Amish Country

We’re in Amish Country in Pennsylvania for almost a week now.  As expected, it’s so beautiful here! I love the countryside with all the farms, the sound of Amish buggies passing by, the little country and antiques shops, and so much more … Sitting on the front porch in a rocking chair at 7 a.m., catching some rays of sunshine before the temperature goes up. That’s living the dream!

It’s not always easy to combine the childrens wishes with mine and my husbands, but we manage. We went to Dutch Wonderland, played mini-golf, visited a huge lay-out of model trains (very impressive!) and the National Toy Train Museum, … As for the antiques: 7-year old asked me yesterday ‘What does antiques actually mean?’.  5-year old replied ‘I think it means “For women”!’. 

I didn’t write blog posts because I was too tired in the evening. The jetlag hits me every day at 8 p.m.  It’ll be over by the time we have to go home. And then it starts all over again!

 

I was told that the Amish people came from Switzerland and West-Germany. Did you know that this countryside looks like West-Germany? I wonder if that's why they settled right here.

I took a lot of pictures, but no close-ups. I don't want to be disrespectful.  Most Amish, Mennonite or other Plain folks look at us when we’re talking to each other. You can see them thinking ‘That language sounds familiar, but it’s not Pennsylvanian Dutch. Hmmm, what language is that? What are those people saying?’ Our language (Flemish) is familiar to German and Dutch.  So Flemish and Pennsylvanian Dutch are very much alike.  We use the word ‘Ja(h)’ every other sentence, so it’s not surprising people get confused.

I’m not used to the heat yet, but I’m adapting very quickly to the culture here. What do you think of my washing line? Doesn’t it resemble the Amish system? I also hung my dresses on a peg rail upstairs, haha. 

I’m also trying to be an American :-):  I buy coffees ‘to go’, my kids drink Hershey’s chocolate milk and eat donuts and cheese pizza and we shop at Walmart.  We’re doing great here! 

Have a great week!

-Goedele-