Maddie hits the wall. . . and bounces back!

At the beginning of week 4 of our travels, Maddie had had it. Her list went as follows: too hot, too many mosquitos, too many people, too much Portuguese, too little nature, too many toddlers asking to play with her, too few books (in fact she ran out after week 2 causing her to re read all of them), too much fruit, too much salt water (in Floripa) and just too much period. What's an introverted, cold loving girl to do? First, she gave her list of gripes, followed by what she wanted to do when she got back to Berkeley (go into her room, close the door and play with her animals. Later on, call her friends.) We prayed together, Maddie set some limits, and has bounced back. She even wrote this blog with Dana's help. She's been pretty cheerful since with a few dips. It dawned on me (Dana) that we are on a long trip and nothing is familiar and after a while whatever coping mechanisms we have, simply fail. Another insight that I have is that we are together every minute of the day and our moods effect each other (In Berkeley, we have different work/school/meetings/soccer/errand schedules and at times we can go a day or two without really being with each other. Well, not so on this trip!!!). Actually, both girls have been really amazing on this trip. They are gems!

(Maddie meets Gollum).