Dreams / Träume

Two days in a row I’ve had dreams about traveling and getting through airports.

Friday night’s dream was one of my infrequent, but consistent, immigration and customs nightmares. I had flown into the States and was approaching what I assumed was the TSA checkpoint (The set-up in my dream was reminiscent of international arrivals in Memphis, but no specifics were mentioned). Once there I went to a free table where they were looking for somebody specific, not me. I insisted they search me anyway, although I was worried about the consequences.

I have no idea how it happened, but a higher-up came over to interview me and she asked me some questions then told me to pose for a photo—I did, but her assistant, a man, bent over in front of me and was grinding into my groin and she told me he was getting ready for the next step—I think he was looking for something on the ground. The next thing I knew was that they were administering the US oath of citizenship – even though I was already a US citizen.

After pointing this out by pulling out my passport, they flipped through my passport and found a note that an immigration officer had put in there that indicated I was suppose to speak to one of two different people to clear something up. However, I was physically too far and it was impossible to speak to them.

And then I woke up.

Last night I dreamt about leaving—I was at home, packing, I had fit everything in and had a surprising amount of space left over, not a ton, but enough space to slip a few extra items in. I suddenly realized I’d left a lot of stuff out, including my favorite dance shoes, and I was asking about for another suitcase—I must not have found one, because I was suddenly at the airport, I think it was Denver and I wanted to buy a couple items to put in my suitcase before it was checked.

So I left my suitcase unattended for a few minutes, thinking my friends would stand by it, but instead they went into a restaurant, right next to the check-in desk, and sat down. I came out of the Esprit shop I was in, grabbed my suitcase (thus relieving a few people), and then (I must have bought the items, but that wasn’t in the dream), I made my way to the check-in desk, only to take a detour to complete a survey which involved working in a restaurant—I knew that my flight, an international flight, had to be checked in for, immediately, but that did not stop me from cutting things up and filling soda cups. The form I was filling out said Dresden, but I had crossed it out and written Leipzig—so I guess I wasn’t in Denver any more—even though I was about to check in for an American Airlines flight.

And then I woke up.

Am I the only one with such odd dreams?