Seeing The Sites

I had the opportunity to visit Amish country yesterday with some Texas friends. It's pretty amazing to peek into the whole culture of the Amish-- they still drive horse-pulled buggies, don't use electricity, and wear all black.

I recently read the book Rumspringa: to be or not to be Amish. Rumspringa is an Amish custom where the youth are permitted to "run around" and try all sorts of "English" practices such as drinking, driving cars, smoking, partying, talking on cell phones, and wearing "english" clothes. It is hoped that the young people "sow all their wild oats" and then fully commit to the Amish religion by becoming a baptized church member. Surprisingly, most Amish young people do return to their religion, but many have problems with alcoholism, drug abuse, and depression. I highly recommend the book if it's something you would find interesting.

Yesterday, we were able to see quite a few buggies, but the funniest of all was when we saw the horse-pulled buggy in the drive-thru at the bank!! I tried to get a picture, but because someone in my family (who will remain unnamed) used my camera and left it on, the battery was dead. We got quite a laugh from the site.