El Paso Museum of History - Week #1 - Deborah

Week #1

July 5th

My first day felt a little weird due to starting on a Wednesday but my brain was convinced it was a Monday. My first couple of hours were mainly about getting to know the museum and the people who make everything happen. I got to learn more insight about the exhibits with my own private tour !!! shoutout to Nora plus I was her shadow for a second. Steph showed me the back rooms shout out to Steph. I got to get up close and see artifacts and items that were not for display. I saw more about the restoration rooms and more #storage. I saw THE COOLEST fan collection ever, I was in awe by what humans in the past have made. I mean every kind of fan you can think of was there. Ostriches' feathers, gold, silver, crazy renaissance art, embroidery, and many more in all different shapes and sizes. More items were historical 2D pictures, posters and newspapers.  I wanted to touch everything but I had to keep my composure as a developing professional. Organizing/data entry is something that is very needed since the museum has moved things to a new area. I had lunch and got to hangout with the gang. After lunch I had a food coma, but that's fine because my hour lunch made everything better and I got to recuperate just in time to start working again. I did a reading on mural painting artists such as Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Montenegro. Shoutout to Tasha for giving me a crash course on Canva because I have never used it but now I have a very good understanding of how everything works. I also got to see a little more of Tasha's work progress and she was killing it. Overall today was not too crazy but I think I will be adjusting just fine to the workplace. #EPMH #rookie #devolopingprofessional #greatstart

Gold Spanish Fan

July 6th 

Today I immediately started revising some translations from English to Spanish. The script was for artifacts in the museum. Some of the artifacts have 3D replicas of the original artifacts so people have the opportunity to touch it and have more of a feel instead of just looking, this makes the exhibit more interactive. The replicas have a QR code under them so when people scan a QR code an audio starts to play along with the written text showing up. The museum had one for English but not in Spanish. I did the voiceover for Spanish, and Tasha was the coworker who I was working closely with for the recordings and was very supportive every step of the way. (I didn't get anything first try) I responded to emails then it was time to eat. Lunch was great because it was a FULL HOUSE ! Everyone was there and it was something stupendous to experience, especially because I got to connect more with everyone and understand what their interests are and how their personality reflects in the way we all talk. I did some more revising and reading to wrap up my second day. #involvedinthemuseum #smallsteps #inthestudio

Recording In The Studio (Tasha's Office)

July 7th

Steph guided me today in using software for a database on the computer which boils down to a lot of data entry. Information I enter includes the date when items were donated, condition, and their providence. After a while I got lunch and started helping Mariana with the forklift. Shoutout to Mariana. The purpose of the forklift was to dim the lights in the museum and to accommodate people who are sensitive to bright lights/loud noises. My job consisted of carrying a red chord that was used for charging the forklift. The forklift was in such bad condition that even after Mariana charged it for an hour it went 1 mph. I asked Mariana why they haven't gotten a new forklift she told me that the museum has asked for a new one for two years already but the only thing the government does is send them a repair man, the problem with this is that it is a temporary fix not to mention the forklift was a hand me down. This made me realize that museums aren't really a priority at all times which made me upset because something like a new forklift could really make a difference. We are the first museum in West Texas that does these kinds of adjustments to the museum every month. We also set up a big curtain inside of a room so that people would not have to use the door that creates a loud noise when you open and close it. Finally the last step was putting this room together by taking out tents having dim lights and a galaxy light. #pastperfect #forklift #eye-opener

Data Entry: Past Perfect Software

                   

Forklift Work View

Forklift Side View

Final Touch of Sensory Room

July 10th

Today I have started working on research for El Dia de los Muertos. Every year the museum picks a theme which is ultimately a city to base their research around. This year it is Veracruz. I was given a small project to start doing research on foods, drinks, artesanias, crafts, and an overview. Most of my colleagues work remotely on Monday so it was a slightly empty office and slow paced day. My research has made me learn a lot about Veracruz and its importance such as how they were the first city to fuse latin american and european cuisine customs. #research #reading #veracruz

July 11th

I started off with my Dia de los Muertos project. Then I was invited to do a bug count. Steph is the bug expert, and Alicia and I are her minions. Shoutout to Alicia because we killed that. Bug count must be done once a month either on a Monday or Tuesday. This job is the most glamorous of all the jobs the museum has to offer. What makes this task critical to the museum is being aware of when an infestation is going to happen or already as. It would be horrible if bugs infested the museum and ruined artifacts. The bug traps have the stickiest glue ever making the little insects get stuck and die. These traps are spread all over the museum with discretion to not cause a heart attack to people or them misinterpret the situation making them think like the museum is dirty when that is not the case. (the museum is very clean) Shoutout to Leo, Ofelia, and Meche for keeping it clean. Steph is very organized and has map of the floor with every room having an abbreviation to make things easier, we went through the second floor then the first floor. Some insects don't have the best death as some poop themselves or throw up before they die. Steph has a little cart with a trashcan, bug traps, and paper and pencil. Steph picked up the bug trap and started counting the bugs and what species they were. While one of us wrote it down the other minion started prepping the glue trap. After everything was done the numbers and species would be put into a google sheet. Interesting finds today was a gecko that was starting to rot because it smelled so bad. Another gecko was in the process of shedding their old skin. After seeing so much death I went emo for a quick second. The traps by the windows tend to have more bugs since they go through the windows somehow and ultimately got to experience the behind the scenes and what it takes to keep the museum safe from infestations. Seeing all the dead bugs created a big appetite for me so lunch was very exciting. Once the food coma was gone Steph, Alicia, and I went to collections to put items in their storage bins after being used in exhibits. Seeing all the different textiles and getting to actually touch (with the proper precautions) a lot of items was very fun. We did some more data entry to update the system on how the items conditions were and put the date of yesterday to show that was when they were last pulled out. #minions #bts #abugslife

Gecko in Bug Trap 

Bug Trap

Moving Artifacts