The Amish

I've lived in Pennsylvania all my life. I like it here, it's a great state. Pennsylvania is one of the states that is known for having a large Amish population. (Well, large as far as the Amish go) I haven't had a lot of contact with the Amish until moving here to Southern Chester County. There are some Amish who do business in Philadelphia's famous Reading Terminal Market but I never shopped there all that much (unlike my friend Shakirra who really needs to update her blog) Now we're not that far from Lancaster, which is where the majority of Pennsylvania's Amish live. They do a lot of business here, in fact our home was built by many Amish guys. I figure you can't get much better construction than that, huh? 

Those of you who read my blog regularly know about my obsession with fresh corn and the Amish Man who sells it to me. As I was typing yesterday's post, I decided I should post some links regarding the Amish because we could all learn a little bit more, don't 'cha think? 

Here's a good article about the Amish and photographs. I always heard that they didn't like their pictures taken because it would "steal their soul" or that it was a "graven image". It sounds a little bit deeper than just that. I will say that I know what it feels like to have tourists gawk at you on a regular basis having lived on a fairly popular street for eleven years. I know The Son has to be in numerous Japanese photo albums, the Japanese tourists LOVED to take his picture. (yes, there is a reason for that sterotype...at least in my experience) 

Here's the Wikipedia article regarding the Amish. Yes, I know it's Wikipedia  which isn't always reliable, but I read it and it seems pretty accurate. It's not like I'm asking you to do a report and cite your sources now people. 

Here's an NPR report (love me some NPR!) about rumspringa which translates to "running around" and is a time in an Amish teen's life when they get to experiment with the "English" way of life, I guess to really decide that the Amish life is for them. If you like this short article, you might just want to google rumspringa. There's a lot of interesting info on the 'net about it. 

Lastly, an article about the Lancaster County, PA Amish. There's some good links here too! 

There now, don't you feel so much more educated today? You learn something new every day!