I have been known to have strange dreams in the past. I have had enough situations where I've woken up feeling dazed and confused. Most of my dreams really make no sense (see this post). In other words, I have come to terms with the way my mind works when I am sleeping, and I deal with it. But last night's dream was really, really too logical for my normal dreams...
Apparently, some time in the next 3 years, I decide to go on a six month mission trip to some remote village in Africa (think Sudan/Ethiopia/Kenya area). It was actually that realistic. I knew I was south of Egypt, and in an area of great unrest. I also apparently was traveling with "The Next Food Network Star" crew because we were filming an episode that involved cooking ribs in the style of the native village where we were living (so much for being realistic...). We were supposed to be safe, but in the middle of the rib cooking event, gunfire breaks out. We have a group of about 15 US citizens, including some rich woman and her four year old daughter Christina, and as far as I can tell, our camp only had one African woman and her two to three year old little girl. Anyway, I scoop up the two little girls, and we hide in a pile of clothes in a closet (because that was clearly the safest option to running, right?...maybe I lied. Maybe my dream wasn't logical at all). I remember telling the girls to be quiet (which somehow they were...not in typical little girl style for sure, another discrepancy with reality). Our camp gets searched, but somehow our pile of laundry hideout is spared, and the next day we walk out to the utter destruction of the surrounding village.
At this point, the dream turns into
1. Must find the rest of the Americans because they clearly won't be able to survive without my expertise. I come to find out that along with being, well, a doctor, I'm also apparently a master navigator, fisher-woman, rock climber, musician, and general team morale booster...oh the coats I wear!
2. Must navigate from Kenya (which I'm pretty sure is where I was, come to think of it) to the US embassy in Egypt (not sure why I picked Egypt, guess it seemed like a good idea at the time)
So I collect the girls (the little African girl's mother was killed by the ambushers, so in fine American style, Christina and I name her Natalie); I collect all the medical supplies I need (which conveniently fit in a single backpack and is enough to take care of the 20 person crew for the entire trek to Egypt) and my guitar (because I now know how to play said instrument, and frankly, it kept the family together) and we head off in search of the rest of our pack. Which we find and I proceed to keep everyone alive and get us to the US embassy in Egypt, and we all become great heroes in the US...yeah, I know, ridiculous ending. But, in a nutshell, that's about how it went. I teach everyone how to fish (and we somehow don't all get dysentery and die in good ol' "Oregon Trail" fashion); I know how to use a compass (just follow the needle pointing north, right??); and when we finally land in NY, I lead everyone off the plane in a resounding chorus of "After the Storm" (Mumford and Sons, my current musical obsession). I also am told by the embassy that I can just take little Natalie to the US with me, no need to fill out any paperwork or go through the usual adoption hoops, she's just mine. And I teach her our own version of sign language (the sign for "family" is rubbing your left chest in a circular pattern, "dad" is stroking your chin like you have a beard, and "mom" is stroking your hair...yeah, super creative).
Oh, and there's a documentary because the Food Network film crew wasn't going to just let us idly walk through the treacherous jungle without something to vouch for our efforts. The dream ended with the entire Frends Crew (wearefrends.com ... yet another obsession of mine, gotta love my snowboarders) greets me at the airport with my family because they are just so pumped by the story of our epic journey through Africa (disregard the lack of pow to shred...or really me being at all cool enough for them, anyway).
So, I think this dream most likely stems from the fact that I feel inadequate and useless sitting around studying for eight hours of the day. In other words, I apparently need to be having ridiculously memorable adventures somewhere that doesn't involve my living room! I think I'll start with something a little closer to home than a war-torn country, though. Can't get too adventurous too quickly, now can we?
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