Eastern Excursion 39: Amish Country

I love people, their cultures, and their customs. So naturally I was really excited to go to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to see the life style of the Amish Country. I was worried, however, about taking pictures. I didn't want to treat these people like they were a zoo exhibit. Plus, the Amish believe getting pictures taken is vain, so they don't really go for that. I finally decided that I wanted to remember the things I saw and learned. So I did take pictures, but I employed some stealthy practices so that I wouldn't offend anyone (and so that they wouldn't see me). I'm so tricky.

AMISH COUNTRY

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, also known as Amish Country, is a huge center for two sects of 'plain people' - the Amish and the Mennonites. According to the Mennonite man at the visitor's center, who parenthetically thought my Mormonism was just as curious as I thought his religion was, the Amish and Mennonite Christian doctrine is essentially the same. But, he said, the Amish are more "old fashioned."

Both the Amish and the Mennonites have strict dress codes. Women cover their hair as a sign that they have accepted Christ.

A large majority of both sects live on farms and speak Pennsylvania Dutch in their homes.

The Amish and conservative Mennonites use no electricity or modern devices (like phones). This means that on their farms they do all their planting, plowing, and harvesting by hand. Or horse.

It also means that they pump their own water,

wash their clothing by hand,

and drive buggies that go a maximum of 10 mph.

Along with the Amish, Lancaster County is also famous because of all the covered bridges it has. The bridges were built in the 1800s using strictly wood. The cover is intended to protect the bridge from being eroded by the elements.

But the most interesting thing that I learned this trip is that women are the same wherever you go, however you are raised. And I have some kindred spirits among those Amish women. Why? Two reasons. First, because I saw three of them mowing their own lawns. That they did it with old fashioned push mowers is entirely beside the point. They didn't leave to the man what they could do themselves. My kind of ladies. Second, because personalities are strikingly obvious in the way that women hang their clothes on the line. Some lines had a hodge-podge assortment of clothes, towels, etc. Others had some rudimentary organization, like the one I got a picture of. But there was one that was the quintessential model of an ocd organizer. Her line was hung up not only in groupings by person, but also by size and color. I wanted to knock on her door and give her a hug.

Eastern Excursion 38: Longwood Gardens

LONGWOOD GARDENS

I have now seen the garden of Eden. LIVE. It's currently thriving in Pennsylvania.

Eden has been added to since Adam and Eve's day. It now includes a build-your-own fort area, two children's gardens complete with soak-yourself fountains and waterfalls, and three huge tree houses.

BEST. EXCURSION. EVER.

Isn't it ironic? Don't ya think?

Well, my Mother's Day ended with a trip to the Emergency Room. How ironic that last time we were moving across the country we also had a hospital trip. I'm just glad this one was less eventful. A little medical glue and we were good to go. Phew. Happy Mother's Day to me!

Eastern Excursion 37: the Rest of DC

We've done just about everything there is to do in DC. The only things we were missing were touring the White House and going inside the Washington Monument, neither of which we wanted to do with kids. So we got a babysitter and off we went ...

WASHINGTON, D.C.

White House

Steps to touring the White House:

1. Tickets are required. You get them from your state senator.
   
2. Find at least 9 other people to go with you. You can only request tickets if you have a group of 10 or more. (If you are really, really lucky you'll request 10, hoping you can convince 8 other people to come, and they'll call and say that they can only get you two. Wohoo!)
   
3. Request your tickets months in advance if you really want to get some. And even then you aren't guaranteed.
4. Two weeks before you go, submit you full name, birth date, and social security number for security clearance.
5. The day of your tour, bring basically nothing. The list of forbidden things is so long that in the end they also list the three permitted items: wallet, keys, cell phone. Cameras of any sort are not allowed. If you have one, they won't store it and they won't let you in. (We know, we tried.)
6. As you go inside show your photo id. They will compare it with their list of people who passed security clearance. Proceed through metal detectors, x-rays, etc.
7. Walk around on the self-guided tour. There are no tour guides. If you really want to know stuff ask the Secret Service guys. They know everything.
8. Do not try to take pictures with your cell phone camera, even if you're outside. The SS guys have eyes on the back of their heads.

Aerial shot so you can see the West (left) and East (right) wings.

White House, first floor

White House, second floor

Alright, so this is what we learned. Tours go from 7:30 am to noon, the rest of the day the President uses the home like normal. The white house is 55,000 square feet, if you include the two wings. The tour starts in the right wing, where you pass below the First Lady's office. You then walk through the ground floor and main floor of the house, where you see libraries, galleries, reception rooms, and dining rooms. The tour does not go to the west wing, where the cabinet, VP, and Oval offices are.

The top floor is the private residence of the family. "Private," of course, is a relative term. Visitors don't get to go up there, but the SS guys follow everyone, including Sasha and Malia, everywhere they go. Along with the playground the Obamas added, the White House also has a pool, tennis court, jogging track, putting green, indoor basketball court, movie theater, and bowling alley.

White House front. The President's bedroom is on the top floor, to the left of the portico. The windows are covered by trees.

White House back. Sasha and Malia's rooms are on the top floor. The center window is a hallway connecting their rooms, the windows to the right and the left of that center one (and under the portico) are each of their rooms. The window on the left has a large butterfly sticker on it, the one on the right has a large bird sticker.

Washington Monument

Okay, did you know that the Washington Monument is HOLLOW?! I didn't realize that for a really long time. People used to get to the top by taking 497 stairs. Now there is an elevator to 500 ft (it is 555 ft tall). On the way back down they actually slow the elevator down and you can see the inside. It is decorated. For real. It has monuments and stones from all 50 states and numerous countries. Who knew?! In case you didn't realize, the main sites in Washington DC form a cross, and the Washington Monument is the center of that cross ...

View to the South - Jefferson Memorial

View to the East - Lincoln Memorial

View to the North - White HouseView to the West - The Capital

Man, I'm gonna miss living close to DC!!

Eastern Excursion 36: Holocaust Museum

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

After seeing the museum, I'm almost ashamed that we are smiling in the pictures we took before we went in.

We heard from the beginning that the museum was graphic, so we left the kids at home. Our experience was sobering. The horrors that the Jews and other minorities suffered during the Holocaust are haunting. We saw the suitcases and belongings they left behind, the uniforms and shoes they wore in the camps, the lice-infested bunks that were their homes, and the ovens that burned their bodies after they were gassed. We saw movies that made us turn away in shame and pictures that made us cry. But the most disturbing experience was standing in a train car that carried families to Auschwitz and their ultimate demise. The wood paneled walls seem to cry out in testimony of the atrocities that were done. It was absolutely harrowing.

WWII image of the type of train we went into. The ground is covered with clothing that the
Nazis were trying to disappear in an attempt to cover how many murders they committed.

O.ver.whelmed

I have 17 days left ...

to finish dejunking (bah!),
to catch up on a month's worth of receipts,
to plan a bbq to welcome new families into the ward,
to make seven movies,
to wrap up loose ends in my calling and pass the buck,
to go on five more eastern excursions,
to pack my entire house,
and to completely neglect my children.

All this is to say: I may not be blogging for a while.
(Well, except for our excursions. I'll probably keep up on those.)