Coming into this trip, I didn’t really know what to expect. I had heard stories about Mexico surrounding a less developed country than the US. When I told people I would be spending roughly a month in Mexico, their first reactions would normally be one of, “stay out of danger” or something along those lines. I understand that for a long time, a lot of stories that were told about Mexico in the US involved the cartel and sure most countries have areas with their fair share of crime, but I didn’t experience anything out of the ordinary when visiting a major city in a new country. Honestly, the biggest threat I may have faced in the neighborhoods we went to was pick pocketing, which out happen in any crowded area. Something I was amazed about what how much of an international city it truly is. There was an amazing mix of cultures and restaurants in different areas of the city.
I flew into Mexico City a few days early with my dad to explore the city before joining up with the group. He lived there for a year for his job, but he hadn’t been back in a 23 years. Over the 2.5 days we had together, we hit 8 museums. Some of the highlights were Museo Soumaya, Castillo de Chapultepec, and the Museo Nacional de Antropología. zIt was crazy to see how many museums there were to show the history of Mexico, the city, and the culture. We also made sure to attend a Diablos Rojos game where I was surprised to see various ex MLB stars like Trevor Bauer, Robinson Cano, and Jeurys Familia play.
Massive Fountain At the Anthropology Musem
One of the best parts of the week with the group was seeing the Chinampas farms. It was incredible to hear about how this ancient method of farming had been passed down through the generations to Miguel, the owner of the farm, and how he is passing it down to his kids and grandkids. Hearing him speak about how he grew up on the same farm, using the same methods was amazing. It was a little sad to hear how his grandchildren don’t want to take over the operation, but I wasn’t exactly surprised.
Volcanic rocks used to filter the water and keep fish away from the crops
Bed of various crops being sprouted
My other favorite part of the week was going to the Hacedores Headquarters and learning about how they are trying to expand the maker movement around Mexico. This really resonated with me because I know how much the Makerspace at my high school shaped me into the engineer I am today. Without that development and experience using various tools, electrical components like Arduinos and Raspberry Pi, 3D Printing and other resources I had access to, I wouldn’t have been able to work on some of the amazing projects I was able to take part in and I honestly don’t know if I would be at Rice if it weren’t for that experience. To know that they are working on enabling children all over Mexico to be able to have similar experiences is awesome. It also goes against the single story that most of Mexico is a “developing country”. They are working to fix that narrative by giving children access to similar, high tech spaces that kids in the US have access to.
My team getting ready to dominate in the race.