Travel Expands the Mind. - Dr. Who

The United States is such a huge country that it's easy to forget that there are other countries sometimes.

We have these different states, but we have a tendency to argue amongst them rather than think of them as interesting cultures to visit.

When's the last time you heard someone say, "Those Colorado residents certainly have an interesting culture!"

But then, there's the Amish.

A week or so ago, we were in Iowa in an area where Amish settlers have moved in and bought land in recent years. They've built a school house, and they ride along the sides of the road in their hand-built buggies.

They refer to us non-Amish as "English." Who knew?

Anyway, we got to ride on a buggy, and I was struck by how much this was like visiting a foreign country. Even the sound of the buggy wheels was new.  And, everybody went out of their way not to offend one another. There was a back-and-forth that seemed a lot like how you deal with people when you don't speak the language or are not sure how to pay for something or are just trying to find the train station.

Whatever you might think of Amish culture, it certainly expanded the mind to visit with people whose entire lifestyle was, well, foreign. Right there in Iowa.