Mexico City Recap

This first week of the Mexico iSEED program took place in Mexico City. Everyday of this week was filled with incredible learning experiences and exploring. Mexico City has a lot of history within the way the Aztecs created Tenochtitlan, the systems they created, and the changes the Spanish made when they conquered the city. Mexico is very unique due to the fact it was built off a small island on a large lake and expanded to be as big as today with development of Chinampas, man made land.

Monday was our first day of  class and considered an arrival day. Since most of us arrived on Sunday we spent the morning exploring. We visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. There were actually two buildings the old basilica on the right and the new one next to it. They were very grand and beautiful. Because Mexico was built over a lake it is prone to sinking. Through the older Basilica it was notable that the basilica had sinked and was visible though its inclined walls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday we visited el Templo Mayor and a Makerspace in the Centro Historico. Within the Templo Mayor we learned about Aztec culture and the gods they dedicated this temple to, the rain god, Tláloc, and the sun god, Huitzilopochtli. The city of Tenochtitlan went through 7 different rulers and each ruler added a layer to temple, increasing its size. All of these layers/eras were visible in the ruins. What was incredible is that the temple’s structure was built so strong, that it has not sunk with the rest of the historic center of the city. This day we also learned about agriculture and water systems that the Aztecs had created. After visited the temple we went to a Makerspace where we learned about how they use the space to educate students from different schools, and went through various activities.

Wednesday we visited the Chapultepec, a park 2x larger than central park in NYC! Here we learn about an the Aqueducts that the Aztecs created and how they got this water to the center of the city. Over time when the Spaniards Colonized the area, they attempted to enlarge the aqueduct and create more. Furthermore, we also leaned about the Lerma system from the 1940s which allowed for water to be pumped from wells and springs from areas such as Toluca.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday we visited a farm on a chinampa in Xochimilco! Here we visited Chapin and Senor Miguel and his family. Senor Miguel taught us about traditional farming methods, beginning with how they fertilize the soil to how each plant is planted, irrigated, and collected as produce. Within this farm Senor Miguel and his family plant over 120 different types of plants throughout the year. Furthermore, they clean water from the water channel through a biofilter within their farm, and use this water for irrigating their plants. Something amazing is that the biofiltered water also acts as a refuge for axolotls! After learning about their water systems we all got to work! I transplanted some jitomate (red tomato) plants, and took out many weeds from plant beds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A big issue in Mexico City is the lack of water. Many people in rural and poor areas have limited tap water access or are not on a water grids, and must resort to buying or collecting water for their daily use. To combat this water issue a nonprofit, Isla Urbana, created rain harvesting systems to help these communities. This systems collect rain from roofs and filter it to be used for tasks such as washing dishes, watering plants, etc. Isla Urbana has actually installed 4 systems at Senor Miguel’s farm. To the left is one of those systems.  Friday we visited Isla Urbana in Coyoacán, and learned more about them! Amazingly, they have currently installed around 45,000 rain harvesting systems in homes throughout Mexico City and have changed the lives of even more people!

 

We will be spending the next three weeks in San Cristobal de las Casas and I can’t wait for  what’s to come!

Side Quests