The answers revealed

Didnt get many guesses. A bit sad.


here are the answers to the Lancaster County True or False:
[And remember... I didnt really research most of this. Its mainly from my personal knowledge, which can be slightly lacking.]


1) Amish people are really poor. FALSE. many of them make quite a bit of money. think about it: tourists come to the area (though i'm not sure why) and think "real amish people made this! i'm gonna buy it!" quilts are a big seller. the women make them and sell them for a huge price. They also breed horses, and also dogs, and other animals, and people buy them cuz they think they must be good quality. (which they arent necessarily.) and another contributing factor is--


2) The amish dont have to pay taxes. TRUE! okay, if they go out to the store, they pay sales tax. but not like income tax, property tax, local taxes or anything. I'm not really sure why that is. But, its true.


3) If you see a horse and buggy on the road, its an amish person. FALSE. The amish arent the only ones with horse and buggies. The strictest sect of mennonites do also. You can tell the difference b/c amish have gray buggies and old-order mennonites have black ones.


4) They are completely seperated from "the english." FALSE. they shop at walmart. COME ON! how dumb is that. and they go to the mall. and they go lots of other places. the thing that bothers me the most about it is that when they see you, they give you this look of distain. and i think: "you're the one who came here."


5) The PA dutch come from holland. False. A friend in college-- from Texas-- tried to convince me that PA dutch were from Holland. She wouldnt believe me... and I actually am PA Dutch. Though people speak dutch in holland-- the PA dutch originate from germany. they speak a dialect of german-- a lot the same, but with some differences. Though, most people today dont speak it. well, i think the amish/stricter-mennonite do. but besides that, most dont know it. i personally only know a few phrases. (gutenhimmel, and be bishta younga -- i think thats how its spelled.)


6) Red barns were originally painted with animal's blood. TRUE and FALSE. Okay, my husband swore to me that it was really true. So, i believe that once upon a time he heard someone say that. ... But i did some online research today and couldnt find it stated anywhere.


7) Some amish grow tobacco and marijuana. TRUE. not all of them do... Most dont; I dont want to give them a bad wrap with this question. But anyway... i remember this scandal from a few years back. Some amish kids were caught by police for it. But, they werent punished by "law" in any way. the police left the kids to their parents and community to punish. hmmm...


8) The mennonite are the same as the amish. FALSE. They do originate from that same PA dutch background. but, there are so many TYPES of mennonite. Like i said earlier, some even use horse and buggies. i think the only modern things they have are phones and electricity. (i could be wrong on that.)


9) The amish live only in Lancaster County. FALSE. there are some all over the place. Ohio and delaware for example.


10) Lancaster is mainly underdeveloped and farm land. FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE!!!! what you dont know is that Lancaster itself is a city. (ok, not near as big as Philadelphia-- but a city nonetheless.) it has all the problems that cities have: overcrowded, crime, poverty. I've gotten lost in there before. (haha, funny story.) but, many parts of the county are farms... just not all.