Merchav Am
Merchav Am is currently home to 71 families and over 270 children! I think there will be plenty of friends for our kids. Actually, our kids played a very important role in choosing this community. We wanted a place that our little ones could run around and play freely with others. I want to be able to open my door and let me kids out to run around and not have to be worried about them constantly. At least I know no cars will be zooming by on a main highway :) Here is a picture of the newly built playground:
It looks pretty awesome to me -- and I'm not even a kid! I know Jeremy (Kalev) will love it -- and I'm sure the kids will too :)
But yes, there is more to Merchav Am then just some sand and a playground. There is also a Synagogue, Beit Midrash(1), mikvah, a makolet (small grocery store), community center, library, day care, nursery and kindergarten. What more could a girl as for? How about evening activities/classes? Those include (as of right now but will probably be different once we arrive) men's night, women's night, zumba, yoga, krav maga, pilates, and more.
Another reason we choose this community was because of its emphasis on wanting to make the desert grow and prosper. They are very "backyard animal" friendly -- goats, sheep, chickens, etc. This is just up our alley. We want the kids to grow up around (and help care for) "farm" animals. We are also excited about beginning some agricultural work in the desert. The community is working on beginning an agricultural initiative and we could potentially be on the front end of this "make the desert grow" opportunity!
Here's a Goggle Map so you can get a better overall geographical idea of where we are thinking of going:
If you are interested in a what a typical day at Merchav Am look like, check out "A Day in Merchav Am" from the Day in the Life Of series by GoSouth NBN.
Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.
(1) Beit Midrash - study hall or "house of study"
