Alarm ringing at 6:20am, time to sit up, turn to my left, feet hanging off the side of my bunk. I take down my bed shades, fold my sheets, and organize my bed before hopping down onto the chair below and then down to the floor. Today is Tuesday, November 12, 2024, chicken patty day in the dining room for lunch. I have some milk and cereal, clean my bowl, and head to the restroom to brush my teeth and get ready. Back in my room I am dressed in my class A uniform and shoes on, ready to go. I take the 7:30am move to the chapel, but no Chaplain Kulungu, so back to the unit I go.
I take these few minutes to make myself a small “Cafecito”, and take the 8am move back to the chapel. Still, no Chaplain Kulungu; I wait a few minutes, then ask the compound officer, “Hey Mr. Walker good morning, if by chance you see the chaplain, could you let him know I came by, so he could call for me please, since I am not able to stand around?”, “Yes sir, will do, don’t worry”, he responds. I head back to the unit and sit in my room to read my daily devotionals, as well as a chapter Genesis 27:1-45 in the Bible when it speaks on Jacob and Esau’s blessing. If I haven’t mentioned already, I already finished reading the Bible, front to back, and now I have started again but this time using a Bible Reading Plan, that takes you through the stories in the Bible which is excellent because in my case, it helps me understand the reading better as I go through each story day by day.
Ten minute move, it’s 9am, but when I get to the chapel I find the doors are still locked and lights are off. I turn around and in the distance I see Chaplain Kulungu going into another area of the compound, so I head back to my unit. Lunch time is coming soon, and I find out we are getting baked chicken patty’s instead of the regular breaded ones, I can’t wait.
Mr. Rivero is ready, or so he thinks he is. He is about to leave his room, and I remind him to get his identification, and to make sure he has tissue paper he always uses to dry his eyes as they tear up throughout the day due to his condition.
“Chow” was good today with the chicken patty, tomato slices, side of beans and rice, apple sauce and a bun for the patty which I only ate half of. I drop off Mr. Rivero in the unit, and quickly head out the main door of the unit, Officer Taylor sees me and asks, “Valdes, where are you off to?”, I turn and quickly respond, “Work, Chapel….Ok bye”, she laughs and replies, “Bye”.
Today, Mr. Escudero and a new person came to the chapel to watch movies. We also had our “usual” Rastafarian member who visits to watch movies based on his Rastafarian faith group. At 2pm we had Session 9 of our “Faith-Based Conflict Management”, and next week will be our last class before receiving our certificates of completion.
Heading back to the unit for count. I’m starving, my stomach is grumbling. I try to be disciplined, and drink water, but it does not do me justice. I grab an opened bag of Nacho Cheese Dorito’s I have, and dip the Dorito’s in my Gouda Cheese Spread. What an addiction the taste that you get out of this, I ate the rest of the bag of chips and wanted more, but I stopped. Count is coming through with Officer Williams and Officer Jones. Time to call dad, it’s 4:30pm. It was a quick call, he was a little busy at the time, so a nice hello, make sure we are each doing good, love you, goodbye. Count clears, waiting for the recreation move to rush over to the chapel.
Once in the chapel and the move completed, dinner was called. Mr. Boodman had come by the chapel so we decided to head to dinner together. We were fed, a sausage, with hotdog bun, and seasoned potato slices. Was truly pretty good, and spicy which was great as well. I finished quickly, set my tray in the dish-room window, and headed out the door. Back to the chapel I go, to start preparing “The Chosen” DVD for tonight’s Bible Study. So far we are in Season 1, Episode 5 and thankfully for the time I have taken to read the Bible, it has helped me understand the show even more than I would have if I watched it years ago. The “Nation of Islam” group arrived as well for their study session, so I set them up in the Small Chapel room that connects the chapel with the Psychology department.
Services completed, chairs are back in order, lights are off, and I am heading back to my unit. I check the callout sheet and it shows I have my Psychology class at 10am tomorrow. Being it Wednesday, there will be no chaplain until after 10am, so the morning should be an easy going one. Oh wait, tomorrow is our commissary day for me, so no sleeping in. Mr. Campos spotted me, and yelled from across the unit, “Valdes!!!!!!” as he waves me over. “Don’t forget we need to write that letter to the courts tonight”. My eyes hurt, I am exhausted, I just want to shower and go to sleep, “Don’t worry, let me call my mom, and I will meet you in your room to write the letter”, I tell him. I put my things in my room and head to the phones. Mom is walking Maggie, but Maggie is apparently saying hello to every person that walks by them in the neighborhood. She is too funny, and super spoiled, especially by the “grandma” which says she does not want any pets. Time to say goodbye, but we keep talking, and the 15 minute call ends sooner than we thought it would.
Walking back towards my room I stop at Mr. Campos’ room to write the letter to his judge. Thankfully he put something together in Spanish for me to translate, but it was not enough. I sat there with him and put a rough draft together so we could gather ideas, then read it back to him to find out if anything was missing or needs to be added. He says everything is good, so I grab some new sheets and begin writing in a cleaner, neater handwriting. Once completed, it went into the envelope, stamp stuck on and he rushed over to the mail drop in box before lockdown.
Now time for me to relax. Back in my room, standing in front of my locker, I open it to grab my clothes, shampoo and soap, somehow I ended up grabbing a Snickers bar as well and eating it before going to shower. Once showered, I separate my clothes for laundry, and place them into 3 separate laundry bags including my towels and some towels I use in the chapel. I grab my tablet with headphones, the three laundry bags, and I go drop the bags in the laundry cart next to the Glasshouse entrance. I head over to the computers to continue typing my journal for today.
It’s 10:52pm, my eyes are heavier than before, but Gutfeld is on Fox News right now and almost over. I missed most of the show today, but no big deal, tomorrow is another day.
Father God, in this day I want to thank you for your guidance, for your protection, for your love, and for all the positive things you have put in my path. I will forever be grateful for everything you have allowed me to live through, and the learning experiences I have come across. It will only make me a better, stronger, more humble person. Thank you for my family, friends and loved ones. Please watch over my sister and her husband on their honeymoon. May they have an amazing, beautiful time in which they may never forget. Dear Lord, please take care of me this evening, and allow me to have a good night sleep full of nice, positive dreams. I pray Dear God for a chance to wake up tomorrow to a new day, filled with new challenges. In your name I pray, Amen.
Eduardo Luis Valdes
02499-506
November 12, 2024
22:56
