Plimoth


Plymouth Plantation

By Huda Sulaiman Almedayfir

(Saudi Arabia)

 

The trip to Plymouth Plantation last Saturday was one of the most exhilarating experiences that I have ever been through.  First, I was excited because it was the first time for me to visit that place.  Second, and most important, the weather that day was extremely freezing and windy, which made me think how on earth these people, the English settlers and the Wampanoag Indians, survived such a harsh climate back then. 

 

Actually, the weather added a lot to the first stop we made, where the May Flower and the first rock were.  Even though, it was very chilly, the atmosphere at that place was magical!  Then at the next stop, I saw how the Wampanoag lived.  The way they built their ‘wetus‘using furs and tree barks wasn’t as easy as going to IKEA and getting what you need. On the contrary, it was lots of hard work and time consuming.  What was interesting to me also, is how women played a very important role, and were in charge, because they were the home makers who gave birth to babies and took care of the cooking. 

 

 

I loved the 17th century English the Pilgrims used.  In one of the cottages that I visited, was the housewife, who was preparing dinner on a wooden fire, and was dressed conservatively.  I asked her when did she start cooking, and she looked at me with her eyebrows held up and said ‘oh, very early in the morning‘ Then I asked her ‘what are you cooking, and how long has that been in the pot for?’ She answered ‘this is chopped onions, and they have been cooking for three hours now‘.  I was thinking ‘for real!?‘ Ok, this is unbearable for me.  How did they manage to do the cooking plus the gardening, and sometimes help with the farming, and above all that, have babies and raise them.  These women need a salute for surviving all of this. 

 

 

I consider myself very lucky to be living in an easy, less complicated time period.  And with no doubt visiting Plymouth Plantation made me appreciate many things in my life that I take for granted.  It definitely will not be my last visit to such a historically rich place.

 

Photos by Huda Almedayfir


 

From Boston you can take MA-3 S toward Cape Cod. Continue onto US-44 E. Take the U.S 44 S exit. Merge onto Samoset St/US-44 E. Turn right at Court St/Massachusetts3AS.

 

 


The Plimoth Plantation website

 

 

Plymouth Colony 

British colony

 

1620–1691 

 

 

 

Seal of Plymouth Colony

 

Map of Plymouth Colony showing town locations 

Capital

Plymouth

Language(s)

English

Religion

Puritan, Separatist

Government

Monarchy