It was a cold and blustery day outside as I drove my truck toward the sleepy little town of Belle Center, Ohio. The houses became few and far between and the country silence was broken by the incessant hum of my Ford Ranger's 302 V8 engine. Of course there was nobody around except for me to notice the noise. After fifteen minutes of maneuvering down the twisting road, I finally saw the sign that announced my entrance into Logan County's Amish country; the sign read, "Now Entering A Horse Drawn Vehicle Area."

The Amish are an admirable group of people. They have gotten along for the past four hundred years without any of the necessities of modern life, and their culture shows signs of continuing to do so for the next four hundred years. This group is very unique, as they still are able to appreciate the simple joys of nature, such as the song of a mourning dove, the nickering of a mare to her foal, and the excited chatter of squirrels in the spring. Now, how did they come to have such a profound appreciation for nature as well as each other?

A brief background on the Amish will help explain why the community within Belle Center is such a strong cultural site. The group now k

Ultimately, the Amish have known all along what really matters in this world. They have never let go of their roots, and provide for their children a cultural identity that most of us cannot relate to. Amish parents treasure their children every day, and treat their elders with great care and respect (Yoder, 2003). They are fully involved in their neighbor's lives, celebrating each other's joys and sharing one another's burdens. It is people, rather than material items, that are the treasured accumulation of an Amish person's lifespan.

nown as the Amish came into being in roughly 1693. This occurred when a group of Swiss Mennonites broke from the main body of Mennonites over differences related to the celebration of Communion. They eventually had to escape religious persecution by immigrating into Pennsylvania and then westward from there (Yoder, 2003). It is from this previous information that I will base my cultural experience in Belle Center, Ohio.

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Approximate Word count = 859
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)