This being my first time in Mexico and the “developing world”, I didn’t really know what to expect upon arrival. My single story of Mexico prior to this trip had to do with vibrant colors, tacos, and a relatively cheaper lifestyle. Although I have experienced these things within my first days of being in Mexico, I have learned so much more about the place, the culture, and their historical relationship with water.
The best tacos in Mexico City hands down
Brian, Jordi, and I wooooo
Office in Los Pinos
It has been interesting to learn about the formation of Mexico City—specifically how the city was chosen to be built in the middle of a lake. These structures that were built in the middle of the lake are called chinampas, and we were fortunate enough to visit a family farm on a chinampa. This family has solidified their farming methods over the years, and it was interesting to hear about how they tried different techniques to find the best one. During our visit, we just helped them with the part of their farming cycle that they were on, which happened to be weeding around their crops. (Images from left to right: one of the family workers taking out the blocks of dirt containing the crops to be spread out and replanted, rocks put into the stream to prevent tilapia from entering and eating the axolotls, biofilters – plants in the stream as part of their farming process)
Another highlight from the past couple of days was visiting Hacedores, a maker space. As a lot of my coursework requires more theoretical than hands-on work, this was a foreign space to me. However, the makers at Hacedores welcomed me among my peers with more experience. It was fun to learn how to actually solder (shown below) to complete circuits that I normally just solve on paper. I liked to see the engineers at Hacedores as makers just creating new things and exposing youth to this sort of creativity.
Thinking more about the role of an engineer in a community, it is important for the engineer to consider the needs of the community—not just what the engineer thinks they need. This is a concept that was prominent in our trip to Isla Urbana, an NGO that focuses on harvesting and treating rainwater to allow access to safe water for a wider population. Cost is another factor in an engineering design, so Isla Urbana has allowed their technology to be accessed by their target audience by making it affordable.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time in Mexico City, and I am excited to continue to learn more in San Cristobal!