Dreams of Adventure

Last night I dreamed that I was running up stairs in India. I don't know where I was in India or what exactly I was running to. All I can remember is talking to my conscious and saying "keep going". I remember seeing small glimpses of what I was dying to see, but in those glimpses I could only tell that it was an Indian landmark. It was similar to the Taj Mahal but smaller and more secluded. It wasn't the grand wonder of the world that the Taj is and it didn't have the swarms of tourist that the Taj has. Although it was only a glimpse it was a sight of a peaceful beauty. A place that created a peace so quiet and tranquil that it could only be described as a divine, radiant, beauty.

I chose to write about this dream because in exactly 24 days I will be traveling to Hyderabad, India. I also chose to write about this dream because my birthday is June 26th and according to a book of birthdays one of the words that should describe me is adventurous. Now, I am the girl who is afraid of rollercoasters, most times needs to have a plan before going out, and usually the last person to follow anything but the yellow brick road. So imagine my surprise when one of my words in adventurous. Outside of this inexplicable choice to go to India I didn't feel that I could identify at all.

But after reflecting for some time I realized that adventure doesn't just describe crazy ski diving and treasure hunting. Adventure can come in so many forms. When you really think about it there is adventure in almost everything. Books, religion, food, languages, literally everything. I find the adventure in these things. Eating paella in Barcelona, sitting in a tomb in Marrakesh, reading about a young girls life in Nepal; these are the adventures I have experienced.

So will I climb the highest point in the Himalaya's while I'm in India?....I'm not sure, and since I'm afraid of heights probably not, but I will have my share of adventure; from learning Hindi, to working in a Muslim school, and even the simple pleasure of tasting chicken masala.  So the birthday book was right all along, I can be described as adventurous and my dream was only a foreshadowing of all that I am about to experience.

M.S.

6.20.11