Thursday, May 24, 2007 The Amish life By Dorothy Bangayan The Unlonely Planet
HAVE you heard of the Amish? Not really? Perhaps you have seen them in movies -- the kind of people in old fashioned dresses and suits who live without electricity? Just like the movie "for Richer or Poorer" where city folks Kirstie Alley and Tim Allen went into hiding from the IRS in an Amish Village and ended up discovering the values of life.
Who are the Amish people really? We ventured to find out.
In a road trip from New Jersey passing through Philadelphia and then to Lancaster County in Pennsylvania Dutch Country (approximately 4 hours drive), we saw the Amish Village.
Trying to find the Visitors Tour center, we made a mistake and landed at the Mennonite Information Center instead where we met Erika, an elderly grandmother who acted as our private guide and showed us local Amish homes and stores while cheerfully answering our questions.
The Amish came from Europe and moved into America and Canada. Due to religious beliefs, they separated themselves from the rest of the world and live in their own rigorous rules. Most of them are farmers while some are blacksmiths, carpenters or quilters.
They do not use electricity. Instead, they use bottled gas or power from the generator.
Phones, clocks, television and radio are not allowed. To communicate, they have a public phone booth in the village. They do not have watches or clocks. They are not allowed to enter a theatre or a movie house either.
For transportation, they own buggies, little black coaches pulled by a horse. They do not own cars, although they are allowed to ride in one if the distance is unreasonable.
The women do not cut their hair since birth. Married men must grow a beard.
Only eight years of schooling are allowed. At the age of 14, the children must start working for their parents. They do not go to College.
At 16, a child can choose if they want to stay in the Amish community or join the world outside. Only ten percent leave the community.
They are not allowed to wear colors except for black, white or dark blue, green and red. The fabric and design must all be uniform. Women have to wear white caps and dresses. (Even when doing manual labor like raking the yard or baling hay) Men wear top hats on special occasions like going to church.
They make their own clothes. Women must learn to sew. They build their own houses. They farm their own lands and make their own food. Machineries are not allowed in their farms except for those approved by the elders. Instead, horses are used to plough the farms.
Sunday services are held at home which they take turns in hosting.
At night, they entertain themselves by reading the Bible or an approved book. The kids play games like ball. (No Internet or Video Games for kids!)
They like large families with around six to eight children per family.
They think photographs are against God's Laws because it is a form of idolatry. Instead of pictures, their walls are decorated with their children's names.
Perhaps the only thing I find so contradicting is that they are allowed to smoke. For all these rules, they do not find anything wrong with it!
Erika showed us the farms where they work. We saw men in jumpers and women in skirts baling hay and sloughing fields.
We visited a carpenter who sold wooden furniture where we bought handcrafted wooden toys. (We almost bought a little tea set until we saw the label "Made in China")
In a quilt maker store, we saw a lady painstakingly hand stitched patterns on a quilt. Her shop is full of dolls, spice mats and quilted pillows and blankets.
My favorite stop was at the bakery where they sell freshly baked apple, blueberry or pumpkin pies, homemade root beer and lemonade, sweet Shoofly pies, fluffy Angel food cake, pumpkin bread and jars and jars of jam and pickled everything.
It is a culturally enriching experience to learn about another way of life totally different from your own, but I still have to say that life is so much better with the TV and telephone.
To find out more about the Amish: www.PADUTCHCOUNTRY.com.
