Religion Project: Week 3
For this week I was Amish. I kept a journal with what I did through out the week. I won’t write everything that was in the journal because I plan to have it in my documentary, so here are some bits and pieces from it.
Monday, May 10:
Today was my first day of being Amish. I woke up excited to see how things were going to turn out at 5:00AM. Traditionally I would have helped with milking cows, but that wasn’t really possible, so I started cooking. Using an Amish cookbook, Cooking From Quilt Country, I made German apple pancakes for breakfast, and a baked apple for lunch. I’ve never had much personal experience with cooking, so it was a bit difficult for me, but I didn’t burn anything so I call it a success. Once I was done it was off to school….
Tuesday, May 11:
Its my second day of being Amish, and all excitement has worn off. I am tired and don’t want to get up just so that I can cook for two hours then walk to school. But I continued on. I was running late so I made my maple syrup dumplings for breakfast and lunch. Bad idea. They tasted okay when they were warm, but by the time it was lunch time and they were cold and soaked in maple syrup, they were just plain awful…
Wednesday, May 12:
Third day of being Amish, and I have hit my mid week crisis. I was exhausted this morning and slept until 5:30AM, so I didn’t have time to cook breakfast. I made tomato dumplings for lunch and then left for school. School was starting to get harder to go through. it seemed that food was ruling my life. I hadn’t eaten breakfast, and I had burned the dumplings that morning, so I was running on very little energy. As everyone ran around at lunch, I was stuck in a dress that looked like I was going to a funeral. The week started to seem like it was never going to end…
Thursday, May 13:
My fourth day of being Amish. I had gone through happiness, excitement, boredom, tiredness, irritation, and frustration. I was now hitting the stages of denial and acceptance. When I look back on today, I don’t remember much. Its still May 13th, and yet it seems like the whole day was a blur. I feel like a robot, with such a strict schedule.
5:00AM: Wake up, get dressed
5:15AM - 7:15AM: Cook
7:15AM - 8:00AM: Walk to school
8:00AM - 3:15PM: School
3:15PM - 4:15PM: Walk home
4:15PM - 8:00PM: Cook
8:30PM - 5:00AM Sleep
Help me…
Friday, May 14:
It’s my final day of being Amish, and I have never been more thankful in my entire life. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Boy, what a beautiful light that is. I did my cooking for the morning then went on my way to school. For once this week I made it on time, and I was very pleased with myself. I felt so happy, I was early, dreaded ERBs were done, and I was about to convert back into my own way of life. It was like Christmas morning for me…
Back to my normal updates next week.
