Um, oops. It's been a month since I wrote about anything. Not particularly much has happened, I have to admit.
I finished work on Friday. It's nice to be done. I did just about an entire program myself, which was kind of cool. For a Mongolian woman, here for culture and heritage preservation. I booked all her appointments and everything like that. I should get to meet her on Monday. There were a couple of other interesting things I got to do. We had a delegation of human rights advocates (mostly lawyers) from Iraq that went to visit Metro State Women's Prison. I got to go with them. It was really an experience. We met the warden - this nice older Southern lady in red lipstick, totally not what was expected. And we got a tour. The prisoners weren't really locked away. When we came by they had to stand in formation, but we were free to talk to them and such. The mental health prisoners were in cells, as were the prisoners who asked to be so (fearing for their lives from whatever), and the one death row inmate.
Her cell door was opened and the Iraqis were allowed to talk with her, ask her about the conditions in the prison. She was very polite. We looked it up later, and apparently she convinced her lover to kill her boyfriend. Now she's on death row, and the lover has life in prison. There's something wrong about that. He was given a deal for testifying against her. I just don't understand how the person who actually killed the boyfriend would be less punished than the one who plotted. And now she's going to be killed. It just seems wrong. I don't know.
The prisoners were kind of ... sad. I know they're in prison, but they all looked so worn. Lines etched across faces, straggly hair, and eyes that just look sad. I don't know how old prisoners were, but they all looked prematurely old.
We saw new prisoners marching. A old woman collapsed. I don't know if she lived or if she died. It's just strange to think about. I know she committed god knows what crime, but I hope she's sitll okay.
The guards were all fantastic. They were so friendly and helpful. It seemed like they all knew each other really well and had a great time joking around. I felt like they were kind of people I would want to be friends with. Weird, I know, I guess.
In August we had several delegations of journalists come through Atlanta. I sat in on a meeting with Afghani ones (mostly journalism professors from Kabul and Harat) and several journalists from CNN and the Atlanta Press Club. They had a rather heated debate about the role of journalists. The interesting part was when the war came up. Apparently the general feeling in Afghanistan is that the Americans could win the war if they really wanted to, but they don't want to, as evidenced by all the negative press. It's an interesting arguement, that I certainly haven't thought about before.
I also got to tour CNN with a couple of Indonesian journalists (TV anchors). It was cool to see what goes on behind the scenes of all the news and such. All the editors and producers and people who write the stories. It's beyond a huge organization.
I finished work on Friday. It's nice to be done. I did just about an entire program myself, which was kind of cool. For a Mongolian woman, here for culture and heritage preservation. I booked all her appointments and everything like that. I should get to meet her on Monday. There were a couple of other interesting things I got to do. We had a delegation of human rights advocates (mostly lawyers) from Iraq that went to visit Metro State Women's Prison. I got to go with them. It was really an experience. We met the warden - this nice older Southern lady in red lipstick, totally not what was expected. And we got a tour. The prisoners weren't really locked away. When we came by they had to stand in formation, but we were free to talk to them and such. The mental health prisoners were in cells, as were the prisoners who asked to be so (fearing for their lives from whatever), and the one death row inmate.
Her cell door was opened and the Iraqis were allowed to talk with her, ask her about the conditions in the prison. She was very polite. We looked it up later, and apparently she convinced her lover to kill her boyfriend. Now she's on death row, and the lover has life in prison. There's something wrong about that. He was given a deal for testifying against her. I just don't understand how the person who actually killed the boyfriend would be less punished than the one who plotted. And now she's going to be killed. It just seems wrong. I don't know.
The prisoners were kind of ... sad. I know they're in prison, but they all looked so worn. Lines etched across faces, straggly hair, and eyes that just look sad. I don't know how old prisoners were, but they all looked prematurely old.
We saw new prisoners marching. A old woman collapsed. I don't know if she lived or if she died. It's just strange to think about. I know she committed god knows what crime, but I hope she's sitll okay.
The guards were all fantastic. They were so friendly and helpful. It seemed like they all knew each other really well and had a great time joking around. I felt like they were kind of people I would want to be friends with. Weird, I know, I guess.
In August we had several delegations of journalists come through Atlanta. I sat in on a meeting with Afghani ones (mostly journalism professors from Kabul and Harat) and several journalists from CNN and the Atlanta Press Club. They had a rather heated debate about the role of journalists. The interesting part was when the war came up. Apparently the general feeling in Afghanistan is that the Americans could win the war if they really wanted to, but they don't want to, as evidenced by all the negative press. It's an interesting arguement, that I certainly haven't thought about before.
I also got to tour CNN with a couple of Indonesian journalists (TV anchors). It was cool to see what goes on behind the scenes of all the news and such. All the editors and producers and people who write the stories. It's beyond a huge organization.
