Day 80: Gray is actually the new black

Today has been a BUSY day, replete with prisons, feta cheese, and dinner with the fam.

After visiting four different men’s prisons, today I was finally able to visit MCF-Shakopee, Minnesota’s only female prison.  My experience there, like the campus itself, was EXTREMELY different than the men’s prisons.  My tour guide was the woman in charge of transitions (the department responsible for easing each offenders’ transition back into society) and she was FABULOUS.  In fact, each staff member I came in contact with was interested, happy to speak with me, and seemed to have a friendly relationship with the other staff members.  The staff at Shakopee was actually much friendlier (with me) than the staff at the men’s prisons and seemed to have a more community feel amongst themselves.  It was a happier place in general–it almost felt like a small college campus, made up of an outdoor quad, activity buildings, and living quarters.  There is no fence around the compound (although that will be changing in the next five years), and the women enjoy significantly less supervision than the men’s prisons.  The women are not also not divided according to the level of their crimes, but are housed according to last name, regardless of their crime.

As it turns out that the majority of accidents/incidents/violence in the Shakopee prison are relationship related.  This, in addition to the lax security and the community feel, is surprisingly similar to the show Orange is the New Black.  So in short, it appears that gray (the color of their shirts in Shakopee), is actually the new black.

After my prison visit, I swung by the historic Fort Snelling for the annual veterans event.  They have volunteers from around the state provide free legal service, homeless shelter information, healthcare services, and donated army goods.  One of the coolest parts of the event is that they had a judge available that had special permission from the MN Supreme Court to have jurisdiction over the entire state, which means that veterans could have small cases settled on the spot.  It was a really awesome event, albeit a sad one.  A majority of the veterans who attended the event (over a thousand in all) live in poverty, are homeless, or are suffering from illness. And those are just the veterans who were able to make the event–meaning that they heard about it, found the fare to make it out there and live in the Cities, or can drive, and have the mental stability to get there, etc.–which means that there are thousands of others who aren’t getting the help they need around the state.

My homemade salad for lunch, complete with chicken, feta, and crasians…be impressed

 

Happy 70th birthday, Aunt Edie!
My Aunt Edie passed away seven years ago from breast cancer and today we celebrated her 70th birthday at her favorite restaurant, Boca Chica in West St. Paul.  It was a wonderful time to spend with my aunts, celebrating an amazing woman.

August 6, 2014: 286–about the number of beds originally built in the Shakopee prison, which now holds over 600 women

Day 76: “‘Classic.’ A book which people praise but don’t read.”

So said Mark Twain. Many of us can relate–myself included. The classics are the books we always meant to read, they’re sitting on our bookshelves, awaiting our attention, yet often neglected for the shinier, the more fun. Today, I have decided to change that.  My incredible supervisor at CCJ, Emily Baxter, was astounded to learn that I had never read Salinger.  She returned from a trip with a copy of Salinger’s Nine Stories, which is an undeniable American classic and one of her personal favorites.  This gift has inspired me to begin a quest (lifelong, I’m sure) to actually read all the classics, rather than just talk about them.

The first few on my list are:
1. Salinger, Nine Stories and The Catcher and the Rye
2. Camus, The Stranger
3. Chopin, The Awakening
4. Tolkien, The Hobbit
5. Faulkner, any and all

I would appreciate any suggestions of favorite classic books!

August 2, 2014: 290 days of reading, very few of them fun, I’m sure

Day 82: Last Day at CCJ

Today was my last day working at the Council on Crime and Justice. As always, leaving is bittersweet.  I am privileged to have had an incredible summer working with a powerful organization and even more amazing colleagues.  I have been introduced to the realities of the criminal justice system and the communities it impacts, which differs significantly from the black and white portrayals of my studies.  I have been inducted into the world of public service with compassion and dedication, which has been displayed by every professional I have come in contact with.  This summer has taught me that I also want to dedicate my life to public service (hopefully with a law degree, maybe in policy).  It is not an easy path–only at small non-profits do you see employees staying until midnight and working on weekends, simply because of their dedication and passion (they’re definitely not doing it for the money).

So, I want to say thank you to the Council on Crime and Justice –for all the amazing work that each person does and for the organization’s commitment to the community.  Moreover, thank you for giving me an amazing summer, full of learning experiences and hilarity (I see you, Josh).  I also want to thank the Yale Alumni Community Service Fellowship for making this summer possible!

Now on to visit my suitemates in California and then back to school for senior year woo!

Goodbye gifts from my coworkers. The Minnesota cat pack is that I can “educate” all the East Coast people about our amazing state…

Last day biking/walking by the Gold Medal Park in downtown Minneapolis! I’m going to miss this area 😦

Jamie got her wisdom teeth out and made the mistake of sending me this photo… Lucky for me, I have no wisdom teeth coming in, which also means I’m more evolutionarily advanced.

Movie night with Annie G! Pretty sure I fell asleep soon after this photo…

August 7, 2014: 285 more days to figure out a life plan

Day 75: Say It with a Cheese Curd

Tonight is everyone’s last night at Danebo. Tomorrow morning, all the ladies fly home and I move back to the ‘burbs. Thus, it is time to say goodbye. Minneapolis says goodbye with a sun shower and we say goodbye with jalapeño cheese curds and sangria.

August 1, 2014: 291 more ways to say goodbye to my home, in Minnesota and New Haven

Day 73: A Day Downtown

Local/hipster coffee shops have four things in common:
1. Artsy theme with correspondingly  memorable name, often revolving around the world/traveling, a play on the name for coffee (like java, cup of joe, etc.), and personified animals
2. Open, spacious decor with aggressive amounts of tables, all decorated in the theme
3. Aggressive hipsters with horned rim glasses sitting at said tables, having intellectual, socially relevant discussions
4. Excessive cost for EVERYTHING

The cranes building the new stadium in downtown

St. Anthony Falls

The ruins of the old Minneapolis factories along the River 

Nummy thai food dinner with mom and Char

The view from our favorite rooftop bar

Last night all the Ladiez of the Lakes are together in Minneapolis 😦

July 30, 2014: 293 more beautiful views of Minneapolis

Day 72: bye bye babies

8 weeks later and it’s time to say goodbye to the other interns! I had a wonderful summer and I’m going to miss these amazing people, including the incredible alumns that plan and fund our programs. A want to give a big thank you to all of those alumns, my mentor specifically, and all the people who spend the time and effort to plan all the events!

A rant from the going away dinner: It still astounds me that as full grown adults in college people still feel “left out” when they don’t fit into a group. I am all about inclusion and being kind to people in general, but at some point everyone should just agree that not all people will get along and it’s not about exclusion or inclusion. People shouldn’t want to be friends with those they don’t get along with to begin with, yet society has constructed a hierarchy that dictates who we’re supposed to want to be friends with. So instead of finding others we’re compatible with, we strive and suffer to be associated with people deemed “worthy” by the hierarchy. It’s all very ridiculous and time everyone grows out of this middle school popularity contest.

July 29, 2014: 294 days until it’s no longer acceptable to use liberal arts college buzzwords #hierarchy #socialconstruct #fuckthepatriarchy

Day 66: The Real Shawshank

No jury today woo! Because of this brief reprieve, I was able to make an early morning trip to St. Cloud prison to visit a transitions class and take a tour of the facility.  St. Cloud is a level 4 facility (equal to maximum security) and handles all of the intake for the state, which means that they have fewer long-term inmates than the other two level 4s and the rest of the state prisons.  This also means that they handle a significant number of 180 days or fewer inmates and their transitions back into society.

Unlike many of the other prisons I’ve visited around the state, St. Cloud literally looks like a stereotypical prison (think Shawshank). Originally built in 1898, MCF-St. Cloud has retained many of the original structures, including doors complete with metal bars and giant keyholes.  The facility is surrounded by the second-longest granite wall in the world (second to the Great Wall of China). The granite was mined on site by inmates and much of the facility was built by the inmates using that granite.

Bike trip to Mendota Heights to visit Annie!

July 23, 2014: 300 more days to be a prisoner of collegiate institutions (ha, not really)

Day 65: The Guthrie

The amazing Bulldogs on the Lakes program brought all of the Yale interns to a show at the Guthrie tonight! The show was Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike–it was a hilarious play and well-acted, although a little slow for my taste.

Naturally, the show was preceded by happy hour

 

Ladies on the Lakes

St. Anthony Falls, the only natural falls in the Mississippi River

July 22, 2014: 301 days left of free Yale perks

 

Day 60: Working hard or hardly working…?

A coffee shop, an iced coffee, and some editing for work–what could be better?

Annie and I went to a late night comedy show at the Acme Comedy Co. in Minneapolis (you get free tickets for your birthday)! The main act was Kevin Bozeman, a runner-up on Last Comic Standing! Unlike his two opening acts, most of the jokes were funny and critical of society, without being incredibly offensive.

July 17, 2014: 306 more days of coffee, words, and work

Day 59: CCJ opens it’s doors

My non-profit hosted an open house to introduce our new president, Gary Schiff, to the community! We also said goodbye to Emily, the director of public policy and my amazing mentor, who is leaving to work on her project, We Are All Criminals.

http://www.weareallcriminals.com/

My mom and Aunties came to visit my job!

My girlies 🙂

July 16, 2014: 307 days of family, fun, and of course, work