Monday in South Africa. I wake up before my alarm goes off, and make sure to get myself out of bed and moving. Today’s a big day. My new friends, Brendan and Muriel, are picking me up to hike to the top of Table Mountain. I’m not much of an outdoor enthusiast, but Brendan is a hiker/climber/surfer. He knows the mountain well, and will be my guide for the day.

They pick me up at 8:30AM. I’m automatically translating time zones to home in my head now…2:30AM at home so no one’s awake yet. A quick post to Facebook before I head out the door. I don’t know when I’ll get on wi-fi again, and someone should know what I’m doing in case I die on the mountain. I squirrel myself into Brendan and Muriel’s car, and off we go. There are options for routes, but I don’t know anything so I let them pick. I’ve already warned them that I don’t climb because of my piano fingers, and I don’t do well with exposed cliffs where there’s a mountain on one side, a foot wide path to walk on, and a precipitous drop. They know my limitations.

We pick a path, and it starts with just some steep paths. It’s hard hiking, a fact that the burn in my thighs is reminding me of, but it’s also manageable. We keep working our way up, heading into a gorge in the mountain. Now, we’re starting to scramble up little chunks of rock that involve me thinking about where to put my feet to climb up. Muriel is a beast, and Brendan jokes that she has one pace for everything. Brendan is practically a mountain goat, and seems to navigate with ease. I’m feeling the months without running training and gym visits now, but I’m motivated to do this.

After a few bouts of scrambling up rock faces followed by flat paths where we cross over to another chunk of rock to climb, we eventually start just going up. We are climbing up the ravine. The burning in my legs has gotten worse. I know I’m paying for this tomorrow, and probably adding grey hairs by the minute. We reached a flat outcropping, and paused for tea. About an hour and change into the ascent, and we’re probably half way up. The view is spectacular, and Brendan and Muriel have packed tea. It was a wonderful moment to spend with new friends, suspended in air and time.

But the mountain still beckons. We pack up, and continue slogging. My legs were thankful for the break. They aren’t fresh, but the fire has faded into a familiar ache in every step. ‘Friends with the pain,’ I think. I’d like to tell you more about the rest of the ascent. The beautiful flowers…pincushions, proteas…I don’t even know what else. Birds and their songs in the air. All I hear is the voice in my head saying, “One more step closer. Don’t stop.” Brendan seems to know when I need a moment to rest my legs before pushing ahead. Maybe he heard it in the heaving gasps of my breath.

It took a little over three hours, but we reached the top. This was no Lion’s Head. I had gracious guides leading me up the mountain, helping me find the right path for me to reach the summit. Once we reached the top of Table Mountain, we continued hiking our way around to the main area where the cable car takes the less athletic (and less crazy) to the top. Now, I was able to think and talk. We shared some of our dance stories and histories. I pulled my camera out for photos, and started enjoying myself.

Eventually, we started making our way down, a different path with a more regulated descent. It’s a bit hard on the knees and muscles. I think we all reached the bottom a little battered, and glad to be done.

The day ended with dinner at their place, and a little dancing. They had asked me about taking a private lesson with me while I was here, but I suggested we just call it friends hanging out and talking about dancing. Much like everyone I meet here, Brendan and Muriel have been incredibly generous to me, and the least I could do was share what little I could.

Throughout the day, I also learned more about them, their passions, about their advocacy for ethical veganism. I can’t say I’m down for that, but I appreciated the conversation, their deep convictions and values, and the way they practice those values in their life. They are two truly amazing people, and seem to make each other better. I hope some day I have a partnership like that. I may not suddenly be vegan, but I do know that my time with them has changed me. I have been to the mountain top. I have seen the world from new points of view. My deepest gratitude to my guides.

I’m sorry for the delay in posting. I’ve had some technical difficulties, but finally gotten them sorted out. Because of that, I’m a few days behind in my postings. This post covers my experiences for Saturday and Sunday. I’ll post again about the past few days, but it continues to be amazing.

Yesterday (Saturday), I didn’t have anything planned that I had to do. I spent the morning sleeping in a bit, and then decided to hike Lion Head mountain. I’d heard that it was an easy hike with amazing views. I was doing good for a while until the path turned into a ledge cut on the side of the mountain with some scrambling up rocks. When I first saw this, my heart started racing. I managed to push past my fear several times. Finally, I reach what I would refer to as the mane of the lion, and decided that was far enough for me. There was a nice plateau where I could set up my tripod, and take some amazing pictures I can stitch together into a panorama.

Sometimes we push past our fears. Sometimes our fears are trying to tell us something. Sometimes we aim to summit the mountain and still fall short. It doesn’t always happen in a day. The circumstances aren’t always right, sometimes we aren’t in the right place. But even though I fell short, I celebrate my effort and my personal growth. In many ways, this entire trip has felt like that: pushing myself up the mountain…pushing past my fears. Tomorrow is a new day, and I get to try again. This time, I have a guide as I hike to the top of Table Mountain, the centerpiece of Cape Town.

After hiking Lions Head, I had time to spend with one of the new friends I’ve made through dancing here. Hillary is one of those beautiful Christians that lives her life as an example of what Christianity can be at its best. I had originally planned to see a big band concert, but it was sold out. So instead, we managed to just barely catch the sunset over the Atlantic before getting dinner, and then heading out to a club to swing dance. While the tourist experiences here are amazing, the best moments keep coming from the locals.

Which brings me to today. This morning, I visited Hillary’s church, an Anglican Church that reminds me of the small and diverse congregation at Hunting Ridge Presbyterian Church where I work. After the service, I helped her bake in preparation for a tea she was hosting, but had to head out before the tea to get to the Langa township for a concert. On my first day here, I met a lovely young woman who mentioned the concert. I had given her my card, and asked her to email me the details. The concert was amazing, and a highlight of my time here.

Before the main group, two local groups part of a collective called Langa Arts performed. Thami, the woman I had met, was the singer for the marimba band. She is a dynamite powerhouse. I was blown away. And to state the obvious, I’m not blown away easily. After those two groups, a third band that had been brought in from France performed. They were a Voodoo funk band, really an Afro-funk band. Everyone was dancing, including me. One of the older women from the township started teaching me to dance. It felt wonderful to be immersed in this world and let myself go.

I am ever grateful to all of the people I have met here who have embraced me so whole heartedly. All of my most amazing experiences are things I would never have found researching on the Internet. Baltimore will always be my home, but there is something in this place that calls me to be a part of it in some capacity. I can’t help but think that this is what love is at its core: when you open your heart to the world, and the world opens its heart back.