I miss you tremendously

Monday November 17, 2014

Dearest Nightingales,

I hope all is well with you all. I miss you tremendously. I’m not sure when I'll have the permission to send letters and make phone calls especially for you. I’m writing so I’ll have something ready to send once I'm allowed to do so.

The trip from the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre (OCDC) to the plane in Montreal was harder than the flight. It took from 5:00 AM to 7:00 AM to reach Montreal's Trudeau Airport, where I stayed in a cell until little before 7:00 PM when the plane took off. I protested the RCMP officer's maltreatment. He confiscated my eye glasses and my belt and, most importantly, my jacket in the cold cell (he offered me later some coarse blankets). I entered into a long crisis of coughing. I refused any food. He tried later to mend the situation but I told him how robotic he was.

Anyway the cell in prison here is less worse than OCDC. I have my own (!) TV, though all programs are in French only. However TV is free only the 1st month. After that I should pay 10 Euros monthly. There's a corner in the cell which consists of a shower and toilet seat. I should keep them clean. I have a sink, cupboards (open ones) and a desk with a mini single bed (plastic mattress and triangular pillow). There's one window that I can open and get fresh air. There are a few activities here like walking in a "demi" or 1/2 roofed cell. You may see it as a balcony with caged top and sides.

More than anything else, I was sad for not being with my lovely daughter Jena on her second birthday. I cry whenever I think of her missed birthday. I prevent myself from thinking of anything so I don't lose my composure because I need to be strong to face all the ludicrous allegations and movies manufactured with bad taste. Please convey my special love to all our lovely friends.

I haven't asked you about food and how Jena and you are managing. I wish I can send you some cooked meals. Tell me more about Jena. Take daily notes of her development, new words, and naughtiness, etc. Write them all, in addition of course to your jokes!

I receive 1 baguette per day (inedible the next day). I also had some cheese and I had some coffee with milk (powder). I should keep some of the dinner served at 5:30 PM for tomorrow's breakfast which is not served. Food is first served at 12:00 noon, but I can eat from what I keep in my little storage cabin. I can make my own coffee since one guard gave me today (from his boss) a little heater stick that I put in water to prepare coffee or, for the first time I saw a tea bag. Tea bags don't exist in the canteen list. Strange. Well it was mint tea, not black tea. What a disappointment!

I missed the Gatineau walk yesterday. I hope you managed to take Jena out instead of going with her usual friends. Tell the group that I walked alone after waiting for them for a long time without realizing the 6 hours difference between France's and North America's time... ha ha

Well inmates got up here (largest prison in Europe according to one of the guards) and they started shouting to each other across buildings and large spaces. It looks like a city with 4-6 story buildings all around 2 football fields with artificial green grass.

I just remembered why they took some pictures of me at OCDC, less than 16 hours before my extradition. They issued me a temporary passport that would allow me to travel. The fastest passport ever that can be issued in a record time.

I don't know what else is going on here or there. I know one thing and that is I miss you all like crazy. Especially my little daughter... oops... just mentioning her name brings down my tears... I cannot take it... Kiss her good from me.