Adayfi had emerged by that point as an informal leader of fellow detainees - organising hunger strikes and other protests. He earned himself a nickname among the guards, "smiley troublemaker". He also devoted himself to education, teaching himself fluent English from scratch, and to writing. He wrote his memoir of Guantanamo twice. The first version, written on contraband pieces of paper, was confiscated and destroyed. When he realised that legal letters were privileged, he sat for hours in the camp classroom, his feet shackled to the floor, and wrote letters, which later became the basis of his book.
