Our Family of Six

The maximum prison sentence permitted in Brazil is 30 years, even for the worst crimes.  In the United States, life sentences and even the death penalty are a part of our criminal system.  This difference was one of the surprising facts we learned this year.  The fun way to learn about another culture is to have an exchange student live with you.  Instead of learning from books, we learn from casual conversations, like listening to the news and comparing stories about our countries.

We recently visited a famous former federal prison.  Alcatraz is an island located in San Francisco Bay.  From 1934 to 1963, it housed the most dangerous prisoners.  It finally closed because it was too expensive to maintain. 

Alcatraz is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) offshore. 

 The views are beautiful; it must have been terrible for the prisoners to be so close to freedom.

There is a question whether anyone ever escaped.  A few prisoners made fake heads to put in their cots, and chiseled concrete from around an air vent.  They made it out of the prison.  Did they drown in the bay?  Or make it to freedom? 

From 1969 to 1971, a group of Native Americans from many different tribes occupied the island.  The occupation changed, for the better, the way the United States government dealt with them.

There is still graffiti from the occupation around Alcatraz. (See the word “Free” above.)

When we were done with our tour, we just got on a ferry back to San Francisco.  If needed, I will remind my kids of some of the regulations we learned. They sound like good rules for teenagers, as well as prisoners.

Luckily we left without a “white badge of courage” (seagull poop on our clothes).  Most people are not fans of seagulls, but these chicks were really cute.