Well, can't beat MIT! That sucks your trip got ruined because of that. Dead cats have a way of turning up in weird places. Once I was swimming, just off a gorgeous white sand beach. The water was so clear and so perfectly inviting. As I was remarking on how clean and beautiful the setting was compared to where I was living at the time, I spotted kind of an amorphous blob. I didn't have my glasses on, but as it drifted closer it reminded me of something. So, I swam nearer and sure enough, it was the skin of a tortoiseshell cat! My then-girlfriend freaked right out and ran inside to take a shower. As I brushed my teeth of any potential dead-cat nastiness, I kept wondering why anyone would bother to skin a cat. That day was a little like tripping.