Our third week has come to an end here in Mexico City, and it is difficult to believe we are already coming up on the halfway mark of our time abroad.  During the past week interest in our research has gone up exponentially, perhaps because the students here are now finishing with their semesters.  Participant slots are already being filled into the final weeks of collaboration with the lab here at UNAM.  I’m quickly getting more confident running participants and also getting more acquainted with our host-lab colleagues.  It really feels as though we’re all getting into the flow of things.  Everyone here has been very supportive and hospitable in letting us into their space to conduct our research, and our hosts seem genuinely interested in our work here.

Outside the lab we have continued to immerse ourselves in the language and culture, including seeing a subtitled version of The Little Mermaid in the local theatre, which everyone enjoyed.  Over the weekend we went to the Mexico City Zoo and the Museo de Arte Moderno (both pictured below), which are located next to each other in a large park (Chapultepec) in the city’s center.  Both were great experiences, even though we got rained on going between the two and had to wait outside the modern art museum for half an hour until we had dried off enough to go inside.

We’ve also continued exploring different restaurants in our neighborhood and beyond for our nightly PIRE dinners.  We’ve made it a point to have these dinners together even with our differing lab schedules and it’s something we all look forward to.  There’s always been something new and delicious to discover, though admittedly, we have already returned to a couple of our favorites more than once!

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