A happy birthday

Well yesterday (June 13th) was my birthday and even though I literally laid down ALL day, it was still a good day. It was a very relaxed day. I wasn’t worried about anything, I didn’t talk to many people, and I finished a pretty good book. I just can’t believe it was actually a good day.

I always used to go out and do stuff for my birthday – like go to a movie or something, but this year I was actually happy lying in bed. The only time I got up was to go eat. I didn’t even watch any of the movies that they played that day.

So all I did was read my book and eat. What really surprised me was that my room was pretty quiet. That doesn’t happen often. I just wish I could find that happiness more like I did yesterday.

(It's so loud in my room right now, it's hard to concentrate.)

Mom and Dad also visited Ted on his birthday for an hour or so sitting in the 98° hot sun in the visitation area outside.

Shantaram

Ted’s penpal (who currently lives in the UK) sent him a book called Shantaram. She said it was her favorite book, so of course I had to go buy it too. Ted and I are both at the same place in the book about one-third of the way through. And it truly is an awesome book. Ted takes his copy to read on the one-and-a-half-hour bus trip (each way) to work.

Shantaram chronicles the real-life story of author Gregory David Roberts with vivid imagery. In 1978, Roberts was sentenced to 19 years imprisonment in Australia after being convicted of a series of armed robberies he had committed to feed a heroin addiction after his marriage ended and he lost his daughter. In July 1980, he escaped from Victoria’s Pentridge Prison in broad daylight, thereby becoming one of Australia's most wanted men for the next 10 years.

He arrives in Bombay carrying a false New Zealand passport in the name of Lindsay Ford. Lin meets a local man named Prabaker, whom he hires as a guide but who soon becomes his best friend and renames him Linbaba. Both men visit Prabaker's native village, Sunder, where Prabaker's mother christens Lin with the name Shantaram, meaning 'Man of God's Peace.'

On their way back to Bombay and after a night out, Lin and Prabaker are robbed. With all his possessions gone, Lin is forced to live in the slums, giving him shelter from the authorities and free rent in Bombay. After a massive fire on the day of his arrival in the slum, he sets up a free health clinic as a way to contribute to the community. He learns about the local culture and customs in this crammed environment, gets to know and love the people he encounters, and even becomes fluent in Marathi, the local language. He also witnesses and battles outbreaks of cholera and firestorms, becomes involved in trading with the lepers, and experiences how ethnic and marital conflicts are resolved in this densely crowded and diverse community.

The novel describes a number of foreigners of varied origin as well as local Indians, highlighting the rich diversity of life in Bombay. Lin falls in love with Karla, a Swiss-American woman who refuses to love him back, befriends local artists and actors landing him roles as an extra in several Bollywood movies, and is recruited by the Mumbai underworld for various criminal operations, including drug and weapons trade. Lin eventually lands in Bombay's Arthur Road Prison, where he endures many beatings and other physical and mental abuse by guards, while existing under extremely squalid conditions, along with hundreds of other inmates. However, thanks to the protection of Afghani mafia don Abdel Khader Khan, Lin is eventually released and works in black market currency exchange and passport forgery. Having traveled as far as Africa on trips commissioned by the mafia, Lin later goes to Afghanistan to smuggle weapons for freedom fighters in Afghanistan. When his mentor Khan is killed, Lin realizes he became everything he grew to loathe and falls into depression after he returns. He decides that he must fight for what he believes is right and build an honest life.

Recaptured in Germany, he served out the rest of his sentence there and in Australian prisons. Upon his release, he established a successful multimedia company, and since the international publication of Shantaram, is a full-time writer at home in several countries.

When the novel Shantaram was published, several parties, including actor Russell Crowe, expressed interest in a film adaptation. Although Crowe was temporarily attached to a bid, Warner Bros. went forward with a $2 million bid primarily due to actor Johnny Depp's expression of love for the book.

For more information on Gregory David Roberts and Shantaram, visit www.shantaram.com and http://www.anovelview.com/.

Summary excerpts are from Wikipedia and the dust jacket of Shantaram.

Largo Residential Reentry Center

I had my first visit with Ted today at the work release center. The name of the Center is the Largo Residential Reentry Center, but it’s actually in Clearwater.

Ted arrived on Wednesday. Housed in a renovated motel, the Center has two stories. Ted stays with 13 other residents in a room on the second floor. The walls between three average-sized motel rooms were knocked out to form their large room and seven bunk beds were installed. Ted has a top bunk three feet from a window. There are three showers and three windows in their room and each resident has their own large locker (with lock) in which to keep their belongings. The floor is not carpeted, but is blue.

Ted said the Center has 296 residents. (The FL DOC site lists 265 residents.) It is the largest residential reentry center in Florida and Ted said it opened around 2008. The rooms have all been remodeled and look new. A basketball court and picnic table are in what used to be a parking lot. Trees line a field and track next door. A chain-link fence surrounds the whole residence.

I brought Ted some new clothes and apparently two of the pairs of pants don’t fit and his old shoes which I brought from home are too small. They will let me switch out those clothes for others.

He left the visit early today to go with five other residents to a Goodwill store to buy other items he might need in the way of clothing. He was given a $20 voucher, but he will need to reimburse that out of his future earnings. (He just called and told me that the $20 bought two pairs of jeans and one pair of dress pants that were a little too long, but they didn’t have anything else.)

They also charged him $25 for a new ID and $55 for a bus pass, which he will need to pay back. The total amount he needs repay is $114. That amount includes charges for laundry costs. Ted is responsible for washing his own clothes.

Ted has only one month to find a job, not three months as another inmate told him at Orlando. Many of the residents work at telemarketing jobs and there is a business just down the road that sells magazine subscriptions. A little farther south within walking distance is a large shopping center with a grocery store, several restaurants, office supply store, video rental store, theater and several small shops. Many of the residents have bikes to get to their jobs, others take the bus. Residents are not allowed to have cars.

Ted told me that two of the Center’s residents were returned to prison and two were returned to jail yesterday for escaping. He was supposed to go to the thrift shop last night, but all the vans were out looking for these residents. Apparently, when a couple of the residents were supposed to go to their jobs, they were sent home, and instead of returning to the Center, they went out with their girlfriends. If the residents aren’t at work, they need to be at the Center - otherwise it’s considered an escape attempt.

When residents begin to build money in their accounts, they can buy extra food – even steak. Ted ate breakfast and lunch (steak!) during the visit – a steak costs only $4. It was the first time in two years he ate bacon and steak. Ted said the food is much better at the Center than in prison. For breakfast (for both residents and visitors) this morning, they served scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes, [what looked like] corned beef hash, biscuits and gravy. The food definitely tasted better than some local restaurants.

Residents have one large common room (off of the cafeteria at the front of the Center) that has one TV. They can watch news in the morning and rented movies in the evening. Several shelves in the room contain many books for the residents to read. There is one computer off to the side for residents to play Solitaire or another computer game.

There are many phones which the residents can use – some are free and some are payphones. Ted said the lines for the free phones are usually pretty long. He has access to a phone book and Help Wanted ads in the newspaper that he can call for job openings.
Ted can begin to apply for jobs once he has his new ID. He thinks he will get the ID on Monday.

I finally received a letter from Ted on Friday with several blog entries so I’ll have plenty of upcoming posts. He told me he mailed the letter back when he first arrived at the CFRC in Orlando.

Photo: Google Earth photo of the Largo Residential Reentry Center. A mobile home park is behind the Center and not part of the residence. Click photo to enlarge.

A new start

When I was 12 years old – and before I had ever got into any trouble – my mom and I went on a Globus bus tour of the national parks out West.

The trip started in Las Vegas and went to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore.

We had the best time and went on two helicopter rides – once over Las Vegas and once over the Grand Canyon. We went rafting three times - through the Grand Canyon, on the Snake River and outside of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

I think a lot about Wyoming here in jail.

We stayed one night in a log cabin in Jackson Hole and the whole area was so relaxing. I’d like to go back and get a job there someday. It would also be a great place to work on my book.

I worry about the fact that the Clearwater police will be watching me every minute after I get out [of jail].

I’d like to start over somewhere else.

Starting over may be easier said than done but at least I will not need a surety company to insure my new start. I just need determination and the help of my Mom.

My goals

The last couple of weeks, a lot of different people have asked me what my goals are when I am released.

At first, I told them that I didn’t know – but that answer scared me – because if I didn’t have something to work toward when I get out, then I would soon be doing what I was doing before.

Now after many nights lying in bed thinking, I came up with an answer.

Even though I have a bad criminal record, I am going to college to study English and photography.

By accomplishing that, I can accomplish my other goal – to tell everybody that even though the life I was living seemed so appealing at the time, in fact I was making the same mistakes over and over again.

I’d also like to write a book about my experiences. I have more stories than could possibly be written about in this blog. Maybe somewhere, somehow, it could change at least one life.

One thing I have learned if nothing else is that without a goal and something to work toward – no matter your intentions – you are doomed.