Friday

Our feet in the Indian Ocean

I finally had a full night’s sleep last night and woke up and went for a run with three of the other fellows. It felt really great to get out of the fog that I’ve been in over the past few days.
First thing today we visited the Chrysalis Camp in the mountain area of Cape Town. A group called Realistic which serves at recovering drug addicts were working through the first part of a twenty-one day rehabilitation camp. After some singing and dancing (which is how every new experience seems to start here) we broke off into small groups to learn about each other and our pasts. I think that this was my favorite part of the trip so far. The immediate comfort of the group was totally unfamiliar to me, but was totally refreshing. The lack of barriers and inhibition in the way the “realists” spoke about their struggles with drugs and alcohol was something I’ve never seen before. It was not about addiction or blaming; but about taking complete responsibility about the choices they have made in their lives and the affects those choices have made on those around them. They were really interested in talking about the way Americans deal with their addictions and drug use and were unrelenting in challenging our way of thinking.
Afterward we went to Fish Hoek Bay and I got to put my feet in the Indian Ocean.