on
duty, we could go outside to a small concrete
area, or we went to the indoor gym for a minimum
of 1/2 an hour. Laura: At first at was a few times a week but it started
getting rainy so we went to the gym a lot. We
played volleyball, outside was boring some people
walked around the square, most people just sat and
talked
JM: Did the jail offer church services? If so, what were they like and when were they held? Katy: Church services were held once a week. They
also had AA once a week. The church services
were OK. The church that comes there had an
outpatient program called RU (reformers
anonymous) for any type of addiction which I
attended after I was released from jail. Sarah: Church was offered one time a week by a Christian
Church. We would go to a class room, sit in
classroom like desks for one hour if we chose to
attend. Laura: yeah, they were pretty cool, different people
would come in and talk or read to us. One lady
liked to bring in tapes and sing