It will be 90 days this week since my arrest and I\u2019m desperate for a change of\u00a0circumstances as I\u2019m becoming increasingly grouchy both with myself and\u00a0my fellow inmates.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m longing for solitude \u2013 or at least some choice in the company I keep. There has been no point \u2013 not a second \u2013 in the past three months when I haven\u2019t been in earshot or eyesight of someone else and the constant presence of other people has become irritating. The most privacy I can obtain is in the toilet, but even there the voices of my fellow prisoners is a constant. If I wake at 3 am, the jail may be at its quietest but my cellmate is just inches away from me and the sound of snoring \u2013 from him and others \u2013 never ceases.<\/p>\n
My cellmate is as decent a fellow as I could hope to share with and spends most of the afternoon talking to his wife in the laundry. They\u2019re both on a charge of running a dodgy spa, which in Bali means not paying off the right cop, but their respective families are at odds and as a result can\u2019t present a united front to the prosecutor and bribe their way out of here. We\u2019ll work on my Indonesian in the morning, but in the afternoon, when we are free to roam the cellblock but the yard is out of bounds, I like to be left alone in the cell to read or write in peace. Easier said than done.<\/p>\n
My cell door is at the junction of an L-shaped corridor so probably has the best view in the house, but it\u2019s also opposite the potable water dispenser and so there is always traffic, which blocks the only light by which to read or write \u2013 even during the day. It\u2019s also the main sentry post as it has line of sight to the guardhouse, so there is always someone standing watch, shouting \u201cLa-La\u201d, or whatever the week\u2019s signal is, to warn when danger approaches, and \u201cPokemon\u201d to give the all clear.<\/p>\n
Indonesians are generally a social bunch \u2013 and forgive the stereotypes that follow; stereotypes usually have a basis \u2013 but they also have little awareness of personal space. You can be sitting alone in the waiting room of an office and if an Indonesian enters, they\u2019ll invariably choose the seat right next to you and peer over to see what you\u2019re reading or writing or doing on your phone.<\/p>\n
In jail this is amplified by a factor of the prison population. I will be quietly reading when someone will sit in the cell doorway (you\u2019re not allowed in another cell without permission) and I can rarely count to 15 without the inevitable question: What are you doing? Reading, I\u2019ll say, although to myself I\u2019ll add: but not anymore; you\u2019re blocking the light. Another few seconds will pass before my inquisitor will crane to see the title. \u201cChat dua dua?\u201d Catch 22, I\u2019ll reply, and then comes the inevitable \u201cwhat is it about?\u201d My Indonesian has come on in leaps and bounds since my arrest, but it\u2019s definitely not up to giving an accurate precis of Catch 22, so I\u2019ll generally say something like \u201cIt\u2019s about war\u201d, or \u201cpolitics\u201d, thinking all the while, go away, please go away.<\/p>\n
The same applies if I\u2019m writing. My \u201cguest\u201d will peer at the page and insist I tell them what I\u2019m doing \u2013 and usually ask if they are mentioned. It would be ok if this happened a few times a day, but it happens 15-20 times an hour \u2013 I forget sometimes that my fellow inmates are equally bored, but I\u2019m the only person in the place that does spend time reading and writing.<\/p>\n
It also seems to me that inmates can\u2019t have a conversation without raised voices \u2013 even when they\u2019re sitting next to each other. The corridor amplifies the sound, meaning there is a constant hullaballo. They\u2019re always playing childish pranks \u2013 pulling each other\u2019s pants down \u2013 and so there is constant shrieking and shouting.<\/p>\n
In a way I have it easier than anyone else here. Along with Joe I\u2019ve been here the longest and for most of the time I\u2019ve shared my \u201csolitary\u201d cell with just one other \u2013 they are packed six deep in the other solitaries. I\u2019m not sure how I\u2019ve got away with it, but the other day I overheard a new guard asking the boss inmate why there were only two people in my cell. \u201cThat\u2019s Mr Fox,\u201d he replied, as if that was the only answer required.<\/p>\n
Joe shares a four-man cell with 12 others \u2013 they sleep like spoons \u2013 and is constantly griping that I don\u2019t do any cleanup duties or I\u2019m the first to be let out of cells and the last to be locked up. His main problem is that he hasn\u2019t bothered to learn a word of Indonesian since our arrest, so fails completely to make himself understood. He is also incredibly mean. I\u2019ll share some of the treats my wonderful visitors give me and the other inmates are always inviting me to try their home-cooked specials, but Joe turns his nose up at local food and seems to survive on KFC and McDonalds which his girlfriend brings him \u2013 sitting in the corner and eating alone. He is in his fifth cell now, having been kicked out of the others for being anti-social.<\/p>\n
Most of the inmates are harmless enough, and I tower over them anyway, but there are a few nasty pieces of work \u2013 bullies and scroungers. One I call the magician who has the habit of appearing out of thin air whenever I open a packet of biscuits, or sweets, or bite into an apple. He is fat with a weasel face and as soon as he has appeared he\u2019ll rub his belly and motion eating gestures. No please or thank you, just \u201cgive me\u201d. I deal with him by pretending to teach him English. \u201cNo, you must say it like this\u2026 please may I have a biscuit.\u201d He\u2019ll make a stab at it, and I\u2019ll get him to repeat it a few times until he gets it right, at which point I\u2019ll pat him vigorously on the back, saying \u201cwell done! See, it\u2019s easy\u201d and walk off.<\/p>\n
The Hulk is another who pushes his chances. He squealed like a baby during initiation, but most of the witnesses have moved on and now he struts around flexing his muscles and although he isn\u2019t \u201cone of the boys\u201d, he gets the kids to do his bidding. At least once a day one of the youngsters will approach and ask me for a cigarette. \u201cWho is it for,\u201d I\u2019ll ask. If it\u2019s for them, I\u2019ll oblige, but make them light it in front of me (for some reason Indonesians don\u2019t like sharing smokes) but often they\u2019ll be embarrassed and say \u201cit\u2019s for him\u201d. Tell him to ask himself, I\u2019ll say (often he\u2019ll be sitting just yards away). Usually pride will get the better of him and he\u2019ll sit seething, but occasionally he\u2019ll relent and come and ask himself. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, I\u2019ve run out,\u201d I\u2019ll say.<\/p>\n
The Snake is another of the bullies. He is completely hairless and when he walks his feet don\u2019t seem to leave the ground. The youngsters complain that he is always taking their laundry off the line, then dumping it once worn and dirty. A few weeks ago he shoulder barged me in the corridor and sent me flying. I was certain it was deliberate, but gave him the benefit of the doubt until a couple of days later when he did it again. I didn\u2019t react then either, but the next time we passed I took the initiative and sent him flying, then very deliberately apologized: \u201cI\u2019m so sorry. The corridors are very small. You have to be careful.\u201d No problems since then.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re definitely the outliers though. Most in here are pleasant enough and only trying to get through the day and get to Kerobokan as quick as possible where there is much more to do to pass the time.<\/p>\n
I should definitely be moving this week. By law the police can hold you for 20 days after which the prosecutor can sign a special order to extend for a further 40. It took a special court to get an additional 30 days added to my case and my understanding is that if you are not formally charged after that, you have to be released, but I\u2019m not holding my breath. This is Indonesia.<\/p>\n
As I write, it is New Year\u2019s Eve and there is definitely a bit of a party atmosphere. Everyone has chipped in 20,000 rupiah (about $1.50) a head for which the guards say they\u2019ll allow us to use the yard until 2 a.m. The boss is also claiming a further 20,000 from inmates for a kitty to buy local arak, but I\u2019m not interested in drinking and so decline. There has been a lot of drugs around in recent days \u2013 another no-no for me \u2013 and I suspect a lot of people are going to be off their faces tonight.<\/p>\n
Whatever happens, I\u2019m sure 2017 can\u2019t be worse than this year. Whatever you do (or did) I hope it was fun and thanks for being by my side as we move forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It will be 90 days this week since my arrest and I\u2019m desperate for a change of\u00a0circumstances as I\u2019m becoming increasingly grouchy both with myself and\u00a0my fellow inmates. I\u2019m longing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-127","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-january"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gavafox.com\/foxhole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gavafox.com\/foxhole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gavafox.com\/foxhole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gavafox.com\/foxhole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gavafox.com\/foxhole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gavafox.com\/foxhole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gavafox.com\/foxhole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gavafox.com\/foxhole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gavafox.com\/foxhole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gavafox.com\/foxhole\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}