I went to prison today

Today I met Olivia and Clark at the women's prison in Chino for the CWAA meeting. I was a little freaked out because let's face it, I'm a sheltered kid, and I had no idea what to expect...what I had in my head was a cross between "The Green Mile" and "Shawshank Redemption", so I was pleasantly surprised when there were no bars, no water dripping from the cieling, and no inmates yelling profanities out with a half-crazed look in their eye... Security was pretty tight, obviously, and I got in trouble for my shoes, because apparenty if there was something you may need to run away from, you can't run in flip-flops...I did not realize this, but next time I'll know. As we walked through the yard it didn't even feel like prison... it looked to me like I had pictured summer camp as a kid. people telling you where to go and what to do, when to eat, when to sleep, and they all have to wear basically the same thing, and you couldn't go home. I couldn't even take it for a week, let alone YEARS AND YEARS...It's like a society within walls. i do have to say it was cool (in a strange way) to see 2 of the Manson girls, i don't know why...I think that sort of thing just intrigues me. Anyways, seeing all of those women was extremely surreal. You know they're in there for a reason, yet, they look so much like "normal" people, who you see walking down the street every day. They are someone's mom, or sister, or daughter. I think when I realized this as we walked toward the portable where the meeting was held, all the apprehension went away. I couldn't look at these women like they belonged there...They didn't fit the description of "scary criminal" that most of us have been raised or socialized to see them. And while they all have commited some crime in the eyes of the law, I couldn't see that, especially when we got into the room when the CWAA members started coming in. They all seemed so normal, so much like people I know, people in my family, even, and almost right away I forgot I was even in a prison. It was really cool for me to meet Michele, because I think I know the most about her story, and I was really glad to be able to talk to her for even a few minutes, and for all she's been through, and all the crap life has thrown her way, she still has a drive, and there's so much life, and you can see it just by looking at her that she's not bitter, she's taken the worst situation and used it to better herself and others. This experience just goes to show that people are more than what they do, or the crimes they commit, we are more than a sum of our actions and choices.

As far as filming goes, we got the beginning of the meeting, and then the women watched a video, and then discussed it a little bit at the end, and I tried not to get the boom mic in the way of either camera. I do have to say that the german shepard-sized raccoons running across the yard as we were leaving TOTALLY freaked me out...I almost jumped onto the equipment cart...