Rehab 2

Narconon was right on the beach in Newport California. We literally sat on our back porch and watched people walk along the boardwalk. Not the normal residents along this stretch of real estate. On the the drive from the hospital in , Ed and Nathan were giving me a mini tour pointing out all the landmarks. As we got closer to the ocean and the rehab they got a little more serious and started a little bit with some of the rules. I didn't give a damn about a word they said the whole time. I was in a thick fog and I just wanted to go home. I even told them that maybe this was the wrong place for me and I thought that maybe I should just go home and try to kick it by myself. Ed promised me that I would not regret sticking this out and it would be the best thing that ever happened to me. I felt so shitty. I asked if they would be giving me anything for the withdrawal symptoms. "From here on out it's all natural" was ed's response. He said they did special types of massages and you could drink CalMag, a drink high in calciun and Magnezium that would help. He said that a lot of people spend time in the sauna during there first couple of weeks while in detox. Once you start feeling a little better you start the classwork.
The thought of living right on Newport Beach made me think that this rehab was going to be a nice place. With stars and rich people, just a real high end rehab. I should have known from the hospital, Ed and Nathan, and the van they picked me up in, that I might have gotten the wrong impression. I did. It was a beat up old rental. It was a large, three level building. It looked as though at one time each floor was identical to the other and were rented independently of each other. It also had a small basement areal with a sauna and a small weight room in it. The top floor's family room and kitchen had been converted into a big classroom. Long tables were set up all around to get as many students as possible at one time. The classroom had the most awesome views of the ocean I had ever seen. I just couldn't stop looking out at the view, it was unbelievable. A more beautiful spot I just could not imagine. There was a hallway leading back to three bedrooms and one bathroom. Two of the bedrooms were small and were supposed to house only two people. However, they were so busy that they installed bunkbeds, so now there was four to a room. The back room had four set of bunkbeds, they had just installed the fourth. It was supposed to only house six at once. The counselors were very nervous about a city inspection because of the overcrowding but they were not about to turn anyone away. Females were housed on the third floor.
The second floor was still the main kitchen and family room. The kitchen was very small and everyone could never fit into the family room. We met every morning in the family room at 7:30 for breakfast and daily muster. There was a large deck off this floor so the door were always open and people sat out there as well. It was crazy at meal time, people everywhere, it was so noisy and very intimidating when you don't know anyone. They had one tv in the house and it was in the family room. We would watch the news while we ate breakfast. At 7:30 the tv was turned off and muster was called. Chore assignments were given at that time and they stopped serving breakfast. The hallway was in the same place as the floor above and the bedrooms and bathrooms laid out exactly the same. The men were housed on the second floor.
The first floor was the where the office was. In the family room they had a large desk with someone always answering the phone. They had a sofa and some chairs and people were always hanging out here. The kitchen was still in tact, but looked run down like it hadn't been used in many years for anything other than getting a drink of water and a useful refrigerator. The rest of the first floor was the same as the others. This floor was for patients still on detox. Once a patient was ready to start the program they became a student and moved upstairs and began spending their days in the classroom. While in detox the days are pretty casual. Just hanging out on the boardwalk, going for walks and trying to get feeling better. They kept forcing us to drink CalMag. It was horrible and it made your pee neon green. I soon learned that all the counselors were graduates of Narconon and many of them recently graduated. I didn't see too much of Ed after that, it was always Nathan that would take us on walks or over to the 7-11. this rehab was very, very different from my last experience and from what I expected. We had lot's of freedom here.
I called my dad and told him how bad it was and that I needed to come home immediately. He and my mom just asked me to stick it out for a couple of weeks, for them, for my family. that was pretty good motivation. I changed my mindset. I had to be tough. I had to act tough. Screw all these guys, they were new here once too.
That is all for now.
peace.