Normal Life in Wilkes Barre YES IT"S TRUE!!! (Pittsburgh: section 8, condo)

[Magritte25]

Hey Sheena, was that the presentation called "Hex Signs & Himmelsbriefs: Pa Germans and the Paranormal"? I wanted to go but I had school.

As for the differences between German and Dutch, here are some links:

Difference Between Dutch and German | Difference Between | Dutch vs German

Pennsylvania German language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[varmintblaster]

Originally Posted by sheena12

Listen carefully, I think that varmintblaster is inviting me to take a walk at 3AM in a rather seedy part of WB just so I can see some druggies, get mugged, watch someone get mugged or have an otherwise unplesant experience.

I will pass.

Sheena - I would not want to put you in harm's way.

How about joining us on a late night coyote mission?

Let me tell ya - sittin low in the dark shadows, callin in the yotes with a wounded rabbit call then having them "go off" all around you is more exciting than a crackhead jumping across your car hood as he escapes from a policeman's foot chase after he holds up the Turkey Hill !!

[toobusytoday]

Great post Sheena! I've been exploring my husband's PA German roots recently by taking a class in the language at our local library. Most of the people have a parent or Grandparent that speak it so I feel a bit at a disadvantage but it's fun. The German that I learned in HS sometimes floats to the surface and many of the words are the similar enough to make the pronunciation not too hard.

It sounds like you and your family are taking advantage of everything Wilkes-Barre has to offer.

[frank754]

I have been under the impression quite some time (and also by Sheena's links) that the Pennsylvania Dutch are not actually Dutch but German, as the history pans out. The German word for "German" is "Deutsch", and that's where it probably came from. My family's ancestry is both German & Austrian (all Christian), but my mom's side was German, and her parents met on the boat in 1923 coming from Germany to the USA (I have the exact boat trip in my records as well from EllisIslandRecords.com). They first went to the Catskills and worked for a Jewish resort there in Fleischmanns , and my mom's oldest brother was born there in NY. Then, I believe, they went to Philadelphia briefly (because that's where my mom was born, she's 84 now), and they had some blood relatives there they hooked up with briefly that went back to quite some time into the 1800's. They had some kind of cafe called a "KaffeGartenLauber" in Philadelphia which my grandmother told me about when I was young, but that's all the info I could find, never any genealogy outside our direct family tree, but they had a few friends from Germantown, PA who could have been related. My family then moved back to NY and settled in Queens, where my mom's 3 younger brothers were born, but when I was born (in 1954) my parents had moved us to NJ, in an area which was 90%+ Dutch, as was much of that area and the Hudson Valley.
I took the time out to trace some of my family and posted the results on my site:
Frank's Photography Site
But I'm not really heavily into that, just wanted to do a one-shot research project a few years ago, and I'm probably not going to update it further. Pretty interesting, though, to see these kinds of things in perspective with your own life, makes you think a bit more of your relation to the world and give some thanks to your ancestors and all they went through and the history of their lives...

[sheena12]

Yes Magritte that was the name of the lecture, and it was very interesting!
Glad that you enjoyed the post toobustoday!
The lecturer made a distintion between people of German descent who arrived before 1800 and after.
She argued that those who arrived before this date were for the most part, from the Pallentine region of what is now Germany. They are in her opinion the "true" PA Dutch (sic).
The Germans who arrived later were not regarded by most scholars as PA Dutch, alothough there is some overlap time.
Her mentor is a writer named Dr.David Kriebel. I want to read his books.
I had thought before this lecture that PA Dutch were synonimous with The Amish, but the Amish were not part of the PA Dutch tradition.
Although German, the Amish would never dabble in Pow-Wow magic or display the colorful folk art depicted in hex signs due to their plain ways and abhorance of superstition.
This would be the "fancy Dutch" generally Reformed or Lutheran, and not from Lancaster County - concentrated in Berks, Lehigh,Montgomery and several other counties.
I really want to do more research into the subject.
Funny, until last night I thought that my childhood vacation to Lancaster County involved the PA Dutch i.e. Germans.
Who knew?
Wilkes Barre really has a wonderful library!

[sheena12]

Phhewww!!! VB. For a moment there I thought that you were trying to get me killed!

But seriuosly speaking in most cities and even in many small towns are there not places that are best to avoid?

Growing up in the sleepy and mostly monied hamlet of Oyster Bay, everyone knew to stay away from Hamilton Ave. with it's bright blue painted shabby Victorian bar, that locals said was a house of ill repute.

Yeah, they actually said that.

[PeeAye Native]

Originally Posted by frank754

I have been under the impression quite some time (and also by Sheena's links) that the Pennsylvania Dutch are not actually Dutch but German, as the history pans out. The German word for "German" is "Deutsch", and that's where it probably came from. My .........

Ah, yes.

Short explanation here, also: Professor Earl C. Haag's PA German Dialect

The Pennsylvania German Society makes an effort to preserve the language, you can take some classes for example.

In the summer, watch for lectures they sponsor, sometimes in conjunction with Kutztown University, at events like the Kutztown Folk Festival, and similar events.

[bloominscranton]

While I may not be from Stony Brook, my former hometown in Medford was just as safe and many a night had to be out in the middle of the night for one reason or another and never felt threatened. I would and have done the same here in Scranton, and again never felt scared! Would you believe that I even hung out in Philly with co-workers till that time and (gasp) walked back to my hotel and never felt anytype of danger! ? It all goes with knowing your surroundings and the activites a person is engaged in. Life iin the 21st century is dangerous ANYWHERE to a greater of lesser extent, some lifestyles more so then others...but unsafe and fearful...in NEPA? Really....now if I was out trying to score some illegal drug in Edwardsville at 7pm....then my story would be totally different~

[Chefkey]

There are spots of seediness in every town VB, but Wilkes-Barre is the town of Candyland compared to some of the other big cities I've been in.

[sheena12]

good point Chefkey! there are also some rural and suburban areas that give me the creeps.
Parts of the Poconos and South Eastern LI come to mind.
All the bad stuff involved with city life yet devoid of culture and convenience.
But you get a new house with a jacuzzi.