Location, Location, Location

We are living in Modiin which is right between Yerushalayim and Tel Aviv. We can get to each city in about 20-25 minutes and it's very convenient. We are in the neighborhood of Buchman Darom which is a very new area just south of Buchman which is at the edge of Modiin. We're actually right at the beginning of Buchman Darom so we're just as close to people in Buchman as we are to people in "Darom." Basically we're less than a ten minute walk from anybody we know in Modiin besides my parents (although Shira claims she can do the walk in 15 minutes).

Buchman Darom is at least half American and an even higher percentage dati (religious). One problem with it is that it's so new that there isn't even a shul in the neighborhood. They're going to build three shuls right at the end of our block but in the meantime there is a shul at someone's house - we've been davening outside but we're switching houses this week and I think it moves inside. People only started living in this neighborhood about a year ago and our development is brand new.

There is a long driveway (it's the first driveway on the left on Esther Hamalka which is the road leading into Darom) with six attached cottages.
We are in the fourth cottage and were actually the second ones to move in. Last week, the final two families moved in so now our driveway is full. The family immediately to our left are brand new olim from LA and the family to our right and the one in the first cottage made aliya last summer. The other two families are Israeli but seem to have pretty good English. It worked out really well for Zvi because there are about 4 boys around his age and he's been having a good time with them. He went bike riding with them the last couple days and they even put up a basketball net. There aren't any girls even close to Rivka's age. Most of the girls in her class live in Chashmonayim which is a 15 minute drive from us. We drove there on Sunday and Monday after school so she could play with friends (she makes friends very quickly) but it will be harder for Shabbos. Lucky for her, Daniella Meltz, a very good friend of hers from camp last summer is moving right down the block from us. She's also meeting other girls in the neighborhood and if there's one thing I don't have to worry it's Rivka's social life. There are also a couple girls a year older than Leora on our driveway. The next issue is finding a way to entertain Yeshaya all day.