Amish Dinner 2010

Every year my family attends our annual "Amish Dinner." A group of our family and friends travel to an Amish family's home where they prepare us a REAL home-cooked dinner (It seems weird when describing it like that, but it actually is very normal, hosting dinners is what they do for a living). A prime example of AP English seeping into our everyday lives, the whole night when I should've been enjoying mashed potatoes, homemade bread, and pie, I was wondering if the host family felt the same way the Gangulis and Jhumpa Lahiri felt; like an outsider in their own country. This seems so sad, but I don't think it's all that far-fetched. This particular family lived less than ten minutes away from a normal house, one with electricity and cars, yet they lived a completely different lifestyle. It must be extremely difficult living in a technologically forward world when that represents 0% of their lives. I wondered if Amish parents receive the same despise Ashoka and Ashima felt from Sonia and Gogol because they were forced into a culture that they didn't wish to be a part of. A quote that stuck out to me in The Namesake was when Ashima described being a foreigner as "a sort of lifelong pregnancy" (49). Ashima described the constant stares and pity she received from strangers, and I can't help but think that Amish people also receive these things. Sometimes when I'm out at the movies or shopping and I see an Amish person I know I often do a double-take, unintentionally alienating them from myself and the other people around me. If these Amish people truly did feel the same way Ashima did, I can't help but feel ashamed knowing I had some part in causing these feelings. It's sad to think that society can cause this separation simply because of a difference in lifestyle choices. I hope now that I have acknowledged this I can work harder and make sure that I am not contributing to this segregation.