Uncovering Mexico
Jeremy Schwartz is the Mexico correspondent for Cox Newspapers. He is based in Mexico City.What's on this page?
The entry titled "When Different Worlds Meet: Mennonites in Mexico."
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Home > Uncovering Mexico > Archives > 2007 > July > 16 > Entry
When Different Worlds Meet: Mennonites in Mexico
It was with some trepidation that my wife and I traveled last week to a remote Mennonite community in Zacatecas to do a story on a local dairy farmer who was elected to the state legislature. Mexican Mennonites are notoriously closed from the rest of society and I had images of being chased out of town by angry locals - or at least being given a nasty cold shoulder.
It was Sunday morning when we pulled into La Honda in our rental car and our first glimpse of the Mennonites was a huge line of pickups and SUVs driving down a dirt road from a severe-looking, unmarked church.
Our cell phone didn’t work and we set out in search of a pay phone. After the church procession passed, the streets were completely deserted and the few stores in town were locked up tight (it was Sunday after all). We eventually stumbled on the La Honda Hotel (who would have imagined?) and I went into the office in search of a phone to call the newly elected congressman.
A redheaded, freckle-faced boy of about 16 whipped the cell phone off of his belt and handed it to me. He spoke a heavily accented Spanish and wore the distinctive blue overalls that seem to be a uniform for Mennonite men.
In the parking lot were three vans with Ontario plates (the Mexican Mennonites came from Canada in the 1920s and families still travel back and forth). A group of men chatted in a mix of Spanish, English and Low German about the farm business.
Over the next 24 hours we ran into our share of surly, uncooperative folks (taking pictures was particularly difficult), but found most of the Mennonites open and willing to talk. We didn’t get the vibe that we were unwanted outsiders. At times people would crowd around us and even offer up juicy community gossip, like the fact that some Mennonites had romantic relationships with Mexicans. Kids waved at us as we passed. Some older residents wanted to make sure we didn’t work for the TV news before talking to us (television is still prohibited there).
The next day, a Monday, held more surprises: the number of Mexicans from nearby towns working in or visiting La Honda. Most were laborers on the prosperous Mennonite farms or workers in the various dairies (Mennonite cheese is highly regarded throughout Mexico), but a good number were on family outings. The town’s only pizzeria was catering almost exclusively to Mexican customers - parents with their kids, obviously dressed up for the day.
We didn’t see too much conversation between Mennonites and Mexicans, but the interaction helped break the myth of the hermetically sealed Mennonite community.
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By jennifer rose
July 16, 2007 8:22 AM | Link to this
See Sam Quinones’ “Antonio’s Fun and Delfino’s Dream” for an account of a less-than-welcoming encounter with the Mennonites.
http://www.staringatstrangers.com