A World Away in Mexico: Week 1
Hello from Mexico! I arrived a little over a week ago, but it seems more like a month considering all that has been packed into these 9 days. June 5th I said goodbye to my family at the Minneapolis Airport and headed on my own through security, onto a flight connecting in Detroit, and finally boarding a plane to Mexico City. At that time the reality that I would not see my family, friends, or home for 2 months had not set in (and still lingers just above complete realization). What certainly did become apparent was how much I stuck out of the crowd on the flight to Mexico. I can imagine the surprised and shocked (maybe a little bit scared) look on my face when everyone around me was speaking in rapid-fire Spanish. I was going to Mexico after all so the Spanish part wasn’t surprising, it was how far out of my element I was and how fast it happened. I had taken Spanish in school, but not in recent enough years for me to comprehend anything that was happening. When I arrived in Mexico City and met my driver, thankfully without the need to speak Spanish, We started on our way to The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in El Batán, Mexico (a town just outside Mexico City) where I would be living and working for the rest of my visit.
I would like to thank The World Food Prize for making this incredible experience possible for me. I am especially grateful to be learning about solutions for the global hunger crisis at the same place Dr. Norman Borlaug did his own research that started the Green Revolution and saved a billion lives.
My first day started with a tour of the Bioscience building where I will be doing my research assignment. Walking through the labs, I was completely in awe of the research they were doing and the equipment that was present. There are two main divisions of research, maize and wheat. I will be working in the Maize Nutritional Quality Labs, but I will also be able to observe research in genome sequencing, wheat nutritional quality, and spend a few days in the maize fields learning about pollination. I also toured the germplasm bank. There were rows and rows of samples of maize and wheat from around the world but mostly focused on Mexican varieties. I learned about the history of Mexican crops and the importance of preserving each variety of maize and wheat to ensure the future of Mexican agriculture.
My first day of work was spent in the Nixtamalization lab. Nixtamalization is a method of processing maize to be made into tortillas or other corn-based foods. The maize is cooked in a solution with “lime” (calcium hydroxide) to raise the pH and then steeped for 16 hours. This process helps to improve the nutritional quality of the maize and remove some toxins. After steeping, the maize is milled and rolled into masa. I got to have a direct hand in all of the steps, including making (and eating!) the tortillas.
Accompanied by another visiting scientist from Brazil, I was able to go visit the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacán (central Mexico) over the weekend. We went very early, so while we were climbing the incredibly steep steps of the Pyramid of the Sun, the sun was rising in front of us over the mountains. The climb was very tiring (especially so early in the morning before coffee), but the views of the mountains and ruins were worth it. To continue the new adventures, we had lunch in a restaurant that was in a cave! The menu included some different dishes like rabbit and bugs, but also traditional Mexican food.
I am ready and excited for all the fun adventures and learning Mexico has to offer, maybe (hopefully) by the end of my 2-month exploration I will be able to speak Spanish!
Stay tuned for future blog posts weekly until the end of my time in Mexico!
Molly
