On a four-day trip to Ethiopia, I had a dream. In my dream, I saw two men, one older and one younger, facing one another against a background of temples and pyramids. The father was speaking as he performed the oil ceremony for his son. I became excited in the possibility of performing a visiting ceremony【B1】my son in Africa. For the next six days I privately wondered what【B2】to use in such a ceremony. Gradually the words【B3】me. By the time we arrived in Cairo, I was ready. I told my son that there was a ceremony I wanted to【B4】him in the tombs in Egypt. His eyes shone with【B5】But I wondered if he would still be receptive after my next statement. In the dream I remembered that the son was oiled, as it【B6】, with a dry substance. I took this to mean that powder【B7】oil was used. But what powder? I ruled out ground grass and flowers, and finally settled on sand. Sand represents the Sahara, and sand also【B8】the remains of the ancient people of Egypt. That made philosophical【B9】to me, but in the real world, young adults or almost anybody for that matter,【B10】disinclined to have sand poured on their hair. 【B1】