We’ve just finished out fifth week here in Mexico City. The day to day activities such as commuting to and from campus and running participants is beginning to feel like second nature. It’s hard to believe that in less than three weeks we will be back in State College. The study has continued to go smoothly, although I had my first two no shows this week. I guess I can consider myself lucky to have made it this far into the study before this happened. Just hoping it doesn’t happen too many more times, as I’m already booked through our final week and can’t reschedule any of the cancellations.
I had my presentation at this week’s lab meeting. I was pretty nervous going into it, but it turned out better than I expected. Everyone in our host lab was really interest in the project and had nice things to say about the presentation.
Over the weekend I had some time to myself, so I decided to explore a bit of the neighborhood just behind our apartments. There is a large, very old looking structure that caught my attention several times, and I headed in that direction. It turns out that this structure is the Museo del Carmen, a beautifully preserved colonial monastery that was built between 1615-1628 by Carmelite friars. The museum was open when I arrived and I spent part of the afternoon walking around the grounds. It was amazing to see so much history so perfectly preserved, and it was equally amazing that this incredible historical site had been so close the entire time, tucked in a city block just minutes away. It is easily one of the most memorable things I’ve seen in my time here.
