Fleeing Southward

Similar to many of our friends, recent events had forced us temporarly away from our wonderful home in Tivon. On Sunday the 16th, at a late hour, we finished packing and made the 3 hour drive down south to Amir's sister's place in a Kibbutz called Revivim, about 35 minutes south of Be'er Sheva. With us were Amir's parents, his sister and her family, and two twin cousins. Luckily, they were able to arrange for us to have a small studio apartment for ourselves. The place is ok, and supplies us with all our needs, but it's not our home. On Wednesday, Amir went up back to Tivon till Thursday evening to bring more stuff down in order to settle for a longer stay. From here Amir works remotely every day on his laptop, so at least he is not losing work. We are trying to make the best of being down south. A kibbutz atmosphere is definately much more relaxed than a city one, which is a blessing in these very stressful times. Unfortunately, Laika is not allowed, and so we had to put her in a kennel in a nearby kibbutz. Ayla seems to be taking the move fairly well. She even made the drive down without much problem. She is responding to our moods mostly, so if we keep it calm, she enjoys the situation, and if we get stressed, she gets more anxious and agitated. Being in the south, we decided to make the best of the situation and visit some of the local attractions in the area. On Tuesday we went to see relics of the ancient city of Shivta. We came in the afternoon, and since it's not yet fully open to the public yet, there weren't many signs or any instruction boards, so we got to walk along the city's barely preserved roads, houses and churches. A few days later we went to see the Alpaca farm. Alpacas are south american mammals, similar to Lamas, and like them related to camels. The largest Alpaca farm outside of south america is near here. Along side with Lamas, horses, sheeps and dogs, the farm allows feeding, petting, and riding some of the animals. Ayla was fascinated by them. Her delight made us wonder how much more she would enjoy this at an age where she could pet and feed and ride them herself. We really need to go back there in a couple of years. We left a few hours before sunset and stopped to overlook the Mitzpe Ramon observation point overlooking the Ramon crater - an immense beautiful crater in the middle of the desert. All in all it is not easy for us, being so far away from home, knowing what is going on, not knowing when we can go back. If things continue, Ania and Ayla might just go from here directly to Canada. In the meanwhile we are trying to manage the best we can, enjoying the wonderful hospitality of our relatives, and hoping that the situation will end as soon as possible.
	Ayla splashing in Banana in her new temporary apartment in the kibbutz
Shivta views
	Amir and Ayla on the Shivta relics background
	Shivta roads
the Alpaca farm
Mitzpe Ramon - overlooking the Ramon crater