EL BLOG DE AMPOWERFLOWER

Aventuras y anécdotas fuera de casa

Monday, September 24, 2012

My hood. Mi campana.

Este es mi principal sitio de trabajo y mi principal fuente de preocupacion ahora mismo. Asi fue como acabo el sabado...una locura!!!
This is my main work place and my main source of worries right now. This is how it finished on Saturday, crazyness!!!


Monday, September 17, 2012

La aventura amish, parte 3. The Amish adventure, part 3

El lunes fue nuestro ultimo dia en Indiana. Nos levantamos temprano porque teniamos una agenda muy completa de cosas para visitar en la region amish.  Para ver nuestros otros dos dias, pinchad aqui y aqui. Comenzamos con un buen desayuno, en el que todo era normal, excepto que no habia fruta natural y ademas, tenian "biscuits with gravy". Es lo que veis en las fotos, Thomas lo tomo junto con su desayuno normal; yo ni lo oli, jeje! Me parecio una especie de bechamel con trozos de carne sumergidos, no es muy apetitoso :) Para el resto de los huespedes, era algo normal y llevaban montañas de este "manjar".
Sunday was our last day in Indiana. We got up early since we had a full agenda to visit all the Amish spots before going back to Chicago. To see our previous two days click here and here. We started having a nice breakfast at the inn. Everything was normal except that they didn't have fresh fruit. What they did have was "biscuits with gravy". It is what Thomas is eating on the pictures below. He took a bowl of this stuff the two days of our visit, I even smelled it, hehe! It is a kind of bechamel sauce with pieces of sausages and ground meet inmersed in this sauce. Almost all the guests were taking mountains of this dish and it was just surprising ;)


Thomas comiendo gravy. Thomas eating gravy.

Despues del desayuno continuamos nuestra ruta. Primero nos dimos una vuelta por las tiendas que habia en el complejo, todas de estilo rustico, basado en casas de estilo suizo, pais de procedencia de los primeros grupos amish. Las tiendas eran de artesania amish y de los famosos bordados y colchas amish (quilt): http://sweetheartsofthewest.blogspot.com/2012/06/quilting-legacy-of-family-history.html
After breakfast we went on with our route. We stopped first by the shops in the inn, most of them dedicated to Amish craft. All the shops resembled Swiss buildings, since Switzerland is the country where the first Amish came from. Some of the shops had the precious Amish quilts: http://sweetheartsofthewest.blogspot.com/2012/06/quilting-legacy-of-family-history.html





Beautiful stable. Precioso portal de Belen.

Despues de este recorrido nos dirigimos a Shipshewana, un pueblecito muy cerca de donde nos hospedabamos y en donde vive la mayor parte de la comunidad amish. La diferencia con el domingo era abismal, los amish estaban trabajando y siguiendo sus vidas normales en perfecta armonia con el resto de la comunidad. Las carreteras y las calles estaban llenas de familias amish en sus carros. En todos los establecimientos hay aparcamientos para carros amish y el trafico esta perfectamente regulado para sus vehiculos. Creo que hice fotos de todos los carros que vi, eso si, de lejos, si estaban vacios y sin molestarles en ningun momento. Al parecer, hay turistas que se atreven a pedirles posar. A mi me encantan las fotos, pero no me parece bien ir a molestar a nadie en su ritmo normal de vida. De todas formas, dependiendo si los amish tienen algun negocio de venta al publico, si que se puede interaccionar con ellos. De otra manera, cada uno a lo suyo :)
Entre Middlebury y Shipshewana hay una panaderia/bolleria regentada por una familia amish y es estupenda. Se llama "Rise and Roll" y tienen toda clase de dulces artesanos: donuts de todos los sabores, rollos de canela, pretzels, mermeladas y confituras, galletas, tartas y un largo etcetera. Nosotros compramos donuts, agujeros de donut, galletitas de nueces, pretzels y jarabe de arce.
After visiting the shops we headed to Shipshewana, a small village close to where we were staying and where most of the Amish live. There was a big difference in the street life compared to Sunday. Everyone was out in the street, the Amish were working and doing their normal life. There were buggy parking spots in every store and the traffic was perfectly regulated for their vehicles. I think I took pics of every buggy I saw, always from far or if they were empty. I never approached them or bother them. Apparently some tourists even ask them to pose for their pictures and they don't care if they are bothered or if they feel bad about it. I love taking pictures of different things, but I'd never dare to bother someone in their normal life rhythm. However, many Amish families have stores and also sell food and quilt items to the broad public and then, one can really interact with them. Otherwise, it is better to leave them quiet and respect them as they respect the rest of the world.
On our way to Shipshewana there is a great bakery, it is called "Rise and Roll". They have all kinds of Amish style sweets, everything looked delicious. It is owned by an Amish family and it looks like customers from everywhere arrive there everyday to get their delights: assorted flavor donuts, pretzels, cinnamon rolls, cookies, cakes, jams, preserves, maple syrup and more. We bought donuts, donut holes, pretzels, maple syrup and pecan crusts.

Amish buggy

Huge cinnamon rolls. Rollos de canela gigantes.

En interior de la pasteleria. The bakery inside.

Donuts de mil sabores, bacon incluido. Donuts of all flavors, bacon included.

Aparcamiento para carritos amish en Rise and Roll. Parking spot for Amish buggies at Rise and Roll.

Fachada de la pasteleria. The bakery.

Seguimos hacia el pueblo despues de degustar algunas delicidas dulces :) La carretera era un hervidero de carros y bicicletas. El paisaje en esta zona es muy rural y la gente vive de una manera sencilla, es un contraste maravilloso comparado con Chicago.
We continued our way to the village after eating some sweet delights :) The road was crowded with buggies and bikes. The place is very rural and people have a simple way of life more related to nature. It is a nice contrast compared to Chicago.






Amish twins. Gemelas amish.

Ropa amish secandose al sol. Amish clothes drying under the sun.


Llegamos al museo llamado "Menno-Hof". Es el museo de historia amish, alli se pueden ver todos los detalles desde su nacimiento, como llegaron a America, cuales son sus costumbres, su alimentacion y sus rituales. El museo se llama Menno-Hof porque el fundador de la religion menonita fue un holandes llamado Menno Simons. Todo empezo con la reforma de Lutero, que consistio en una separacion de la iglesia catolica romana. Los protestantes consideraban que la iglesia estaba corrupta y que no representaba el  mensaje de Jesus en la tierra. Ademas, creian que las personas creyentes debian ser bautizadas cuando fuesen adultas y conscientes de sus creencias, por eso se llaman "anabaptistas". Creo que llevaban razon, la verdad. Esta etapa de la historia fue muy violenta, ya que cristianos y protestantes se persiguieron mutuamente y muchos protestantes se vieron obligados a permanecer en la sombra por miedo a ser ejecutados. De todas formas, muchos protestantes tambien optaron por la rama violenta y de aqui, nacio la religion menonita. Menno Hof fue un protestante holandes que se negaba a ejercer ningun tipo de violencia contra gente de otra religion y ademas, no tenia ningun inconveniente en vivir y relacionarse con personas de otra religion. Como descencientes de Menno Simons nacieron los menonitas, los huteritas y los amish. Los menonitas viven de una forma muy similar al resto de nosotros, en casas normales, usan la ultima tecnologia, van a la universidad y tienen trabajos de toda clase. Ademas, se relacionan con gente de otras religiones. Los amish tienen creencias religiosas muy similares, pero no se relacionan con gente de otros cultos y por eso, viven en comunidades. No pueden conducir vehiculos de motor, pero si ir en un vehiculo conducido por alguien que no sea amish, estudian en sus propias escuelas, tienen sus propios medicos, no pagan impuestos y se autoabastecen con sus propias granjas y pequeñas fabricas. Las familias amish tienen propiedades, entre ellas, sus casas, granjas y graneros. Su vida esta basada en la humildad y por eso, llevan todos ropa muy parecida, colores lisos y el pelo tapado. Por otra parte, la rama mas radical de todas son los huteritas. Son exactamente como los amish, pero no creen en la propiedad privada. Todo es comunitario, granjas, comedores, casas, etc.
Los primeros amish nacieron en Suiza y Alemania, huyeron a varios puntos de Europa refugiandose de los cristianos de la epoca. Siglos despues huyeron de la Alemania nazi y llegaron a Estados Unidos, en concreto a Pensilvania, Ohio e Indiana.
We arrived to the "Menno-Hof", the museum for Amish history. There we could see all the details of Amish life, how they were born, how they arrived in America, their traditions, diet, rituals and work. The museum is called Menno-Hof after Menno Simons. Everything started after the Luther reformation and separation from the Roman Catholic church. Protestants considered that the church of the time was corrupted and not taking the message of Jesus on Earth. They also considered that people should be baptized in the adulthood, once they are aware of what they really want to believe. That's why they are called the anabaptist church. I really think they were right.
This period of history was very violent and protestants and Christians chased each other during years. Many protestants had to hide and escape to avoid being killed by the Christians of the time. Many protestants also chose the violent way and to fight against this, the Mennonite church was born. Menno Hof was a Dutch protestant who didn't accept any kind of violence in the fight for having their own religion. He defended the mixture of people with different beliefs in society. As the descendants of Menno Simons the "Mennonites", the Amish and the Hutterites were born. The Mennonites live like the rest of us, mixed with people from other religions, they have normal houses, use the last technology, they drive, go to University and have all kinds of jobs.The Amish have very similar religious beliefs, but they don't have contact with people of other religions, that's why they live in communities. They can't drive engine vehicles, but they can go in vehicles driven by others. They don't pay taxes, they study in their own schools, have their own doctors and they consume what they get from their own harvests and factories. Amish families have private properties like their houses and farms. Their life is based on humility and that's why they all dress in the same way without excesses or bright colors. The Hutterites don't believe in private property, they are the same as the Amish but everything belongs to the community, including farms, houses, diners, etc.
The first Amish were born in Switzerland and Germany, they escaped to different points of Europe trying to hide from Christians. Centuries later they escaped from the nazis and they arrived in the States, particularly in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.




Thomas y yo en el museo esperando para hacer la ruta. Thomas and I at the museum waiting to do the route.

Video informativo sobre la vida amish. Informative movie about the Amish life.

Sala de torturas durante la reforma luterana. Torture room from the Lutheran period.


Camarote representando el barcon en el que los amish viajaron a USA. Ship were the Amish travelled to the USA.

Dios esta con nosotros. God is with us.


Diferencias entre amish y menonitas. Differences between Amish and Mennonites.


Amish diet. Dieta amish.

Iglesia amish. Amish church.

La siguiente sala del museo era una recreacion de una casa amish. Todos los muebles son artesanos, de madera robusta y fuerte. La cocina es muy importante en las familias amish, ya que se hacen trabajos fisicos fuertes en el campo y en la construccion y por tanto, se necesita comer bien. Su dieta esta basada en los carbohidratos y la grasa. La mayoria de amish estan delgados, el problema viene cuando el resto de la poblacion come igual que ellos y no queman las calorias extra...Ademas, las fiestas amish y otro tipo de eventos siempre transcurren alrededor de la mesa. Los alimentos son sencillos, toda clase de verduras, cereales, pollo y patatas.
The next part of the museum was dedicated to the style of a typical Amish house, especially the kitchen. The furniture are home-made, with very strong wood. Food is very important in Amish families, they do strong physical jobs in the land and in construction and hence, they need high calorie intake. Their diet is based on carbohydrates and fat. Most of them are pretty slim, the problem comes when the rest of the population eat in the same manner without burning the extra calories...Furthermore, the Amish parties and other events happen around food and sharing dinner with the community. They consume simple food, veggies, cereal, chicken and potatoes are among the most popular foods.



Tipica cocina amish. Typical Amish kitchen.

Tambien habia una recreacion de la sala de estar y de la ropa tipica usada. Las mujeres deben llevar un vestido por debajo de la rodilla, de un color liso y sin estampados. Las niñas llevan un gorro blanco hasta los 12 años y despues uno negro cada vez que salen de casa y hasta que contraen matrimonio. Cuando se casan, se lo vuelven a poner blanco. Esta prohibido cortarse el pelo y los hombres deben dejar crecer su barba cuando se casan, pero no su bigote. Los hombres llevan pantalon, camisa y chalecos lisos, se abrochan con alfileres, ya que las cremalleras y los botones estan prohibidos. 
Alli se podia abrir los cajones, ver la comida que habia y tambien probarse la ropa, asi que claro, ni corta ni perezosa me plante el vestido amish y el gorrito, que por cierto, Thomas me lo puso al reves :)
There was also an Amish living room and some typical clothes. Women must wear a dress below their knees on a solid color without prints. Girls were a white hat until they are 12 and afterwards a black one every time they go out of the house until they get married. After marriage the hat must be white again. They also have to let their hair grow and man have to grow their beards after marriage, but without a mustache. Men wear pants, shirt and vest in solid colors, also a hat. All their clothes are closed with clips, buttons and zippers are forbidden. 
We could open the closets and drawers to see what kind of food they had and also we could try on their clothes. Of course I had to try on the Amish outfit and the hat, but Thomas put it the other way around :)



Salon amish (fijaos en el detalle de la colcha). Amish living room, look at the quilt :)

Aqui estoy con el atuendo amish. Here I am with the Amish outfit.

Thomasito y el sombrero amish. Thomasito and the Amish hat.


Front of the museum with the quilt gardens. Entrada del museo con los jardines bordados.

Despues de nuestra visita al museo llegamos al centro de Shipshewana y nos fuimos a comer a otro restaurante tipico Amish: "The Blue Gate". Se podia hacer con menu o el famoso "todo lo que puedas comer estilo Amish". Esta vez optamos por el menu normal, que incluia una suficiente cantidad de comida :) El restaurante era parecido al comedor the "Dutch Essenhaus", era un sitio gigante, habia lista de espera y familias enteras estaba alli degustando esta comida.
En esta ocasion me pedi jamon, por cambiar y no comer pollo frito otra vez, de acompañamiento me pedi la pasta estilo amish y "cole sla". Thomas comio pastel de carne con ensalada de patata y maiz. De postre, un trozo de tarta :) Yo la pedi de calabaza, estaba buenisima y Thomas de azucar y mantequilla al horno, toda una bomba!
After the visit to the museum we went to the center of Shipshewana and we went to eat to "The blue gate", a typical Amish restaurant similar to the one at the "Dutch Essenhaus". This time we didn't do the "all you can eat Amish" and we did the normal menu, which had a big amount of food anyway :) The diner was huge and entire families were there eating the Amish country style menu. 
I ordered ham with cole slaw and Amish noodles and Thomas had meatloaf with corn and potato salad. We had pie as a dessert, it was delicious. We took the pumpkin one and the "old style pie", based on sugar and butter melted in the oven, a real bomb!


The Blue Gate. El restaurante "The Blue Gate"


Mantequilla de cacahuete y salsa de manzana y canela en todas las mesas. Peanut butter and cinnamon and apple spread on all the tables.

Jamon con noodles y cole slaw. Ham with noodles and cole slaw.

Pastel de carne con maiz y ensalada de patata. Meatloaf with corn and potato salad.


Tarta de calabaza. Pumpkin pie.

Despues de comer paseamos por el pueblo, visitamos algunas tiendas de artesania y de colchas amish donde compre regalitos :) Tambien fuimos a una pequeña fabrica de quesos, donde se podia degustar queso cremoso amish, aunque eso si, nada como el manchego!!
Por ultimo, echamos un vistazo a algunas granjas y caminamos por los alrededores antes de poner rumbo a Chicago. En resumen, puedo decir que fue un fin de semana maravilloso, distinta cultura, forma de vida, diferente estado, gente con otras costumbres y tranquilidad. Lo recordare siempre con mucho cariño.
After lunch we walked around the village, visited some craft shops and quilt stores where I bought presents :) We also visited a small cheese factory, we could try cheese from Amish creameries, but to be honest, nothing like Manchego cheese!!
Finally, we looked at some farms and walk in the surroundings of the village before heading back to Chicago. It was a great weekend, we enjoyed different culture, people, life style, traditions and peace. I will always remember it with love.



Monday, September 10, 2012

La aventura amish, parte 2. The Amish adventure, part 2

El domingo fue el segundo dia de nuestra visita a la zona amish, pero el domingo es un dia sagrado, tanto para ellos, como para la mayoria de las personas que viven en la zona. La mayoria de la poblacion tiene fuertes creencias religiosas en esta zona, de diversos cultos y el domingo, es el dia del Señor. Esto significa, que casi todo esta cerrado y los pueblos, parecen muertos.
Ya contabamos con ello, asi que hicimos otros planes y las visitas amish las dejamos para el lunes. 
Comenzamos visitando un parque natural a pocos kilometros del pueblo donde nos hospedabamos. El bosque parecia interesante en el folleto, pero al llegar alli descubrimos que estaba cerrado. Como puede un bosque estar cerrado? De todas formas, algunas de las rutas estaban abiertas, asi que decidimos darnos un paseito. La cosa iba a ser corta y ademas, yo no iba bien preparada para trepar por alli, jeje!
La naturaleza es preciosa por alli, pero habia un silencio sepulcral, no habia ni un alma y solo habia algun que otro ruido de animales y hojas secas. Lo cierto es que era un poco tenebroso, ya que no brillaba el sol y despues de media hora nos fuimos de alli hasta nuestro segundo destino.
Sunday was our second day in the Amish country, but since Sunday is a day of rest to dedicate it to religion and family, almost everything was closed and empty. The majority of the population have strong religious beliefs and working is not allowed in Lord's day. We already knew about it so we made our own alternative plans and left the Amish visits for Monday.
We started going to a natural park close to the village where we were staying. Unfortunately, it was closed due to labor day. I was surprised because I don't know why a forest can be closed...Anyway, some of the tracks were open, so we decided to go for a short treck. I wasn't really prepared for walking in the woods to be honest :)
Nature was pretty cool there, but it was so empty, silent and dark that we thought it was super sketchy. We left the place after half an hour and headed to our second destination.







Nuestro segundo destino fue Goshen, uno de los pueblos recomendados en la guia amish. Lo primero que vimos fue un accidente entre un carro amish y otro coche. Parecia muy aparatoso, pero al final creo que no paso nada grave.
El pueblo estaba muerto, nada de gente tomando cañas :) Tomamos un cafe y nos paseamos por los principales puntos del pueblo. Algunas de las fachadas eran interesantes, pero nada del otro mundo. Visitamos tambien el ayuntamiento y uno de los numerosos jardines con mosaicos florales, imitando los bordados amish.
Our second destination was Goshen, one of the villages recommended in the Amish guide. The first thing we saw was an accident :( apparently there was a crash between an Amish buggy and a car. I think nothing really bad happened in the end :) The place was dead again, not like a Sunday in Spain where people go out to drink a beer and eat tapas before lunch, hehe! Some of the houses were cool, but nothing tremendous. We visited the city hall and one of the many quilt gardens.



Thomas con las casitas de Goshen. Thomas and the houses in Goshen.


Tienda en momoria de los caidos en guerra. Shop dedicated to the veterans.


Quilt gardens. Jardines mosaico.


Ayuntamiento. City hall.

Nuestro siguiente destino parecia mucho mas divertido y vivo. Fuimos a Plymouth, donde se celebraba el festival de la grosella :), la fruta de la temporada, jeje! Llegamos a este pueblo, estaba todo abarrotado, miles de coches, gente por todas partes y lo mejor, un tren-tractor que nos llevaba hasta el festival desde los aparcamientos. Me emocione pensando en todos los productos que ibamos a probar y comprar en este festival, nos aproximamos al bullicio y empezo a llover. Pense que seria breve, pero me equivoque. Los ultimos restos de la tormenta Isaac descargaron litros de agua por doquier. Nos refugiamos bajo una carpa llena de abuelas y alli nos quedamos una hora viendo como todo se inundaba y la gente se empapaba. Un desastre! Hasta la banda de musica recogio los bartulos y se fue de alli. Despues del aguacero no quedo alli "ni el tato", asi que nos fuimos de Plymouth sin ver absolutamente nada ;)
Our next destination was Plymouth. It looked like a nicer place to go with good ambient. The blueberry festival was being celebrated and to be honest, the place was absolutely crowded when we arrived there, tons of cars and people everywhere. The best of all was a train pulled by a tractor which was carrying people from the parking lots to the festival. I was so excited for the festival and seeing all kinds of things made with blueberries!! We arrived at the festival entrance and it started raining. I thought it would be short, but all of the sudden, the rests of Isaac left enormous amounts of water. We stayed under a tent with a group of grandmas watching as everything was getting flooded and people were soaking wet. What a disaster! There was nothing left there afterwards. The music band even left and we had to go back to Middelbury without seeing anything :) Exciting!


Tren-tractor. Train-tractor

El sol brillaba en Middlebury, el pueblo donde nos hospedabamos y decidimos explorar un poco el pueblo. Todo estaba vacio, demasiado tranquilo para mi gusto, pero bueno, un poco de paz tampoco esta mal. Pudimos ver algunos carros amish, pero poca cosa.
Por la mañana me hubiese gustado asistir a alguna misa menonita o amish, pero eran demasiado temprano y no llegamos a tiempo a ninguna. Tenia mucha curiosidad por ver como es una misa distinta a las tipicas catolicas y romanas :) Mientras caminabamos por el pueblo, llegando a uno de los parques mas centricos encontramos una iglesia abierta en la que se estaba celebrando la misa. Entramos y nos unimos a la comunidad. La iglesia era pequeña y sin ningun tipo de lujos. Cuando entramos todo el mundo estaba cantando dirigidos por uno de los feligreses. Todo el mundo tenia el libro de canto y su propia biblia. Despues de las canciones, un miembro de la audiencia subio al altar y leyo una parte de la biblia mientras incluia al publico en la tertulia. Esta fue una de las cosas que mas me llamo la atencion, junto con un tablero donde se escribe la asistencia de cada semana y el dinero que se recoge en la colecta.
Despues de la misa varios miembros de la congregacion vinieron a presentarse y estrechar manos, estaban curiosos por saber por que estabamos alli. Fue interesante estar alli y conocer otras costumbres y creencias :)
The sun was shining in Middlebury so we decided to walk around and explore the village. Everything was pretty much empty, but we liked looking at the houses, the churches and some Amish buggies running around.
I thought of attending a church service in the morning, I was just curious to see how a service different from the Roman Catholic ones were, but we were late in the morning to attend a Mennonite or Amish service. It just happened that one of the churches in town were open and celebrating a service. It was a baptist church, but I was still curious so we entered and joined. Everyone was singing religious songs led by a local guy and then a speaker went to the altar and recited a text from the Bible while discussing about it with the audience. That part was pretty new to us :)
The church was very modest, no luxurious stuff and the audience were mainly neighbors of Middlebury. Once the service was finished, everyone came to shake hands with us, introduce themselves and ask us what we were doing there. It was nice to be there and experience other people beliefs.

Thomas y un Mustang antiguo. Thomas and an old Mustang


En la puerta de la iglesia bautista. At the door of the Baptist church.


La iglesia por dentro. The church inside.

Despues de la misa seguimos paseando por el pueblo, la verdad es que me sorprendia con el estilo de casas que hay alli. Para mi, era como en las peliculas. Ademas, estabamos en una region bastante tradicional y patriotica. Todas las casas tenian la bandera ondeando en sus fachadas y una estrella que representa a la familia "tradicional". La estrella tiene 5 puntas, representando una al padre, otra a la madre y las otras a los hijos.
Terminamos el dia cenando en una pizzeria que estaba milagrosamente abierta y comiendonos un helado, cuya bola era tan grande como mi cabeza :) Me lo tome de masa de galleta, mi unico helado de la temporada, pero estaba rico!!
En el siguiente post, escribire sobre la cultura amish, ya que con el comienzo de la semana ellos tambien empiezan sus tareas cotidianas y verlos mezclados en armonia en el pueblo, es algo que me encanto!
After the service we kept on walking around the village. I was surprised by the style of the houses there, it was like being in a movie. We were in a pretty traditional and patriotic area and all the houses had the American flag waving on the gables. There was also a star almost in the front of every house, I learned it is a symbol of the "traditional family". The star has 5 points, one represents the father, the other the mother and the other three, the children.
We finished the night eating dinner in a pizza bar that was miraculously open and a ball of ice-cream bigger than my head!! I had the "cookie dough" flavor, my only ice-cream of the summer. It was good!!
The real Amish country comes in the next post since with the beginning of the week, the Amish also start with their normal working days and they are mixed among the rest of the people. I really loved that!!



 



Fotos con las casas tipicas del pueblo, con su bandera americana en todas ellas. Pictures with the typical  houses of the village. All of them with the American flag.


Uno de los carros Amish. An Amish buggy.