The Mennonites

Nov. 7, 2006

After Chihuahua, we went to a Mennonite community on the outskirts of Cuahtemoc. The Mennonites moved here from Canada in 1922. They left Canada because they were forbidden to have their own schools in their German language after World War I.

This is a Mennonite museum in Cuahtemoc showing what life was like in the 1920s-1940s. I felt like I was in Iowa, not Mexico.

We visited a Mennonite cheese factory, a grocery store, and a general store. Our tour guide said that there were two types of Mennonites, the conservatives and the liberals; you can distinguish them by how they dress. The black scarf on the head of this customer in the general store indicates that she is married.

That night we had a dinner served by the Mennonite family that ran the RV park where we stayed. The food was excellent, but hardly what you think of as Mexican; we had pork chops, mashed potatoes,  soup, and a salad of sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocadoes.

After dinner, the RV park owner introduced his family, consisting of his wife, mother-in-law, and five children.

Tomorrow we head for La Junta to load our RVs on the train that takes us through the Copper Canyon.