Traveling Beans

Blood means good luck

I threw my roll of toilet paper into my backpack and headed downstairs to the bathroom. There isn't toilet paper in the stalls so you gotta bring your own, but it would be strange walking around the hallways with a roll of toilet paper and everyone knowing you're off to take care of your business. And, you don't wanna just tear off some because you never know how much you're gonna need. Still, sometimes no matter what you do and how many bases you cover, there's still something you can't control...like when a teacher came running over to ask where I was going. She was afraid I was taking off though I had to proctor a few classes as they took some tests. Since she's one of the English teachers, I was able to explain my rationale and once again prove yes, I am the crazy American trying to do my best to make sure I fit in, but never really do.

Maybe yesterday this would have unnerved me a bit...it seemed like no matter what happened --last minute news that I had to judge an English speaking contest today, my Wednesday classes would be cancelled (and therefore I would have to modify my lesson plans....there's no point in a curriculum because classes are constantly getting cancelled for some kind of testing), students skipping my evening class because they have too much homework-- it was a day full of little irritating things that kept adding up. Today...I feel so good and awake nothing can really phase me.

My co-teacher said my dream last night explains the change in my mood. This morning while we were sitting and talking during our prep time I had to tell her about the crazy dreams I had last night....

I was in an apartment and there was a huge, long, dark gray fish swimming in a big tub in a kitchen. There was also a huge lizard (which looked like a mix between a komodo dragan and an alligator) hangin around that was pretty friendly and harmless. Something was wrong with the fish so I went over to it and held it, but then for some reason pressed it hard against a sharp edge, giving it a clean gash and it began to bleed. Once the lizard/alligator sensed the blotts of blood, it started chasing the fish around in the tub...it chased and the fish evaded, over and over...finally I got up the nerve to plunge my arms in and save the fish. I slung the fish over my right shoulder while the lizard/alligator started climbing everything in the room to snap the fish off of me. Somehow I found a large bowl, washed it and stuck the fish inside and put it in another room while the lizard/alligator calmed down and forgot about the fish.

The interpretation and symbolism a la my co-teacher:
Blood is good luck. Gold-colored fishes are also good luck, but dark colored fish --like the one in my dream-- are bad luck. This confused me. I thought maybe the good and bad luck were cancelled out in my dream. However, according to my co-teacher, she says since in my dream I'm the one who caused the blood-letting gash in the fish, I broke a spell of bad luck or or other bad fortune. This was pretty amazing to me because yesterday I was in the worst mood and today I woke up refreshed and energized. It's largely thanks to being able to vent to Kristofer last night and laugh a little bit...but then again, the blood-letting in my dream could also be a metaphor for my stress-relieving talk with Kristofer.

In case you don't believe in cosmic dreams, here's another strange coincidence. After the dream of the battle between the me and the great fish with the lizard/alligator, I had another dream. In this second dream I was standing around waving my clasped hands. Then I realized something was inside my hands. When I opened them I saw a small silver fish the size of my palm. I immediately tossed it because I was creeped out by the slimy feeling (even though in the previous dream I had a gigantic wet fish slung over my should for 20 minutes before I figured out what to do with it). Anyway, the coincidence: when I sat down to have breakfast this morning I saw four of the same palm-sized fish sitting on a plate on the dining room table. Seeing the fish triggered a flashback of all my dreams, which is how I remembered them today because lately I have had no clear recollection of my dreams even though I usually do.

Other symbols of good luck in dreams:
Pregnant women.

Symbols of bad luck:
Children - because they usually represent some kind of trouble such as crying, mischief
Money

posted by jacquelina @ 9:57 AM