Cuauhtemoc, Mexico
March 6th, 2010Last evening our “Visit Mexico and Its Copper Canyon” tour group gathered at the El Paso Marriott Hotel for the orientation dinner and night. This morning our highway coach was waiting for us and we eagerly boarded. David Friesen, our storyteller, told us as we approached the border that the official name of Mexico is the United States of Mexico. Mexico has 30 states.
Our border crossing went smoothly and within 35 minutes we were on our way. We saw the statue of President Benito Juarez who in 1857 secularized Mexico by separating the church and state. He lived in the same time period as Abraham Lincoln.
As we crossed the Samalayuea Desert, David shared stories to help us understand why Mennonites migrated here from Manitoba, Canada and the many challenges they faced at that time.
As we traveled the Pan American Highway, we observed that where there was irrigation, crops would grow, and we saw dairy and buffalo herds. We also enjoyed seeing the more than 100-year-old stone divider fences built prior to the Mexican revolution.
Our late noon meal was at the San Francisco Hotel in Chihuahua. When Bob Balisky wears his cowboy hat from Alberta, he is mistaken for a Mexican. We will have to be careful we don’t lose him!
We arrived at the Tarahumara Inn which will be our home for the next five nights. We were told that it is named after the Tarahumara (meaning “the deer that runs”), the First Nations mountain people who are fast runners. They are very respected by the Mexicans.
Tomorrow we look forward to meeting and worshipping with our Mexican brothers and sisters in the Old Colony Church and also in the Conference Mennonite Church.
~ Wilmer Martin
