Amish Country

On Friday I hopped a bus to that city the smells like cheesesteaks, but is also full of history... Philadelphia! It was a beautiful day, a smooth bus ride, and I got into the city in time to hang out and talk to Sri, then he gave me a tour of the UPenn campus (before he had a presentation to give!) and then he and I hit up a nice outdoorsy bar for beers and wings until Palak's bus got in.

We probably should have gone out that night, but it was enough just to be together, so we ordered in Thai and had a great time catching up. On Saturday we were still unsure what the heck we wanted to do, but we ended up getting that Zipcar and heading out to Lancaster to visit Amish country! It was really just quite enjoyable to ride out in the Pennsylvanian countryside with our windows down, the music on and tons of green trees and new scenery around us.

We actually learned a lot about them! Did you know they began in Europe as a breakaway from Mennonites and were being persecuted, so William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, invited them to the U.S. to escape that? Many of their persecutors wore flashy belts, big brass buttons and mustaches, so they do not wear any of that out of respect. They do have occasional buttons but they will be as small and discrete as possible. They have no dietary restrictions, and will not receive an education above the 8th grade level. They pay taxes but will not accept any government assistance. The insides of their houses will be painted either green (for nature), blue (for the sky) or white (for heaven). Who knew!

When we got back, we took powernaps, and got ready for a night out with Sri's friends from business school. We ended up pulling out cards and playing slapjack (which was too much fun) and taking lots of pictures before we left Sri's apartment.

We had fun out in the city, and I do remember meeting his friends and barhopping, and somehow coming back to Sri's apartment, but next thing I knew, I was waking up in the morning, all 3 of us dogpiled on Sri's bed with the lights still on. And oh yes, a headache. We got a fabulous brunch, walked back in the sunshine, then napped with a movie on before having to pack up and head out for Palak and I to catch our buses back to our respective cities. It's so sad being away from them, but so nice we're close enough to rendez-vous when we can.