Caribbean Dream

Had a strange dream last night I want to share:

I opened the door to my cabin and set my bags on the ground, a big smile on my face. I walked over and opened the window, taking in the refreshing sea air. "I made it!" I said to myself, as I looked out onto the brilliant blue water. I had signed up for a study abroad program on a boat in the Caribbean. For a year, the boat would travel to different countries, where I would learn about the Caribbean ecosystem.

I walked over to the sink and started washing my hands. I noticed that the sink was filling up with water, so I pulled the stopper out of the bottom. Suddenly, the roof started leaking water, and soon the whole room was flooded. I grabbed my backpack off the floor (now soaking wet), and scrambled toward the door. The walls of the room crumbled down, and I found myself swimming in the crystal clear ocean water. The water was warm and pure. I turned and saw a man and a woman sitting on a bench on the shore, dressed in bathing suits. I thought they were fellow students, so I swam over and said hi. The man shook my hand but didn't introduce himself. The woman gave me a quick awkward smile. Then they started making out heavily. I left in a hurry.

As I swam away, I saw other students getting into the ocean. I heard people talk about how excited they were to get wasted and laid on this trip. I started to feel upset. It seemed that people came on this trip just to party and that no one was interested in learning about tropical ecology.

I dove down into the water. The water was wonderfully clear; I didn't need goggles to see. As I poked around in the sand, I was dismayed to find it strewn with garbage: small bottles of alcohol, gum wrappers, food. I picked up a few bottles and swam out to shore. I walked over to a bar on the beach, where the friendly bartender with tanned skin and dark curly hair said "What can I get you?" I told him I just wanted to empty out the bottles in the sink. Once the bottles were empty, I told him where I should put the recycling. He flashed a smile and said "We actually don't recycle" and threw the bottles in the trash. Somehow, I felt worse on hearing that.

I walked away, the sounds of laughter echoing behind me. I felt really out of place, and wondered if it was too late to get a refund and cancel the trip. I reached into my bag and pulled out the brochure for the trip. I flipped to the back page, which in my excitement I had not yet read. I was stunned to see written in bold print: "We guarantee that you will lose your virginity on this trip!" Underneath that was, in smaller print "Just kidding. We know you all lost that years ago." I thought "This can't be real." I looked out over the beach, the water, all the people, and thought "Is this a dream?" Then I woke up.