My Eighth Week at CIMMYT!

 My Eighth Week at CIMMYT:

08/10/2024:

- Today there was a charity event trip scheduled but it was rescheduled so I got the day off. I ate breakfast, read my Bible, went for a walk, did laundry, and worked on my presentation for Thursday. I also watched a movie and called my sister for a little bit. It's crazy to think that this will be my last Saturday here other than travel day next week. I took an evening walk around the fields before eating supper and it was so peaceful. I think that is one of the things that I will miss the most. It wasn't a very eventful day, except the fore alarm went off in the afternoon because someone was cooking too close to the fire alarm. I liked today though, especially after traveling so much last week, it was so nice to have a break!

08/11/2024:

- For my last Sunday here at CIMMYT I went to Mexico City! I think that will be my last trip away from CIMMYT other than leaving on Saturday. I read my bible and did my devotional and then headed to the city with a co-worker at 10:00 AM. We went to a pizza restaurant for breakfast and I ate a fruit bowl with yogurt and granola and got a mocha. Then we went to a park and visited some of the markets there to buy gifts for my family. We also toured the house of maize which is located inside the park. It was such a big park that we spent hours walking on the different paths and exploring the different businesses inside of it. Afterwards we went to a bakery and tried a few different pastries and also went to an ice cream shop and tried gelato. I got cookies and cream gelato and it was so good. I also went to the Church of Guadalajara which is the most important and biggest church in Mexico. Since it was Sunday there was a service that I got to watch which was such a cool experience. We ended the day by getting sushi at a restaurant called Moshi Moshi which was also so good, I got an Avocado Roll. Then we drove back home and I was able to get to bed at a good time for work the next day. It was such a good day and an amazing way to end my last weekend here in Mexico. I'm so excited to see what this next week of work will bring me and I'm so excited to get to see my family again!

08/12/2024, 08/13/2024, 08/14/2024, 08/15/2024, 08/16/2024: 

- I spent a lot of my time in the office writing and doing germination testing this week. My supervisor Alberto and my other supervisor Cristian are both on work trips this week so they didn't have any additional work for me other than the manuals and reports they asked me to write. I had to write a manual for the accelerated aging process, for the lab scanalyzer, and write three different reports. I'll definitely be sick of writing once this week is over. On Tuesday, I spent the whole day working on accelerated aging and germination testing one last time. Then on Friday we counted out 100-count seed samples of each seed variety to keep as a control sample. We also made germination rolls out of our accelerated aging seed samples that we did on Tuesday. We had the viability labs help us this time so it didn't take as long as it usually does. I was also busy this week getting everything sorted out with leaving. I payed my food balances, gave back my supplies and keys, cleaned my room, and a bunch of other stuff. I think having so much to do helped me take my mind off of the fact that I was leaving so soon and it made the time fly by even faster. Plus I had to give a presentation about my internship on Thursday. I was so nervous all week and spent a lot of time prepping my presentation and practicing. I couldn't wait to get it over with and I never wanted the time to come at the same time. It didn't go too bad though, I was still pretty nervous and a lot of people came and watched it over zoom. Even better though was that not many people came in person because there was a conference in Guatemala that week and a Genebank meeting. That definitely helped me to feel less nervous. I'm glad it's over now though for sure and I feel like my presentation was pretty good. 

Outside of work, I went to eat at a restaurant in Texcoco for lunch on Tuesday with my coworker and his wife. They took me there because they were convinced that the place served the best beans in all of Mexico and I think they might have been right. All of the food was very good. It's a special type of restaurant in Mexico called a "Fonda" where they were each part of the meal at one time. It started with tortilla chips, then soup, then fried rice with an egg on top which was my favorite part, then beans, then the main meat, and then finally dessert. And instead of having a menu they just have two or three options for each course that is written on a big chalk board on the wall of the restaurant for everyone to see. All of the food was so good, I think that it was one of my favorite restaurants that I have been to here in Mexico. Friday night after work I also went to Mexico City with the same co-worker and his wife. We went to go see a few last tourist attractions like an art museum and a dance hall. We went in the Tower of Latin America and went to the top floor. You could see all of Mexico City from up there! I had my last Mexican street churros which are my favorite Mexican dessert, then bought some last sweets for my family from an OXXO. On the way home, there was a lot of traffic which turned a 40 min drive into a 3 hour drive. I finally got home at around 11:20 PM and said my goodbyes before going to bed. I'm so excited to go home but so sad to leave a place I've come to know as home. 

08/17/2024: My travel day! My first flight today leaves around 1:00 PM (13:00) and then I will arrive in Cedar Rapids, IA at around 11:00 PM (23:00). I'm so excited to see my family again. My sister and mom are going to pick me up at the airport with Crumble Cookie which I've missed so much here in Mexico. What I am really excited about though is getting to stop at gas stations for snacks on the way home tomorrow. I think that I am the number 1 fan of American gas stations, they are my favorite places on Earth. Plus we are going to stop at my favorite ice cream place. It's a small ice cream stop called the Dairy Sweet in Lamont, IA and I'm convinced they sell the best ice cream in the world. I left CIMMYT around 9:00 AM in a van to head to the airport, made it through security, and decided to take advantage of the extra time to get a few more things done for college and my final tasks for my internship. They had me wash my boots when I got to the border control because they didn't want me bringing in Mexican soil which is a first for me. I'm so excited to head home though, I loved my time in Mexico but I miss my family. Thanks so much for this opportunity and experience, see you in October!!