Arnon Grunberg

Dictionary

Half a watermelon

This Sunday morning I went for the second time (the first time was September 2006) to the Chorrillos prison in Lima to see some of the female MRTA prisoners.
There was no interpreter so I had to rely on a dictionary.
Last time we had vivid and sometimes hilarious discussions about the revolution and marriage.
This time the discussion was more sober.
I brought half a watermelon, six bananas, two mangos, and a box of chocolates.
I could have brought more fruit, but there are restrictions on the quantity you can bring. Some fruit, in bigger quantities, can be used to make alcohol.

NB The picture is not related to my visit to the Chorrillos prison, but to my visit to the prison in Cajamarca a few days earlier. In Lima the prison officials give you just one stamp on your arm, and they don't write many nice things next to it.