Trip to Mumbai (combining two dreams)

I have had two dreams over the last month or so that placed me in Mumbai. The feel was the same in both so I will write them here, with the first dream coming first.

I had travelled there for my junior high school friend's art exhibition. He was a sculptor. So I went to a shopping mall where the art gallery was. The gallery was all decorated in off-white gossamer. I found his sculptures in a back room of the gallery, partially open to the outside. The sculptures were alabaster. But I did not know very much about art so I just simply admired them and then went back outside.

I was glad to be there. That was the main feeling I had - happiness at being back in India. I was travelling with another lady, only known to me in the dream, named Caroline. She was an American woman in her 40s. We were at a train depot and needed money, so we used our ATM cards to get out American money and then had it changed into rupees at another, completely automated, kiosk. I did not know those sorts of things were possible, but it had been a long time since I had been to India.

We travelled out a bit to the suburbs, where we went to a party. Some of my online friends were there. Many nameless and faceless people, too. We lounged around in a white room. Two friends in particular I met there. One was just as I had imagined - the kindest, friendliest person with a million dollar smile, a heart of gold, and interesting things to say. He just was so full of brilliance and care that I wanted to talk to him to the exclusion of everyone else, but he and Caroline were in a conversation so I turned my attention to the rest of the party, and another friend who I was meeting for the first time. We had an interesting rapport, he and I; I felt I always had to be at the intellectual ready, but didn't feel like it was a one-upping conversation. I have used the term 'mind sharpener' to describe such people and conversations, but those conversations often felt a bit forced, as if I had to prove myself. This was not so forced. I do not even remember what we talked about. Certainly literature; maybe politics. It was intellectual, yet effortless and natural. And at the moment when I realized how effortless and natural it was, I realized I had something very important to say.

"I have to go."

And I got up, took Caroline with me, and we left.

We pondered how to get back to the downtown area (Although it was Mumbai, it was nothing like Mumbai actually was. It was more like Chicago, actually.) and decided we would take the metro. So we headed over to the metro. Images of the downtown area, brought from another dream, filled my mind. Narrow streets, brick buildings, again nothing like what is reality but it was indeed the downtown in my dream.

And I suppose we went there, but in a dream I have not yet dreamed.

Dreams that ended lucidly but otherwise were messed up

I went to Baton Rouge for work and it was at the same time as the Diwali show. So I also went to that,w hich was nice. At some point I had to go to the bathroom, so I went down the hall to the women's locker room. I walked into the men's first and saw a bunch of guys chilling in the hot tub, realized I was in the wrong one, and went to the women's quickly. There was also a hot tub there, and also a sauna and a steam room. I thought again about the fact that I miss having a steam room and hadn't gone to a gym that had one since 2008. There were, of course, lockers - it was a locker room after all. But there were no toilets. So I realized I had to wake up if I wanted to go to the bathroom.

It was 5:30 AM when I woke up. I thought I'd stay awake, but I fell asleep again.

And in this second dream, I was at home again, but some friends from the recent past had come back to visit. It was really nice to see them, but then they decided they wanted to get a picture of me laughing. I didn't want to take a picture, so one of them tickled my feet while the other one took pictures. I told them if they posted the pictures on Facebook, I'd kill them.

And this is how I found out that I am ticklish even in my dreams.