Up early today, Mr. Rivero might want breakfast, so I jump out of bed and walk over to his room. I look in and see he is still laying down, eyes are open, and no teeth.
Me: “Quieres ir a recojer el desayuno?”
Him: “Tu quieres ir?”
Me: “No, tu dime a mi, quieres desayuno para ir, si no voy acostarme de nuevo”
Him: Looks at me a few seconds then says, “No, vete a dormir”.
So I head back to my bed and lay down. Everyone seems so excited we are on a modified lockdown so there is much noise in the unit; I get tired of trying to fall back asleep, so I get back out of bed, head to the restroom to wash up, brush my teeth and hair. I head back to my room to read my daily devotionals.
It’s almost 9am and still no breakfast, so I put my shoes on, and tell Mr. Rivero to get ready so we can go grab our trays. Once we get back from the dining room, we sit in each of our rooms to eat, as the officer begins locking down for the 10am count.
After count, we standby waiting for the call for lunch, nothing much going on in the unit, as I sit to continue translating the four pages of writing Mr. Rivero asked for my help translating so he can present it in a motion. He sits in my room with me in case I have any questions on what he wrote. Shortly after, they call for chow and I head for his wheelchair, and we head out of the unit towards the dining room. Once there they provide us a styrofoam tray for lunch and a bag for dinner. The lunch was surprisingly enjoyable, with one scrambled egg, small full potatoes, two biscuits covered in some sort of gravy, then two coaster size turkey slices for the bread in the dinner bag; oh yea, and a chocolate chip and mint cookie.
After we eat, I sit with Mr. Rivero to go over what I translated for him, and now over to the computer to type into an email draft for him, so we can print it some time over in the Education department. After an hour of typing, I sit down for a few minutes to watch television, but by 3pm I went over to my room for a nap. I quickly doze off, and my roommate was banging my bed for 4pm count, because I was in such a deep sleep, but as soon as the officers concluded count, I got back into bed and shut my eyes.
I am up again, its 6pm now, and I came to check my email messages. On one television they were showing “Coming to America” and the other they had “Father of the Bride 2”, two good, oldies but goodies. I sit down to watch some news on the Spanish television, so much going on, always something negative, but it seems at least our new administration in D.C. is putting some positive together. Time to eat something; I head to my room, grab my two slices of turkey, and one extra that Mr. Rivero gave to me, put them into a small bowl, and covered them in hot water. I grabbed one sliced of bread, sprinkled on some Italian seasoning and garlic powder, opened the last small pack of mayonnaise I had and spread it on there along with some mustard, placed the three slices of turkey on the bread, and joined it with some “ruffle” type chips they give us, and that was my dinner. On to the shower I go.
I head to my preferred shower in the Glasshouse. I just cleaned this shower two days ago, it smells like mold, there is hair shavings on the walls, soap packaging on the floor, razor plastic covers on the floor, a sock stuffed in a break of the wall, and a bandage someone removed and threw in there. It is truly unbelievable how these guys live. Do they do this because it’s “government property” and they don’t care? They must not realize that another inmate is the one who cleans and maintains them and has to clean up after them, and the only one they are harming are myself and other inmates who shower in that filth. But it’s okay, I know there are a few who appreciate the cleaning I have put into these showers for all of us. Luckily I am only volunteering to help by cleaning them, so as soon as they find someone who needs a work detail and would not mind the work, I can stick to only working in the chapel.
It’s almost time to call mom, so I will watch some television until that 8:10pm mark. Telemundo is playing the live action “Beauty and the Beast”.
Just ended the call with mom, I wish I could keep talking to them more. I can’t wait for visits to begin once again. I have not seen my family in over 2 months due to all the lockdowns. After the movie, starts another, so that will be the end of the night for me here.
Thank you Father God for one more day and for keeping me in a positive, cheerful mindset even in these tough times. I pray dear Lord for good things to come our way. I ask Father for an excellent day tomorrow, and pray for the volunteers who will be visiting us in the chapel to preach the word of God to us. Thank you for the chaplains and their actions in getting many more volunteers to sign up. Thank you for my friends, family and loved ones, please don’t ever stop watching over them and caring for them. Thank you Jesus, in your name I pray, Amen.
Eduardo Luis Valdes
02499-506
February 8, 2025
21:17
