Freedom Tour Day Three.

As usual, we started the day at six with multiple wake- up calls, and after our continental breakfast we boarded the bus. After three hours of reading, sleeping, singing, and trivia on the bus, we made it into Philadelphia. The groups were set loose to explore the city for an hour. My group decided to do to the Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall. Did you know that the Liberty Bell used to be called the State House Bell, but was changed by the abolitionists because they were inspired by the statement on the bell? The bell says “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” Throughout the day I was trying to connect to freedom in America, and I felt that my connection with the bell was with the slavery that went through Philadelphia. Many of the abolitionists helped those slaves to freedom.  To me, that was the message of the Liberty Bell. I have to say, I didn’t learn much at Constitution Hall (except that my friend is really gullible), but the Constitution Center was awe inspiring. After we ate our lunch of sandwiches in the basement of the Constitution Center, we saw the incredible presentation of our country. Aside from the exceptional performance of the narrator, I felt that the point was that, no matter what, our country fought for freedom. No matter the odds people sacrificed their lives for fairness and freedom for their country. Imagine. Would you honestly risk your life for others?  For people you don’t even know?

      Again, we got on the bus, this time with a desperate bathroom parade, and made it to Amish Country Pennsylvania. There are so many rules to being Amish I couldn’t  track of them all, but the ones I caught were:  No symbols, no electricity,  no bathing suits in public, no bright red, orange, or yellow shirts, no rubber tires, no using tractor out in the fields, no owning/driving a car, no joining the army, and no flying airplanes. Believe it or not, that’s not even half of it, but it was the best I could do. The other thing we learned was about strip farming, and no, it’s not what you think it is. It’s where farmers plant their crop in strips and change the plants every year so nutrients don’t get sucked out of the soil. I had trouble finding freedom within the Amish lifestyle because there are oh so many rules, but in the end I think that the Amish are trying to be the purest to the earth as possible, and to them that’s their freedom. In the evening we enjoyed a delicious dinner which, in my opinion, had the best mashed potatoes I’ve had in my life. Everyone turned in after a relaxing evening in the hotel pool and that’s the day for you.

-Emma