Friday & Saturday, February 29 & March 1

TourMagination’s Mexico tour begins with a welcome dinner at the hotel in El Paso, Texas. El Paso is the Spanish term for “the passage.” Crossing the Rio Grande River on Saturday, we will travel by coach south through the Sonoran Desert. As we travel, David Friesen will present an informative orientation lecture on Mexico and Mennonites. Traveling through Northern Mexico, we will notice the extreme dryness of the desert and the mesquite bushes that create their own beauty in the desert. Lodging for four nights at the Tarahumara Inn in Cuauhtemoc.

Sunday & Monday, March 2 & 3

Early on Sunday we will worship with the Old Colony Church at Gnadenfeld, followed by worship and fellowship with the Blumenau Mennonite Church, a General Conference congregation. Our afternoon visit will be in the Manitoba Colony. Monday morning we will tour Cuauhtemoc including the train station where Mennonites arrived over 80 years ago. We will see the Eustillos Valley where the Mennonites settled, visit the cheese factory in Gnadenfeld and the Y Centro Cultural Menonita Museum. We will also visit the Unser Hoffnungsheim, a program for special needs adults.

Tuesday & Wednesday, March 4 & 5

We will board the luxurious first-class train of the Chihuahua al Pacifico Railway which winds along the rim of a steep chasm and climbs the high passes of the Sierra Tarahumara Mountains. The scenery will be spectacular through this mountain range. There are actually five canyons and the largest is known as the Copper Canyon. We will enjoy visiting the outdoor markets of the Tarahumara Indian women with beautifully hand-crafted baskets and weaving. Our resort hotel is dramatically situated on a high cliff. You will enjoy the beauty of the rugged mountain range from the balconies of the hotel. A local guide will take us on a nature walk, interpreting the culture and sites. Wednesday morning we will enjoy a show by the Tarahumara Indians and visit the balancing rock or, as the Spanish called it, the flying rock. In the afternoon, we will again experience the awesome beauty of the Copper Canyon on our return to Cuauhtemoc by train.

Thursday & Friday, March 6 & 7

On Thursday, we will visit the Old Colony School at Blumenort #22, as well as the Mennonite Credit Union in Cuauhtemoc. Travelling on to the Ojo de la Yegua Colony, an outgrowth of the Manitoba Colony, we will visit their Bible School and observe their agri-businesses. We will want to visit Campo 7 and the new state-of-the-art cheese factory. Friday’s journey takes us to Chihuahua where we will visit the cathedral and see the University of Chihuahua and the Institute of Technology. In the afternoon, we will travel to Nuevo Cases Grandes to visit the newer colony of El Valle where we hope to have our noon meal. This colony is very progressive in agriculture and technology. They are exporting cotton to Japan. In Nuevo Cases Grandes, we will want to visit the MCC store and centre.

Saturday & Sunday, March 8 & 9

On Saturday morning we will visit the remote El Capuline Colony to see their school and farms and have our noon meal with the Neufeldt family. Then we will journey back to El Paso, Texas. Time will be spent reflecting on new insights we have gained into the many different cultures of Mexico. At the border, we will proceed through customs and return to the El Paso Marriott Hotel where we will have our farewell meal and stay for the night. Following breakfast on Sunday morning, we will say our goodbyes and take the hotel shuttle to the El Paso Airport for flights to our home cities. We hope you will arrive home with many memories of new friendships formed and with a deeper appreciation for the diversity of our Mennonite family.

Your Tour Leaders:

David Friesen was born in Mexico and worked in the public school system, as well as in Mennonite private schools. Before moving to Winkler, Manitoba, he and his wife Trudy had an MCC assignment. Now, David serves as chaplain at Salem Home Inc. He will be the storyteller on this tour. David and Trudy have one son, John Howard David, married to Irene whom you will meet when the group visits Cuauhtemoc.

Dave Worth Dave Worth serves as the Resource Network Director for Mennonite Central Committee in Akron, Pennsylvania. He has served many years with MCC and spent a year coordinating Habitat for Humanity projects in Jamaica. His love for our Mennonite people will be evident as he again serves as tour manager on this Mexican tour.