Heyyyy!! It’s been one week into the program but it’s truly felt like much longer with everything we’ve done!!
This first week was spent in Mexico City and we started off on Monday by visiting La Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. The Basilica and the plaza surrounding it were breathtaking but very quickly we noticed that some of the buildings were sinking, a theme that would continue for the rest of the week.
The plaza outside of the basilica
You can see how the building on the left seems to be sinking
The next day we went to visit the Templo Mayor ruins and museum in Mexico City’s Centro Histórico. It was fascinating and I must’ve taken over a hundred pictures. We learned more about Mexico City’s prehispanic history and how water has been a constant struggle for the city.
Templo Mayor ruins in the front and the cathedral in the back
Then we went to Hacedores, a makerspace right by the Centro Histórico, where they taught us how to solder and then gifted us little robokits that they design for schools. Here’s my little robocat!!
We spent the rest of the day sightseeing and shopping and then ended the night at a salsa club. The next day we went to Chapultepec park to learn about the city’s water systems and how they evolved through different eras.
On Thursday we went to Xochimilco to learn an old farming technique used on chinampas, called Chapin. There we met Don Miguel, who taught us the steps that make up this technique and afterwards he put us all to work! I planted chapines into new plots and weeded as well, and after working up an appetite we had the best meal of the whole trip, made with ingredients harvested at the chinampa. It was a great experience and a moment for us to step back and let the community teach us methods that probably work better than anything we could recommend.
Chinampas in Xochimilco
On Friday we met with Delfín who’s part of Isla Urbana, an NGO that brings rainwater harvesting systems to water stressed homes and schools. He showed us their tanks and how they work, along with a presentation on how they approach communities.
Throughout the week we were able to develop a more nuanced understanding of the water crisis in Mexico City, but also to the way we approach these issues as engineers. Instead of coming in with all the answers we have to come in and listen to the communities we are working with to completely understand their needs but also to understand any possible consequences that can arise. I’m really excited to see what the rest of these three weeks entail!! I’ll let y’all know what we do 🙈!!