In November, I went on my last 2013 CorizonTV expedition...this time to Dona Ana County Jail in Las Cruces, New Mexico. They have a model Mental Health program, and that is the focus of the January episode, so we went to check it out! The film crew included me, Tom Zaleski, Brian Fulton and Callahan Miller (all from DVL).
We went inside the Mental Health units, where our clinical and administrative staff manage the patients. Some of the situations were a little disturbing, like the solitary confinement with the only contact being between glass and through a small door. This was generally because of behavior and danger to the inmate or to others. And some of the inmates yelled out foul language and threats, etc., but most of them were quiet and well-mannered while we were there.
We did interviews with several staff, and even the Jail Director, Chris Barela gave us a great interview with some very cool 'testimonial-type' footage. Can't wait to get that out there!
The first night we went to a restaurant recommended by the Corizon staff called La Posta. It was 'authentic' Mexican food, and I had chicken fajitas. They were delicious! And I also had a VIRGIN STRAWBERY DAQUIRI, which was (oh my gosh) worth the whole trip -- MUUAAHHH!
They had a bunch of exotic birds in the entry way near the desk. They were doing cat calls, whistles, and saying "Hello!" and "Hi, there!" It was fun for us tourists, but if I had to work at that desk, it would drive me crazy before long.
DAY TWO:
We went right into several of the group therapy sessions and watched the mental health counselors working directly with the inmates. Most of them just look very 'normal' and it's hard to believe that they are mentally ill or have anything wrong with them. Very sad, really. Their lives are ruled by their disorders. And there are so few mental health facilities on the 'outside' that they end up committing crimes and landing in jail. Their issues include bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, severe depression, and a variety of others. This jail has separate pods and houses men and women.
It was very interesting. It makes you grateful for good medical and mental health! I didn't take that many photos, because flashes made the inmates nervous, but we got some great video footage. (I have to say that we had a couple of 'flashers' who wanted to show us EVERYTHING...we did some quick turning away in some pods, but not soon enough!)
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| Film Crew from left: Brian, a Corizon staffer, Tom, Callahan and Jason Duran, Director of Nursing. |
SOME SPOOKY MEXICO HISTORY:
The second night we went to a highly recommended restaurant called DOUBLE EAGLE, which was renowned for its steaks -- but also because of the 'spooky' story of its beginning. Apparently, back in the 1840's, a wealthy family named Maes lived there, and had many servants. The teenage son, Armondo, fell in love with Inez, the maid. Well, Mrs. Maes would have none of that, so she fired Inez and forbade them to see each other. But of course, they were 'deeply in love' and kept seeing each other. One day Mrs. Maes found Armondo and Inez "entwined in Armondo's bedroom," and she became enraged. She grabbed her sewing shears and stabbed Inez to death! In the struggle, she also stabbed her son, who was trying to protect Inez. He slipped into a coma, and died three days later. The legend goes that he died "not from his wounds, but from a broken heart."
Both of these deaths occurred in the GHOST ROOM, where we requested to have dinner (again, at the recommendation of the staffers who said it was a cool touristy thing to do). So it's said that their GHOSTS still inhabit the ghost room. The lights flashed a couple times, the door closed unexpectedly, the candle went out and re-started, the waiters all told their "eye witness" accounts of seeing weird things...hmmm. There are two upholstered chairs (his/hers) and the ghosts of Armondo and Inez supposedly sit there all the time and keep wearing out the upholstery, even though it is replaced twice a year...hmmm. And they DON'T LIKE IT when visitors sit in their chairs. So of course, Tom, Callahan and Brian all sat in the chairs. The legend is that if you sit there, they will HAUNT YOUR DREAMS that night. Or you may 'have feelings of being followed, or think you hear someone calling your name.'
The pictures on the wall above are Mr. and Mrs. Maes. They were creepy and their eyes followed you when you moved around the room...do-do-do-do...do-do-do-do....(how could that 'sweet'-looking woman possibly have stabbed two people to death?!)
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| In the "Ghost Room": Tom Zaleski, Callahan Miller, Me, Brian Fulton -- and you'll notice we all have SPOOKY EYES! |
We stayed late, and after dinner asked for a tour of the rest of the building, which they were happy to give since most everyone else had left. It's very ornately decorated and sort of creepy. It reminded me of the old TV show, "Dark Shadows." The white carving on the lower right of the photo above is where the legendary "Billy the Kid" carved his name and the name of his girlfriend, Maria (Gonzales) into the post. A letter from Billy to the Territorial Governor Lew Wallace is also framed on the patio. The letter was asking for clemency for some 'judicial executions.' Um...the plea for mercy was refused.
The next morning, I asked Tom, Cali and Brian if they had nightmares, and they all said NO, so that was good. :o) As we were heading to the airport the next morning, it was cool to see the REAL MEXICO just over the border of NEW MEXICO.
SERIOUS *SCARE* AT THE AIRPORT:
Tom Zaleski (videographer) has been diabetic since he was 12 years old, and while standing in the security line waiting on our luggage, he went into DIABETIC SHOCK. I have never seen that happen before, and it was very scary! He started shaking, he couldn't speak, looked like he was trying (very unsuccessfully) to dance - his legs and arms were spazzing out in sort of jerk-y seizure-like motions. He stared at us sort of dazed, he turned completely PALE, and we were trying to get him to the ground so he didn't FALL to the ground and hit his head or something. We were trying to find the sugary things he keeps in his carry-on luggage for emergencies, but it's like his jaw was locked and he couldn't speak to tell us where it was. Security brought some lifesavers, and he ate a couple of them and started to feel a little better. The 'glazed' look left his eyes. We walked him over to some chairs.
I had a bag of mini-Oreos in my bag that we got him to eat when the seizures stopped. The airport security called for MEDICS, who came right away, and moved us over a little more (thank heaven our stuff was already through security). We got him some fruit juice, and gave him all these easily-absorbable carbs! They brought a gurney, about 8 guys at first, a little alarm thing going off...DRAMA! They stayed with us for awhile, made sure his blood sugars were levelized, did some other checks on him, and made him sign off on a bunch of stuff (liability, I'm sure!) Tom was embarrassed and kept apologizing, but it was no problem -- we were all just grateful he was okay!
They were very nice guys, very helpful and genuinely concerned...they told us if this had happened in flight, we would have caused an emergency landing! We bought him some stuff to eat on the plane and we hurried to our gate, and barely made it before takeoff. They weren't holding the flight for us, but we were the last ones boarded, and they closed the doors immediately after we got on, and took off!
We didn't leave Tom's side the whole trip home, on the layovers, restroom trips (Brian, of course), on the shuttle, etc. It was SCARY! He says it's rare -- happens about once a year or so, but he generally has it under good control.
WHEW! A little extra excitement -- and not even jail-related!
