From Manhattan to Amish country in Pennsylvania

🌾🐴 What a contrast to our days on Manhattan in New York! 🇺🇸❤️ And what a fantastic day. 🤩 This morning we picked up our rental car from Avis on Manhattan, and then headed towards Lancaster in Pennsylvania. A drive of around 3 hours. Our destination was, hopefully, an authentic Amish homestay. 🚗 Pennsylvania is home to the largest Amish population in the USA, and Lancaster is without a doubt the most famous place if you want to experience their very special way of life. The Amish movement began in Europe in the late 1600s, but many later emigrated to Pennsylvania to be free to live according to their Christian faith. To this day they still live by values like faith, family, community and a simple life. ❤️ We were welcomed incredibly warmly by our host couple, Jesse and Rosie. They’re in their mid-30s and already have 4 children between 2 and 9 years old. It’s completely normal for Amish families to have many children 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 The family lives on a cosy farm with horses, cows, sheep, chickens and dogs 🐴🐄🐑🐓 We’re staying in an annex to their house with our own entrance. As tourists we live a bit more comfortably with both power and our own kitchen, but there’s no TV or other modern conveniences. 📺❌ The best part of the experience, though, is meeting the family. They’re at least as curious about our life in Denmark as we are about their life as Amish. We’ve spent a lot of the day together with the family. We’ve been out feeding the chickens, collecting eggs and pulling onions out of the ground. 🌾🥚🧅 At the same time we’ve had many interesting chats with Jesse, who talks very openly about life as Amish, their faith and their traditions, while also asking us plenty of questions about life back home in Denmark. Villads has played a lot with their children. ❤️ Even though they also speak their own Amish language at home, they all speak fluent English. They go to a small Amish school with around 20 pupils, where all grades from 1 to 8 are taught together in the same classroom. Villads especially finds it funny that the children wear their traditional Amish clothes. 😊 One of the most fascinating things is their traditions. They have neither a TV nor their own car, and the family still uses a horse and buggy day to day. 📺❌🐴 Most finish school after 8th grade and then help out at home on the farm or learn a trade. Already now, all the children have plenty of cosy chores together with their parents. The family prioritises faith, community and time together far more than modern technology. ❤️ The men typically wear suspenders, beards and the classic straw hat, while the women wear simple dresses and the traditional bonnet. The clothing isn’t about fashion, but about modesty and community. 👒 The family normally gets around by horse and buggy. 🐴 If they need to go further, they get a ride from someone who isn’t Amish, since they don’t drive themselves. They live very much by their Christian faith and try to hold on to the traditions that have been part of their life for generations. Jesse and Rosie do belong to a slightly more modern branch though, where among other things they accept that guests stay with electricity. At home they speak Pennsylvania Dutch, which is actually an old German dialect and not Dutch, as the name might otherwise suggest. 🇩🇪 It’s fascinating to experience a community where family, faith and the simple life are still at the centre. After the pace of the big city on Manhattan, it almost feels like being transported 200 years back in time. ❤️🌾 ❤️ The homestay’s first day has been even more fantastic and authentic than we dared hope. 🙏 Out of respect for the Amish culture and the family, we’ve chosen not to share any recognisable photos of them.