After a lovely night of sleep under a bob the builder blanket in the old house of Alex’s family, we decided to start the day with a walk up the hill. The government of the town did a lovely job of creating walking paths and placing benches on the hill and we enjoyed the views and the morning sun. We could see the fields where they grow appels and other crops and of course the by now loved and familiar mountains at the horizon.

We made our way back and after showers drove to the cutest place for breakfast! It was an old wooden house moved from the mountains into town and had a lot of character and endless little trinkets put up on the walls. As always the food was delicious and I could almost read the full menu in Spanish hahaha. 

It was interesting to see a lot of white folks around not to mistake for tourists. They are part of the Mennonites who settled here around the 1920s. You may call them a sect cause they have their own Mennonite religion but from origin they are farmers from Russia, Poland and Northern Germany. Many speak English and some speak spanish too. Their own Old German language sounds weirdly Dutch but still too different for me to understand. I did fascinate my friends by my attempt to speak the dialect from Maastricht which sounded alike according to them haha but in the end far from the same. The Mennonites tend to live sort of separate from the Mexicans in Cuauthémoc but they are accepted and provide many agricultural goods and practices. The traditional Mennonites live a life without luxury, marry at a young age and have many children to help in the family business. The goods and profits of the community are shared and strict rules and gender roles apply to keep this system running smoothly. 

This closed off and unique community fascinated me and I was intrigued to hear that Alex’s parents would take us around to meet the more traditional Mennonites. The first stop was at a befriended farmer. Unfortunately they were having a birthday party so we could only see the land outside and the sheds build with adobes, common for this area to use as clay for houses. We drove a bit further and stopt at a different house where two older women greeted us and invited us inside. Alex’s father used to be friends with the husband of one of the women but he passed away. It was very kind from them to invite us in and an honour as well to enter a Mennonite house. The dynamic was so funny because the women could speak a little bit Spanish, High German and English but mostly the Old German so Alex was talking German and I tried my best which meant that I became a translator for Pam and Alex’s mom but when Spanish was spoken Pam translated for me. After a nice chat and my best German to ask if I could take a photo with them, we left again. On my way out I was still talking, as well as possible considering the language barrier, with the women, thanking them for their hospitality and laughing about the similarities with Dutch and German.  And before I could leave they gave me a bag of home made Kuchen. 

We spent the evening with Alex’s family and delicious food! From Gluwein to blue tortillas with swordfish stew. Everything was local and a lot was home made as well! Even the sweet liquors we got to taste which were all very yummy haha. Our plan to have some beers back at the other house with the four of us failed once more thanks to the lovely family of Alex who entertained us with stories and food. The mixture of English and Spanish was something I got used to and although talking Spanish is hard, I can follow quite a lot of the conversations. The alcohol might help too or at least with my imagination of understanding hahaha. 

The next morning we had some sweet pastries for breakfast at the house, freshly bought from the bakery! Alex’s brother and girlfriend joined us to drive us to Chihuahua, they would take the car back home after dropping us off at the airport. But the day was still young and we wouldn’t leave until 6pm so we went for a lovely brunch in the city of Chihuahua followed by drinks with a uni friend from Alex and then, when we were actually almost running late haha, we raced to the airport. I was fascinated by the modern building where suited up guys sprayed covid away and airplane stairs are pushed by the staff, we waited to board. Mario joined our travel crew to go to Mazatlán!!! The flight went smooth and before we knew we landed safe and sound. The smell of the salty seawind welcomed us and we were eager to arrive at the very fancy dancy apartment!!! 
The stories of Mazatlán will follow soon so stay tuned! 

Adiós