‘Buggy Rides’
Browsing for new places to visit, I came across a new community of people called ‘The Amish’ that really aroused my curiosity. Expressing a desire to learn more about the Amish community, I decided to visit the place.
By travelling for about 1 hour from Washington DC, we reached an Information center at Lancaster in Pennsylvania, that gave us the necessary directions and guided us to the visiting areas.
Introduction
In Lancaster County, over 25000 Amish serve as living reminders of a quieter time.
The first Amish, so named for Jakob Ammann, arrived in Lancaster county and nearby Berks and Chester counties in the early 1700s to take part in William Penn’s “Holy Experiment” of religious freedom in Pennsylvania.
They are called Anabaptists, who came to America from Europe to escape religious persecution by both Protestants and Catholics. For this reason, while they are Christians, most do not consider themselves to be either Protestant or Catholic.
How we got there
Kitchen Kettle Village
Heading our way to the Lancaster County we first reached the Farmers Market, and on the way we had the most tremendous view of rolling green fields of corn and wheat. A little further, we came across a place called Kitchen Kettle Village. Here we were pleasantly surprised to find Amish riders with their horses to give the visitors a tour of the Amish homes. I was told these rides are called ‘Buggy Rides’.
Enjoying the beautiful scenes of the farmland was a visual treat. Our next destination was the ‘Mascot roller Mills’. We were told this was the earliest water powered flour mill of the 17th century had been functioning until 1977.
The Mascot was one of the economic and social centers of the Amish agricultural community.
Mascot Mill; W. Franklin Ressler(R)
The mill used to work with the help of wooden overshot water wheels which in 1906 was converted to water powered turbines and chilled iron mills. The Ressler Mill Foundation was created by descendants of William Ressler, who acquired the mill in 1864. His Son Jacob began operating the Mascot in 1882 and served as postmaster of the Mascot Post Office located within the mill from 1890 until 1934. Jacob’s son, W. Franklin Ressler, ran Mascot until his retirement, when he and his sister Anna – whose idea it was to preserve the family property – turned over this treasure to the Ressler Mill Foundation.
The Amish Village
Finally, we reached the ‘The Amish Village’, the only place where I could get to know more about the Amish people. We followed the guide who led us into a typical Amish house. As he described about the living style of the people, we were told that clicking of photographs was not allowed. This was to protect their privacy.
The Amish believe that “worldliness” keeps one from being close to God, so they choose to live without many modern conveniences and technology, such as cars, TV, Videos, etc. Rather than using electric appliances and machinery, they use bottled gas stoves, Biogas for cooking and other household works.
We were shown the kitchens, where the amish cooked with the help of Biogas, grinded spices and condiments using air pressure and used lamps instead of electricity. She also depicted that the Amish do not like fancy decorations to beautify their house so there was no interior decoration at all except for calendars. One very interesting fact is that these people only have a single newspaper that is called “The Budget” which gives them news about their religion and crop issues.
Next we were shown the bedrooms, all on the first floor, the master bedroom for the parents and the children?s rooms.
The guide explained to us about the dress code and their beliefs in their costumes. The Old Order Amish women and girls wear modest dresses made from solid-colored fabrics with long sleeves and a full skirt (not shorter than half-way between knee and floor). These dresses are covered with a cap and apron and are fastened with straight pins or snaps. They never cut their hair, which they wear in a bun on the back of the head. On their heads they wear a white prayer covering if they are married and a black one if they are single. Amish women do not wear Jewellery. The young girls (teens) mostly keep themselves busy by weaving quilts.
Men and boys wear dark-colored suits, straight-cut coats without lapels, broad fall trousers, suspenders, solid-colored shirts, black socks and shoes, and black or straw broad-brimmed hats. Their shirts fasten with conventional buttons, but their suit coats and vests fasten with hooks and eyes. They do not have mustaches, but they grow beards after they marry.
The Amish feel these distinctive clothes encourage humility and separation from the world. Their clothing is not a costume; it is an expression of their faith.
The summer kitchen
Finally, we were shown the summer kitchen which was on the ground floor and had a separate entrance. This separate kitchen is used to cook in the summer to prevent heat from reaching the house as they don?t use Air Conditioners.
Later, we were allowed to walk in the farm. The farm had horses, piglets, chickens, peacocks, goats and sheep and as we walked we could get a feel of the peaceful life that the Amish led. The farm also has a ‘Spring House’ where they store their milk and churn it to make butter and cheese. The farm had many horses galloping around and we were told horses were their main mode of transport.
Some facts about the Amish People
Most Amish are trilingual. They speak a dialect of German called Pennsylvania Dutch at home, but they use High German at their worship services. They learn English at school as they speak English when they interact with anyone who is not Amish.
The Amish are a private people who believe God has kept them together despite pressure to change from the modern world. They are not perfect, but they are a strong example of a community that supports and cares for its members. They are a people apart; yet they are also a people together.
Miniature horse is found in almost every Amish household which is used as a mode of transport (Left Pic)
Although the Amish look like they stepped out of the rural nineteenth century, in fact they do change. Their lives move more slowly than ours, but they definitely are not stuck in a particular time warp. When change comes, they choose to examine it carefully before they accept it. If the new idea or gadget does not assist in keeping their lives simple and their families together, they probably will reject it. Each church district decides for itself what it will and will not accept; there is no single governing body for the entire Old Order population, but all follow an unwritten set of rules called the Ordnung.
Old Order groups all drive horses and buggies rather than cars, they do not have electricity in their homes and send their children to private, one-room schoolhouses. Children attend only through the eighth grade. After that, they work on their family’s farm or business until they marry. The Amish feel that their children do not need more formal education . Although they pay school taxes, the Amish have fought to keep their children out of public schools. In 1972, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark unanimous decision which exempted the Old Order Amish and related groups from state compulsory attendance laws beyond the eighth grade. Many Mennonites and progressive Amish do attend high school and even college.
Viewing the beliefs of these people really makes us understand that they are a unique community. A community that has held on to their simple living and values despite being surrounded on all sides by a rapidly advancing world.
For me, learning about the Amish people from close quarters and trying to understand their lifestyle has been a remarkable experience.
(Facts sourced from Tourist’s Guide)
Author: Rosanne DSouza- USA