Nancy’s First Week! #PandaWatching

This is me meeting Xin Xin!!

Helloooooooo everybodyyyy!!!!! •ᴗ•

The first week in Mexico has been absolutely AMAZING! It’s my first time spending such an extended period of time in a foreign metropolitan area, and the experience has been incredibly fun and eye-opening. Plus, I had the chance to see the stunning only living Latina panda Xin Xin, who weighs in at 90kg and even has her own hammock (I wish I had a hammock)! Aside from meeting Xin Xin, our academic excursions this trip have been incredibly informative and insightful! 

Growing up, I was fortunate enough to hear a variety of stories about Mexico from relatives, neighbors and family friends. However, despite my familiarity with Mexican culture and history, I often found that I would hear a lot more stories about the problems plaguing Mexico rather than the innovative solutions being implemented by engineers to address them. It’s been truly inspiring to be in Mexico City and witness firsthand the positive impact and country pride that individuals and organizations have been handing out to the lives of so many Mexican citizens. 

iSEED students working at Chinampas

Learning about chinampas was especially fascinating to me, coming from a family of rural Mexican farmers. I have a single story when it comes to farming in Mexico. My family’s farming experience involves tractors, acres of land and sprinkler irrigation systems. Witnessing the intensive yet effective process of chinampa farming was nothing like I’ve ever seen before. The whole process is so intensive, but also effective, it gets the same potentially an even higher yield than the way that my family farms. I loved working the land though, it reminded me that despite the methods being different, they have similar steps and ways to take care of the crops. 

Another highlight of this past week has to be Isla Urbana! This excursion was especially meaningful as it not only provided insights into a potential solution for Mexico City’s water issues but also shed light on the underlying challenges. It’s interesting to see how a resource that was so integrated into society, in ways it was worshiped, is now so scarce due influences from external factors. For example, when Europeans came into what is now Mexico, they were so surprised by the uniqueness of Tenochtitlan and they had never seen anything like it. Yet rather than learn more about their culture and work with their type of land and farming that worked for them, they strived towards a more European style landscape. Due to that, the town that was once so integrated with nature became such a cement dystopia. Keeping this mindset and the vast growing population, is what generates such a large problem. 

iSEED students viewing the rain harvesters

What truly resonated with me about Isla Urbana was the tangible impact it has on communities. Witnessing firsthand how access to water can transform lives and hearing stories of how the program has brought communities together and resolved long standing disputes was incredibly inspiring. Not only that, but their investment in raising awareness about their programs, such as painting murals in communities and collaborating with theater programs to educate children about the significance of water, highlights the power of seemingly small actions in creating significant impacts. Seeing how full communities have these rainwater harvesting, or hearing how the harvesters were able to end generational family feuds is super inspiring and makes me want to continue learning about more NGO’s and their impacts throughout all of Mexico.

Palacio de Bellas Artes

Other highlights of the week include the best burgers I’ve ever tried, fighting the urge to buy sushi in CDMX, visiting El Palacio de Bellas Artes, and again visiting my favorite Latina panda Xin Xin. 

Thank you for reading!!!