Thread: Laughed so hard
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Old 06-26-2007, 08:35 PM   #6
Tink
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Thanks for sharing that site Angie. His photos are very nice.
What really stood out to me is the bright colors in the clothing. That would never be seen here. I noticed a few things; like the women and girls wearing headscarves; here it's double bonnets unless it's really hot out. A white thin cotton one, with a black stiff formed one over it is the norm here.

The mens "formal wear" is black boxy suits with crisp white shirts. For every day they wear dark dull blue pants and medium blue or green shirts. They always have on the traditional straw hat in summer, a black felt hat or wool stocking cap on in winter. The women wear crisp white aprons over their dark dresses for special occassions.

I was really amazed to see the children and young people acting out. Here that's simply not done. I have a family with 9 kids living on a small farm right beside me and in the 2 years we've lived here I have yet to hear those kids make any noise. When they go by they wave politely, and if they come to sell baked goods or something, they're quite shy and humble about it. Most of the families wave when they go by if I'm in the yard, and say a shy hello if I run into them in town. I do hear their goats and roosters and an occassional donkey braying. LOL

I went to a tiny country school just down the road from where I now live from 1st thru 4th grade. We were so proud to have the biggest class the school had ever had... of the 10 students in our grade, 3 were Amish. They were sent to the school in town for 5th - 8th grade when I was, so over that 8 years I got to be fairly close to them. I vivdly remember one of the boys crying on his last day of jr high knowing he wouldn't be able to come back the next year. The girl ended up not having children, so became a teacher when they decided to start their own schools. I still see her occassionally.

Although in the Amish community the women are not involved in any business other than selling quilts or baked goods or bulk drygoods if they happen to have a store, because I was known by them I was allowed to list and sell some of their farms when I worked as a realtor. That was very interesting as it got me into their homes and lives a little bit more again.
A cousin of mine hires out to taxi the Amish around in her vehicle. She has carpenter crews she picks up at 5:30 am and is often not home until 8PM because of how busy they keep her. She has formed some really close friendships with several of the women and as a result is invited to their weddings and such.
I think they're a fascinating group of people. One thing she can always count on though is that she has her Sundays off. LOL
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