TTSOML #216: Immigration Detention Center in Vancouver, B.C.

I suppose I got an insider view of the system in Canada. That's one thing that kept me going, even in the jail in Canada, was knowing I was getting an inside peek at things, and most people didn't know how articulate I can be in making observations. So I made note of everything, and figured if I did not use it as evidence, it was at least new information, and information I could even use in writing a book one day.

And no matter how bad any experience is, if you're a writer, you know it's material you can create with. Doing all those things to me was like throwing a bunch of paint tubes at me. Thanks, because this is something I can work with people. Really colorful...thank you!

So these Korean women were sobbing and traumatized and I tried to play a game of Checkers with them but couldn't remember how to play. Then I gave them legal advice, not to believe a word the immigration people told them and to not SAY a word to them either, until they talked to a lawyer. They told me they were being told they had to fly out on their own expense right away and I told them, no, they had to be provided with a lawyer and a hearing first. I also told them to try to find a private attorney who would help them. So I showed them how to use the phone, and gave them the number I had been given, for the immigration lawyers.

Suddenly, our phone service was down and we were told it wasn't working for some reason. They couldn't get through. After I complained, it got fixed and calls were made, but someone didn't want calls to go out initially. And I don't think it was the elderly military men who were winking at me throught the glass either. I was the hot redhead and they weren't messing with me. I was their version of Rita Hayworth.

After some time, I asked the women if they liked to sing and what songs. So I started singing and they wanted me to sing some more, and they joined in to sing. They wanted a lot of Christina Aguillera and Mariah Carey. They really liked "Hero". I sang "Hero" with them a few times. Then, I was singing "Chain of Fools" and we were marching around the table singing. The guards were looking over. I think they kind of liked me and kind of 'wondered' at that point. Rita was supposed to sit still and look pretty, not parade around the table and stir up the Asians into rousing renditions of pop music.

There was nothing good on T.V. I saw part of "Fried Green Tomatoes" and that was the only good show I saw. I didn't sleep there either. I don't remember getting any sleep for almost a week, and amazingly, I didn't hallucinate either. I hear you start seeing things after not sleeping for awhile, but I didn't.

When I left, the guards were nice to me. I never had a problem with any of them, although some were a little harsher with the Asian women who didn't speak any English. The food was a LOT better in the detention center than it was in the jail.

I was summoned to leave for meeting the lawyers and going to a hearing.

What happens, is, well, I'll make another post about this part of the process.