To learn more about the Amish, we went to Lancaster’s Amish Farm and House, which these days is sandwiched between a strip mall and a large Target. The guide explained that the Amish and the Mennonites entered this country from Switzerland and Germany, and when questioned by Immigration declared themselves “Deutsch” and thus became the Pennsylvania Dutch. They are plain people and hard workers, but not without contradiction: she claims most of them have cellphones, they just don’t use them in the house.
Later we drove through the country behind the towns and found things more the way we expected: well-planted fields, whitewashed farm houses with simple clothing hanging out to dry (long clothes lines – a family typically has eight kids), and buggies trotting back and forth, to and from who knows where. We saw a man in typical Amish garb mowing a field with a device pulled by two horses. But then I also saw an Amish man using an electric weed eater. Often times we would overtake what looked like a teenager on a pedal scooter, only to find an older man with a long beard; these scooters are metal and look manufactured, but the design is unusual: they have front and rear wheels about BMX diameter, with a place to put a foot in the center. I’m not clear on why they don’t accept bicycles, but do accept mechanical mowers pulled by horses. The pungent odor of the fields confirms the Amish stick pretty much to organic fertilizers.
Contrary to what might be expected, the Amish population is growing and maintaining its values, with a compromise here and there. Most notably, most accept and welcome modern medicine when needed.
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