My Sixth Week at CIMMYT!

 My Sixth Week at CIMMYT!

07/27/2024, 07/28/2024:

- Saturday was a very relaxed and low-key day. I did my laundry, did Bible study, went for a walk at the gym, called my sister, played volleyball with some friends, ate lunch and supper, and watched a movie. I like to always take one weekend day to relax and do nothing so this was perfect. I also visited the grocery store to get some things for my room. On Sunday, I woke up and ate breakfast while doing my Bible study. At 10:00 AM my worker and his wife picked me up to visit Acolman. It is a town that is relatively close to Texcoco. We went to visit the monastery which was so old and beautiful. One of my favorite parts of traveling is getting to see old architecture and churches so this was perfect. We spent about an hour in there and walked through a street market. I bought a tortilla holder for my mom and we sampled some meats and cheeses from an artesian vendor. I bought some different types of cheeses and ham for my room and then we walked through the rest of the market to see what people were selling. Afterwards, we went to a restaurant in the area to get lunch/dinner. I tried Milanese for the first time and it was so good, It is like a breaded chicken filet with a salad on the side and rice and beans. I also had soup with pumpkin plant flowers and cheese. I love that in Mexico you order soup before your actual meal. Before heading back to CIMMYT, we stopped at OXXO which is a gas station here in Mexico. I bought some Marzapans de la Rosa and some other Mexican snacks that they thought I should try. When I got back to CIMMYT, I went for a walk and watched a movie before heading to bed. I'm so glad that I got a chance to explore another town in Mexico and try new foods!

07/29/2024, 07/30/2024, 07/31/2024: These three days instead of working in the Genebank, I worked in the Seed Health Labs. I wanted to see what it was like and what their processes for ensuring seed quality and health looked like. Studying agronomy, I think that detection of pathogens and disease is incredibly interesting. Each day I started work at 9:00 AM and ended around 5:00 PM (17:00). I got a chance to work alongside each scientist that works in the lab. There are three causes of plant and seed disease: virus, bacteria, and fungus. Each scientist employed at the Seed Health Lab specializes in one of two of these causes. While there, I got a chance to sample and analyze fungi samples and bacterial samples. It was so interesting to see how they can be identified by shape, color, size, and so much more. I also got to conduct many tests and do work that focus on prepping of tests. A lot of my work consisted of analyzing samples under a microscope or completing pathogen tests but occasionally I got to read about the processes or meet with people there for interviews and explanations. I loved getting to see every angle of their processes from start to finish in these three days. Everyone was so helpful and nice. On my last day we all went out to lunch together at a taco place. I ordered a cheese and potato quesadilla and a chicken and cheese quesadilla. They were the best quesadillas I've had in Mexico yet. I also ordered a Horchata, I love Horchatas because they are like sweet cinnamon waters and I love cinnamon. One of my co-workers also ordered me a beef and cheese gringa which was very good. It is like a quesadilla except inside of one tortilla folded in half it is two tortillas and instead of corn tortillas they use wheat tortillas. It was my favorite food there, definitely lives up to the name. That evening after work, I had a quick zoom meeting with a scholarship program and another quick zoom meeting for an interview here in Mexico. Then I went into the city of Texcoco to get Pasole with Gabriel and his wife. Everyone always tells me how good Pasole is and that I need to try it so this was the perfect excursion. We went to a restaurant on the other side of town where they were having a deal for 3 pastels for the price of 2. Pasole is a traditional Mexican soup with meat and corn. I ordered pork for my meat, but at this restaurant their pork mix has all types of cuts in it. There was meat from the head, the lungs, and the heart even. I didn't like the meat very much but I'm glad I tried the pork mix and got that experience. It was served with tostadas and a bunch of different toppings. The soup itself and tostadas were very good, I loved them so much. Afterwards, we went to a pasteleria to get dessert. I got an apple strudel with ice cream which was very good too. I love dessert so much but there is rarely dessert here at CIMMYT so I'm glad I got this experience. It was a very fun night! When I went home I did some more work for the interview here in Mexico with IICA and then went to bed. 

08/01/2024:

- It was so busy today trying to catch up on work I missed while working in the labs and preparing for the work I am going to miss next week. Tomorrow and Saturday I am going to Puebla, a large Mexican city a few hours away, with Gabriel and his family. Then Sunday I am going to a different Mexican state to visit a large gene bank and seed/animal diversity conservation site in Guadalajara. I will be there until Wednesday and then return to work on Thursday. That's a whole week outside of the office! I got to work around 8:00 AM to teach Gabriel how to use the Video Meter. Since I will be returning to Iowa in a few weeks, I need to teach everything I know and everything I learned to him so that he can continue my work here and understand the processes for our research. After I return to the office next week we will continue to work on it and I will teach him the rest. After that, we analyzed and counted seeds from germination rolls that he did while I was gone this week. The mold grown in the rolls decreased significantly this time which was good. Then I went to a quick administrative meeting in the main building, ate lunch, and attended a talk by Dr. Rafael. He was a professor from Uruguay that also worked on the Video Meter. His time ends tomorrow here and he will return to Uruguay so we did a presentation on his work and findings while here. It was very interesting and informative. Then I worked on Excel data sorting, wrote a bit of the research report for Gabriel and I'd experiment, and caught up on work. After work I had an interview for a job in Ames, IA and went for a run at the gym. It was just a short run and then I went for a small walk before supper. After supper, I continued to catch up on work and take care of the smaller things related to college. Overall it was a very productive day which I loved. I liked being in the Seed Health Labs but I'm so glad to be back to my old role. 

08/02/2024:

- Instead of heading into work today I got to go see the town of Puebla with my co-woeto visit their hometown two hours away today and tomorrow! We left around 9:00 AM and arrived in Puebla around 11:00 AM. I was so excited because he always talks about Puebla and thinks that it is the best town in Mexico. Plus it was where many historic battles happened, many colonial civilizations started, and where many traditional Mexican dishes were born! We started by going to the cathedral in the main area of Puebla. Afterwards, we went to a few more alters and churches in the area. For lunch we had Semitas which are a type of sorta that was made in Puebla. It was so big! We walked down a street filled with different candies and I bought some for my family. Then we walked around Puebla some more to see the different street markets and historical buildings. We went to our AirBnB and checked in. It was so nice too, there were three bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a dining room. We rested for a few hours because we were all tired from walking. Then for supper Gabriel brought his sons over (who live in Puebla) and we all ate tacos together and played board games. After supper I went to bed around 11:00 PM to prepare for the next day! I loved getting this experience because although I love CIMMYT it can get kind of boring. My favorite parts about traveling is seeing new architecture, seeing old churches, and trying new foods so this was perfect!