2006 Visit to Nigromante, Mexico

story and photos by Kim Reed – June 20, 2006

Nine St. Mark’s parishioners traveled to Mexico in June 2006: The Rev. George Smith, Andrew Dorn, Joel Dillon, Kim Reed, Alex Reed, Elliott Reed, Christina Dorn, Jenny Zwiebel, and Gemma Miller (four adults, five youth). We met the group from Christ Church Winnetka at O’Hare (very early Monday morning) and arrived in Veracruz Monday afternoon where we were met by Bishop Benito, his wife, his son (our driver, translator and guide), Rev. Isaias, rector of mission church San Marcos in Nigromante, and a few other priests from the Diocese of SE Mexico. After purchasing supplies at the local Costco for our spaghetti dinner, we were driven inland to the city of Tuxtepec (an almost three hour drive) where both groups had dinner with the Bishop, his family and the priests from Nigromante and La Esperanza. It is also where we spent the first night.

The next day we purchased a few more supplies for our dinner and then headed to Nigromante with a brief detour to the church in La Esperanza. Here, we were greeted by a large number of parishioners who stood outside their church waiting for our arrival and more specifically, for the arrival of Christ Church because that is where the Christ Church group was to stay and work. Upon our arrival, the church bell rang and the people came up to say hello. We were shown the oven purchased by St. Mary’s for the women of La Esperanza to run a micro business baking and selling bread. After many photographs, Padre Isaias herded us back into the van to continue on to Nigromante.

Nigromante looked like a large urban area compared to La Esperanza. It is a town of approximately 5000 people; it has three churches, two Catholic (the “competition” according to Isaias) and the Anglican San Marcos. Most of the people are of indigenous descent, and the first language for many, especially the older residents, is Zapateco. Padre Isaias said he has about 200/250 parishioners (we needed the count in planning for our dinner). When we arrived at San Marcos, right across from the town plaza, parishioners set off fireworks (kind of like large bottle rockets). We then went into the church for the Eucharist celebration in honor of St. Anthony of Padua (the reason for the day’s celebration activities), where George donned vestments, assisted Isaias and impressively read the Gospel in Spanish. The service was accompanied by a large, festive brass band. After the service, we paraded through the plaza, down the street, led by the band to a feast where we, along with the village, were served fresh beef (recently slaughtered) in a sopa with corn tortillas. We went back to the plaza area to listen to the band (that played continuously that day from the church service on) and to watch the rodeo held in a small corral in the middle of town. Then came a dance performed by costumed and masked men in front of the church. After the performance, we were matched with our host families and sent off to drop off our luggage and then return to the plaza for dancing.

Each of our three host families gave up beds in their homes for us; they prepared generous meals, wouldn’t allow us to help or clean up, and treated us in the most gracious and hospitable manner. In each home, the women would arise around 5 a.m. to begin making the tortillas in the traditional way, rolled out on a volcanic stone then cooked over an open fire under an open kitchen area covered by a thatched roof (and in the same kitchen area right by the cisterns and open fire were plugged in refrigerators, contemporary stoves/ovens and TVs). Many of the men would go off to work the cattle ranches, whether under their ownership or that of others. Many in the town had trucks or vehicles of some kind; others rode bikes and many walked. There were some flush toilets, but many toilets were flushed with buckets of river water. Although the homes we saw had eating utensils, most of the people ate with their hands or used torn off pieces of tortilla, but when we served spaghetti, all used the plastic forks we provided. The homes were open to the outside, and during the night the roosters crowed (all night), the many undomesticated dogs wandering the town barked, cats yowled, trucks drove by – many, many sounds most of the night.

Day two in Nigromante, Isaias had Rafa, her parents and cousin take us out to their ranch where we could see the land and the cattle. We also hiked down to an arroyo with water from the nearby mountains. We headed back to Rafa’s family’s home for lunch and where we were to later make our spaghetti dinner for maybe about 150 of the parishioners/towns people. We then went on another walking tour down to the river in town. Nigromante is not a tourist place, but Isaias wanted to make sure we saw the different aspects of living there, and he also shared his vision of what he would like to see for the future of Nigromante. We took off in the air-conditioned van (much needed at that time) for the village of Arroyo Zacate to see the corn mill (another micro business for the women of the town – the mill was purchased by another church in the Chicago Diocese) at the Anglican Church there. When we returned, we cooked the spaghetti in a large pot over the open fire. We heated the sauce on the stove. The only strange ingredient was about 2+ pounds of butter that Isaias insisted we add to the spaghetti (no meat needed). We transported the food over to the church and set up a buffet in front of San Marcos. Over the course of the evening we served maybe 150 people, and by the end, all the spaghetti was gone. Both Isaias and the Bishop’s son, Egnar (sp?), helped us with the cooking and the serving. The kids from our group played Frisbee, American football, Mexican football in the plaza with the kids from the town. We watched as the sun set and hundreds of birds, as George referenced in his sermon, flew about the trees of the plaza.

The next day George, Joel and Andrew, led again by Isaias went out with Rafa and family to the cattle ranch (about a fifteen/twenty minute drive on dirt roads; an almost two hour walk for those who don’t have cars). We met back at San Marcos where George presented the vestments and St. Mark’s parish photo and remaining St. Mark’s t-shirts to Isaias in front of the many parishioners who were there. The kids played some more Frisbee – taught some of the boys in the town how to play Ultimate Frisbee. Then we took a few more pictures; more fireworks were set off; we loaded our belongings into the van, hugged and bid farewell to our host families and the other parishioners and headed off for Tuxtepec and Anglican Center (where Isaias lives with his family -- it also has a ranch with cattle, another business venture for the Diocese of SE Mexico with the help of funds from a US church.) From there we went to Veracruz and stayed the night downtown with the Christ Church group. We had dinner with the Bishop and his family, the Christ Church group, did some shopping on the plaza; then got ready to depart the next morning.

Before we left Veracruz, we had a chance to meet and give our impressions/opinions of our experiences in Nigromante. What we collectively agreed upon is that we want to go back to San Marcos and Nigromante; that we have begun a relationship that we want to nurture and build upon. We would like to be of some help to the parish, and there are a number of projects that we can consider and discuss with the Bishop and Padre Isaias, but that in doing so, we need to be sensitive, and we want to be respectful of the parishioners and have them involved in the decisions and the work of whatever it is we do; so that we remain on equal footing, as friends, as brothers and sisters in Christ, not just as benefactors.

Overall, it was an incredible experience – one that is unforgettable and one that I hope will be the beginning of many visits to come.