Welcome home. I am glad you had such an amazing trip. I would love to hear about it. Let me know when you are speaking at Shir Tikvah. You are amazing young leader with so much spirit and talent and more. Words don't describe.
yours,
Caroline
Bravo! Maddy,
A thoughtful piece for your final entry (though I think you should consider a longer reflection later, even if it's not part of your blog). I love that you were able to complete your trip at Il Granello, it seems so appropriate. I'm also thinking it will give you the perfect space to get complete with all you've seen and done. Can't wait to see you in less than a week.
Dad
great final blog HI MADDY; WE LOVED YOUR BLOG AND CANT WAIT TO HEAR THE STORIES RIGHT FROM YOU. SEE YOU SOON.
LOVE GRANDMA HENI AND GRANDPA DICK.
XXXOOOO
have fun at Il Granello! I'm glad you enjoyed my blog! Have fun at Il Granello! It really is a great place. And how cool that you're traveling with your kids!
Re: Il Granello Hi Madeline,
I have been following your blog ever since you first listed Il Granello on there as we are confirmed to stay with Elisa, Romano and the children in September/October this year and are very excited. It is great to hear you are finishing there as well.
I have found your blogs facinating and certainly has made me even more excited about our trip, we are travelling around Europe for 12 months with our children and I am sure our time at Il Granello will be a highlight.
Enjoy your journey back home!
warm regards
Danielle
great blog Maddy; We can hardly wait to see you, hug you and love you. Have a safe trip back to the good old U.S.A. We all want you back safe and sound. Enjoy the rest of your trip.
Love Grandma Heni and Grandpa Dick
hi HI MADDY; JUST SPOKE TO YOUR MOM AND ALL IS WELL ON THIS END. WE ARE PACKING UP AND GETTING READY TO GO BACK TO ILLINOIS.
WE ENJOYED YOUR BLOG. ITS GREAT THAT SO FAR THE VOLCANO IN ICELAND HAS NOT AFFECTED YOU. STAY WELL AND BE CAREFULL. WE MISS YOU AND CAN HARDLY WAIT TO SEE YOU. LOVE GRANDMA HENI AND GRANDPA DICK.
fabulous blog Hi Maddy; What a great informative blog. We too had a very hard time in Cairo crossing the street especially by the museum. It was a round and curved around street, cars driving so fast so I, Dick, Terri, and Aunt Ellen all holding hands and praying for our lives. We are so glad that Mom went to Israel and spent time with you. I will be a lifetime experience for both of you. We have memories of all the trips we took to visit our children when they traveled to Europe. Continue having a safe and wonderful experience. We love and miss you and can hardly wait till we see you in June. Happy passover and say hello to Sarah and Ari.
Love Grandma Heni and Grandpa Dick
life journeys I cant even begin to fathom how much more you have gained from this journey than I have in my first year of college. The jealousy is too intense, the envy too great, etc, etc. I can tell you all you want to know about dystopian literature, what Nietzsche or Hegel thinks about the nature of man, or how to analyze Haydn's greatest symphonies, but I still feel like you're coming out better informed and more experienced than our entire freshman class combined. I cant wait til we can climb some buildings and tell each other stories until the sun sets. Stay safe, I miss you
enjoy egypt hi maddy; hope this reaches before you leave for egypt. we had been to cairo to see the pyramids with aunt ellen and aunt terri. we were on a nile cruise when we did the pyramids. dick reminded me that he and terri climbed inside one of them. aunt ellen and i did not. we are delighted that you really are getting to see the world. traffic in cairo is crazy and i do remember that when we went to the museum we could hardly cross the street from one side to the other...the cars never stop to let you go across.
good luck and happy travels and please..............BE CAREFUL.
love grandma heni and grandpa dick
pyramids Maddy - you may not know it, but I've been following everyone of your posts, and **loving them**. Just wanted to comment on your trip to Egypt -- Mia and I were there in the early 90s. Be prepared that the pyramids are awesome, but you really can see the city all around and it does not feel terribly remote. If you get a chance to go down (which is up!) the Nile to Luxor or other places south, definitely take the chance - powerful!! Also, the only time we got sick in Egypt was at the end of our trip and we were feeling desparate for fresh vegetables, so went to the pricey Hilton to eat in their restaurant, assuming it was safe, but forgetting that it too was in Egypt and used the same water sources (if used at all). Have a terrific trip - it will be unforgettable! Love, Seth
Keep it coming! I still read your blog! Im enraptured by your travels, and I wish I could be doing all these things rather than learning about globalization in my classrooms (even though thats fascinating too). I cant wait to exchange stories when you get back!
PS did I tell you I went dogsledding over our winter break? Almost as cool as traveling to Europe and the middle East, right?
haha, maddy. i hope the sheep was dead! seeing as i dont think it could be frozen and still alive...
i'm working on writing you my life story. at least my life for the last 5 months. you'll probably get it in installations.
i love that you are having the time of your life.
miss you.
Sam
Hola!! OMG you are hillarious !!! :-)
I really enjoy reading your blog!
...me, still in Italy..
But probably coming back to Israel soon...
Baci, keep having a great time!!
Mika
??? Hi Maddy; We love reading your blog. Life seems exciting. One ?...what is a GA??? We are both fine and enjoying Arizona. Please stay safe and keep up your blogging. Love and Kisses,
Grandma Heni and Grandpa Dick
no illusions It's not an illusion dear one... there are many of us who look forward to hearing yours thoughts and stories. I know I am very excited when I get an email that you've posted something!
However, I also understand your feelings and the disruption to your experience there when stopping to reconnect here. I suspect it is a bit like stepping out of character.
I am so glad you are having a great time and are learning so much and about not just your environments and what to do in them, etc, but about yourself as well.
Thanks for sharing!
Much love,
Rebecca B
HELLO Hi Maddy; Everytime we read your blog we are amazed at what you are experiencing. It will certainly make you quite wordly quicker. We are thrilled that you are having a great time in Israel. Experiencing Jewish life there is definitely different that in the U.S.
We are fine in sunny Arizona!!! Ha, Ha, Ha.... its been raining here for days.
Love and Kisses........Grandma Heni and Grandpa Dick
Wow! An Intense and beautiful experience! Maddie, I do appreciate your sharing your feelings and thoughts about your experiences being in Israel and trying to relate to people there and find out what they are feeling and thinking about the conflicts between two people and their
religions...it makes me feel sad as well yet hopeful that some good things can come out of it all...it is complicated and there is no easy solution...both sides have to want peace enough to work something out in which all people's rights are
respected and they will have to find a way to compromise and work together to find a way to live together and next door
to each other and be good neighbors! I don't want to judge and just wish all the killing would stop! Love ya, Sher
Glad you are making your life alittle more fun... Maddie,
Wow! What an amazing, adventurous, and interesting range of experiences you are having...it is great that you are flex,
have a good sense of humor, are ready to take on new challenges, and always open to having some fun!!!
It is nice you are making new friends, the two legged and four legged kind, and that you can also travel, sight see, go to
the beach, and just relax...
We were freezing our butts off here in good ol' MN alittle while ago but we are having a heat wave now and the temps
are in the double digits, around 30!!!
We are doing ok...Eric's mother Randy has had some falls and we are getting concerned about her and thinking it is time
to have an eval done by a geriatric social worker soon. We had brunch with her this morning and she likess that...
Eric has had some medical challenges that were scary through the holidays but he had a procedure done and is doing better now. We had your family over just before New Years and we had a nice time together...ate, played games,
watched a short movie, had dessert, and hung out for the evening...we missed you dear Maddie!!! I had a chocolate
and thought of you...
Happy New Year! LIVE Simply, LOVE generously, CARE deeply, and SPEAK kindly...words to live by. Love ya, Sher
Thanks Aunt Laura! I'm glad you were able to find it. And I'm proud of you for venturing into cyberspace even with a crappy computer. Don't give up! :)
Kim cermak
non-member comment
You're amazing
Maddy I have loved following your adventure and wish you all the best on the next phase of your journey. Shanti.