Ramat Aviv Gimmel   This morning when I was at the park with Ethan, I thought to myself the same thing I think every morning I am there, “I love my neighborhood!!”  It is a parent’s dream location, well at least this parent’s dream.  Four days a week, Hannah, Ethan and I walk out of our building to Hannah’s preschool (“gan” in Hebrew) which is located directly behind us.  Then Ethan and I walk on to one of the three beautiful children’s parks which are all within five minutes of us.  We usually pick the one which is across the street from us because the sunlight is so nice there in the morning and because it’s twice the size as the one located right next to our building; it’s also a tad closer to us than the one behind the Schuster Center.  Because we typically choose the “across-the-street park”, it means that about once a week I slip into my favorite coffee shop in the Schuster Center before we walk on to the park.  We then normally spend about 30 minutes at the park before we head back home for Ethan’s morning nap.  Ahh…it is a wonderful neighborhood, and it is in Israel.   So that’s it—a preschool, three parks and a coffee shop all within one block of your house? That’s what makes your neighborhood so great?  Nope.  That’s not all of it.  There is the entire Schuster Center, which I briefly mentioned but did not fully describe.  It is an outdoor shopping center replete with a grocery store, which delivers your groceries for 5 shekels (~ $1.25), a pizza joint, four cafés (Yes, there are four and they are always busy!), an ice cream shop, two book stores, numerous trendy clothing stores, a post office, two toy stores, three banks, a bread store, a bakery, a couple of meat shops, a tailor, two fruit & vegetable stands, two dry cleaners, a hardware store, two flower shops, a video store and a whole host of other shops to meet all of your shopping needs.  So that’s it--an outdoor shopping center.  Is that what makes your neighborhood so great?  Nope.  That’s not all of it.  There is also “the country” and the community center, which are located directly behind the Schuster Center.   First, let me talk about “the country.”  What is “the country?”  Well, in the States, we would simply call it a gym, but here in Israel it’s called “the country.”  (I am assuming the term “country” is short for “country club.”)  However, there is a notable difference between a gym in the States and “the country” here in Israel.  First, the obvious focus of the gym in the States is on adults’ fitness.  Not so here.  While there is a weight room and a cardio room, they are not extremely impressive.  What is impressive, though, are the indoor and outdoor swimming pools (both of which have separate swimming areas for wee ones) and their large host of classes for kids: ballet, jazz, judo, gymnastics, music, art, drama, swimming and others; it is crazy!  There are, of course, several fitness classes for adults as well.  (All that said, we haven’t joined the country just yet, but we do have a pass card so that Hannah can take ballet classes there.  However, we have decided to take the “plunge” and join in May after we return from a couple trips that we’re taking.   Next, Ramat Aviv Gimmel is home to the wonderful Rozin Community Center.  What I must first point out about the Rozin is that it actually seems to be one of the centers of the community!!  On the top floor there is a nice little library, which I’ve visited once, but to which I should go more often to improve my Hebrew!! There are also a number of different private lessons offered there and a “gymboree” type area that is set up for babies and toddlers during the day as well as during night time performances.  The best part though is “the stage,” which normally hosts two very nice children’s shows a month as well as a one to two adult performances (music, theater, etc) as well.  We’ve actually taken Hannah to two shows.  Clint took her to one play, and I took her to the second.  I’m laughing now as I think back on my theater trip with Hannah because I understood none of it!!  Fortunately, all of the actors were in animal costumes which greatly assisted my storytelling abilities.  I am still waiting for the day, though, when Hannah talks about the play where none of the animals who visited the house could make the magic cheese puffs that the inhabitants (a bird, a cat, a chicken and a squirrel) wanted to eat!  Hee hee hee…  (Don’t worry; I won’t ever attempt my hand at playwriting.  Hee hee hee…)  However, despite my very poor explanation for the cute little play which was being acted out on the stage, I actually did get a great deal out of going to the performance.  How so?  Well, during the intermission I had the chance to offer some encouragement to a mother of one of the little boys from Hannah’s preschool.  And there it is--this is why I love our neighborhood.  (No, it’s not because Roy instead of Hannah was throwing a fit during the play!)  Rather, it’s because 95% of the time when I walk outside my front door I see a smiling face that I recognize.  Most of the time the smiling faces belong to mothers of Hannah’s classmates, but they also belong to the people from our building, the mothers and the nannies who visit the park at the same time that I do and the people who wait on us at the shops that we frequent.  It is wonderful.  It is a real neighborhood, and it is in Israel.              All that said, I must add that every time I tell an Israeli how much I love our neighborhood, they either say one of two things.  They either say “You are living in a bubble.  The rest of Israel is not like Ramat Aviv Gimmel,” or they say, “of course this is a great neighborhood it is Ramat Aviv Gimmel!”