A Tedx Xperience

Hello!

Before I begin my story you should know where I am. I am currently sitting in Starbucks with a cinnamon dulce latte (do you even know what that is?? I don't - but its not bad I'll tell you that) and my computer open. As you can tell I have assimilated nicely into this society. From where I'm sitting I can spot 4 beards and 3 plaid shirts. I'm starting to feel right at home. The reason why I have chosen to write here rather than on one of the comfy chairs at home is because BECCA WORKS IN THIS VERY STARBUCKS! I feel like a proud parent. I want to tip her a million rands. I'm going to take a sneaky photo.

This is the sneaky photo I just took! Look how professional she looks. She has bean such a good barista. This is the first time I've visited her but better latte than never right? It may be a tough job but at least she's earning some starbucks. She's a bit sick but don't worry she won't coff(ee) into your drink. Okay enough with the puns. We're moving on. 

So. This past weekend I went to prison. Don't worry, it was a return trip. There was a Tedx talk being held there. If you're wondering how Tedx is different from Ted, Tedx is smaller and more independent than the real TED conference. As I'm writing this, Greg - my surrogate dad - is currently at the Ted conference in Vancouver. Pretty impressive if I'm honest. 

We weren't allowed to take any pictures in the prison - it was an all women's prison by the way. In fact, we had to leave our bags and valuables in the car. All we took in were our IDs which we left in a special locker throughout the day. We went through various security which were akin to going through airport customs: Shoes and belts and jackets in a container, walk through a detector, suspicious glances, put your belongings back on, etc.  

After receiving some swag (a bag, notebook, pen, coaster (maybe?) another wooden object which I have yet to identify) we went through to the gym where the talks would be held. On our way we passed tables of art projects that the inmates had made and I assume would then donate. Which was cool. I thought a lot of things were cool. I definitely overused the word. To say the talks were "interesting" would be a bit of an understatement. I was completely captivated then entire day. The great thing about Ted is that the talks are short (between 6 and 18 minutes I think) so they don't drag on and on. So even though there were almost 20 talks, I didn't feel my mind wondering once. They were given by inmates and people who worked in, with and around the prison and was MCed by an inmate (woman) and a warden (man). They had brilliant chemistry and were pretty funny. I was really forced to abandon any preconceived ideas I had had about the people who work and live in prisons. 

In the middle of the day we had lunch in the cafeteria. Guests, volunteers and prisoners alike. I sat with a girl called Tonya (inmate) who told me about her life and I told her about mine. She didn't speak about her life in great detail and I didn't want to ask because I didn't want to cross any lines and make her feel awkward, so I spoke about myself mostly, chatting to her about my gap year and how nervous I am to start university. She assured me it would be fine. Thanks Tonya. 

I won't explain every single talk in detail because there were so many so I'll just chat about one of the most interesting ones. Her name is Meredith and the first thing she said when she got up on stage was "I killed two people". She then started telling us about one day she got high and drove and crashed her car killing two people. At this point another woman, named Sheila, came up onto stage and started talking about how she was putting Christmas presents under a tree when a police officer knocked on her door and told her that her parents had been killed. They both told their stories about how they eventually came into contact, the offender and her victim, and how they stayed in touch. It was crazy to listen to. 

After the talks, Greg and I went to Vashon, a nearby island on which the family own a holiday house. Its quite cool because we went on a ferry. Greg and I stood on the front taking pictures just to make sure that everybody knew I was a tourist. 

Here's Greg taking arty shots with his professional-looking camera. 

Here's me taking a selfie. 

Surprisingly enough my weekend didn't end there. They next day my adventure continued, but maybe I'll write about that another time...

Until next time, 

Jen x