Mexico City

I am finally getting around to posting about the International AIDS conference in Mexico City. It was four crazy days of talks and seminars with a little sightseeing thrown in. This conference is always fun to go to though a little overwhelming. There is a little bit of science, a lot of stuff on policy, social issues surrounding HIV and AIDS, and always a little craziness. There were 20,000 scientists, doctors, nurses, drug reps, people who work for non-government organizations (NGOs), activists, all from countries around the world working on the problem of HIV. I got to see Bill Clinton speak on the second day and he always gives a good speech. I didn't even realize he was on the program until someone mentioned that he was speaking in half an hour, but I rushed over and got a good seat in front of all the media cameras. There were the usual protesters and activists. Unfortunately I had forgotten my camera. But here is photo from the AIDS 2008 website:

I spent the last month working on an oral presentation given by a former student in the lab. The presentation was on her honors thesis from a year ago and since then she has been working at the NIH back East. So I got to rework her data into a 10 minute talk and then she got to get up in front of everyone and deliver it. She did really well and I'm just glad that she was able to make it so it wasn't me on the podium. Then we went out to dinner to celebrate her birthday and the talk. We went to a great Mexican restaurant that served huge margaritas. We split 3 of them between 8 people. I don't usually drink but I had margaritas and/or wine three nights in a row.

This picture above is from the opening ceremony. They had wonderful dancers and musicians doing traditional dances. Then there were a lot of speeches that went on for a bit, but I did get to see the Secretary General of the UN and the president of Mexico speak. 

The conference wouldn't be complete without giant walking condoms (below).  This area is where all the companies have their booths and the posters are in the back of the hall (I think 1000 posters were presented in all). There is another area called the Global Village where there is a lot of artwork, different kinds of media presentations and booths from groups mostly from developing and third world countries selling stuff to support various organizations. I bought a bracelet for Gina made in South Africa to support orphans and a beautiful pink and purple scarf from Thailand. It would have been very easy to spend even more.

I did get one chance to do a little sightseeing. One afternoon I headed over to the Anthropology Museum and wandered around for three hours. While I was there, it started to pour and then hail. I was definitely glad to be inside. Below is a huge stone tablet from an Aztec altar. It was originally thought to be a calendar and is often referred to as the Sun Calendar but now they think it was part of an altar where sacrifices were made.

Overall, I really enjoyed being in Mexico City. There are parts that are definitely beautiful but you don't have to go far to find parts that are very poor. The drivers in the city are insane. We had to take taxis a number of times and it is amazing that there are not more accidents. The cars just zip in and out of lanes, sometimes paying attention to lights and signs. In the evenings the traffic was incredibly bad. One evening it took over an hour to get to a place that normally should take 15 minutes.

In 2010, the conference will be in Vienna. I hope I get to go.