Part 2: Bio 118 Field Trip

We had to wake up early the next morning for our first stop, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Click the link if you want to know more about it, but it's basically a nonprofit organization dedicated to rice research (developing new rice varieties and improving rice management techniques). The place was so nice and green and the people were so friendly and approachable. They even mentioned that they offer free use of their laboratories and facilities to students whose theses are related to rice research. I became more hesitant to go to med school because of that. I think it would be great to work there. We spent the whole morning learning more about the IRRI.

Grain-sorting.

We went to this room which was kept at around 3°C. This is where they kept dormant seeds.

The next room was better. It was actually a vault which houses rice samples from different countries. And the temperature, -19°C.

This is, yes, the map of the world. It shows the countries which are members of the IRRI. The map is made of different rice varieties.

We grabbed lunch after that and went back to the house to get rest.

The second half of the day was spent looking at various collections of insects in the University. We went to the UPLB Museum of Natural History and to the Institute of Biological Sciences.

This is just one of the many collections from the museum.

We mingled with the UPLB students afterwards. Well, not actually mingle. It was 5:30PM when we finished looking at collections and the students were everywhere. It was so different in Diliman. For a moment I thought of what could have been if I had studied in Elbi. Maybe it was more laid-back, peaceful. I would be very different from what I am now. Maybe it would be...I don't know. Better? I met another high school classmate, btw. I asked him to lend me a blanket because I was shivering the other night. There were no blankets in the guesthouse.

Work did not end there. We had to set up a light trap back home to catch insects. BTW, the course requirement is to collect and preserve 150 different insects for the whole semester.

We had ice cream party after a whole day of work! Thanks to Dan who was celebrating his birthday on the same day. We had a lot of fun eating ice cream while playing "Killer", a game suitable for several players and is so much better if the players were noisy. And because our professor had to take care of us, he joined the game until we were too tired to figure out who the killers were. Our professor is the best.

Earlier I thought, "I can't believe we have to stay for two more nights." But you know what, I was beginning to enjoy the trip.

PS

I'm still tired from the trip so I'm thinking I'd stop now. Besides, I have deadlines to meet and exams to study for. And I have a Monday class, gah. I'll post the last installments next week, mkay?