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THOMAS THE TOUR GUIDE

to see those restaurants. I’ve never eaten prison food.’

The Israelis were no longer frightened. Even though I didn’t like the idea, they insisted that I show them around the other sections. I didn’t want to ignore the lieutenant’s order about staying in my room, but neither did I want to disappoint my guests. As a compromise, we went downstairs and ate a meal of fried chicken and rice in Pinos. I hoped the inmates wouldn’t cause any trouble. In fact, they were quite friendly. A small group came over and began asking the Israelis questions about where they were from, what they thought of Bolivia and what they thought of San Pedro prison. The Israelis answered all their questions happily and even began to joke around with them. After we had finished eating, the bravest of the group asked, ‘And these inmates that smoke cocaine – can we see that now?’

‘No,’ I replied. ‘That section is dangerous, man. We can go there another day. It’s not a good idea.’

We ended up back in my room, sitting around my table again. After talking with the other prisoners, they were even more excited than before. They had many more questions to ask. They also wanted to know more about the prison, so I started telling them about the prison elections and the rules we had in each section. They sat there completely captivated until a taxista knocked on my door to tell me that the lieutenant wanted the tourists to leave. They didn’t want to go and I didn’t want them to go, but I had to stay on the lieutenant’s good side.

We said our first goodbyes in my room and they offered me small amounts of money. I refused them, but they insisted and left some notes on the table saying, ‘Don’t worry, you need it more than we do.’

‘OK. Thanks very much.’

I accompanied my new friends to the gate, where the girls kissed me goodbye – except Yasheeda, who was staying behind. When I went to shake hands with the guy who had asked most of the questions, he gave me a hug. I was surprised and very moved. We had only met each other a few hours before, but in that short time there had been a strong connection.

‘You know what? You should become a proper tour guide,’ he suggested. ‘You’re an amazing person. I know about ten people who would come right now, if I told them.’

The others joined in enthusiastically, ‘Yeah, that would be cool.’
‘We’re going to send our friends to visit you. They’ll love it.’

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