Sunday, July 18

I hope not all my dreams came true. Something about the incredible hospitality we enjoyed must have crept into my subconscious . During the night I dreamed that I gained 20 lbs. on this trip. When I saw what they had prepared for breakfast I wondered if this was a prophetic dream. They must have been up most of the night as we had fresh homemade doughnuts, an egg casserole, and fruit for breakfast. I shared my concerns regarding this dream (after indulging in 3 doughnuts) and the Barkman's charming 7 year old son Nicholas suggested we use a truck scale to weigh me after breakfast!

Church was approximately 10 minutes away down a winding dirt road, past the common brick huts with straw roofs. On the way, one of Tristen's friends (a very elderly woman by the looks of it - we are pretty bad at judging ages here) was standing at the side of the road, waiting. She had never attended church with them before but they picked her up. Well, they tried to pick her up but she was unable to really walk. She shuffled about 3 inches at a time. In the end, she simply crawled into their jeep with a bit of a push and pull. She seemed to be quite delighted with church, listening quietly for most of the time but a couple of times she became quite talkative. Tristen found her animated demeanor amusing and commented that she's never been here before but suddenly she's in charge! Her wrap fascinated us as all over it was printed "Pope John Paul II Visit to Malawi"! She was quite delightful but as we were leaving after church, she stated that she was going to die next week as she was very tired of life.

Lunch at the Barkman's was yet another feast! I do believe I won't be the only one who has gained 20 lbs. in 24 hours. Oh well, tomorrow it's back to peanut butter sandwiches for lunch and none of us are ever tempted to overeat...

On my way to Weight Watchers,

Debbie