Part 3: Bio 118 Field Trip

We went straight to UPLB Hortorium after breakfast. Next to IRRI, the Hortorium was one of my favorite places. My reflexes were tested as I tried to catch aquatic insects. Water striders are fast. There are 15 of us, but we only have one aquatic net. So yes, we had to use our trusty hands. It was fun trying not to get wet as you slip on rocks and catch large, colorful lepidopterans and odonates. We were all so overwhelmed by the large number of insects. We were running and squealing and jumping and laughing. It was heaven.

We had to cross those slippery rocks to find insects. Nobody could leave the Hortorium without getting wet.

That's our professor giving us instructions on how to use our equipment to catch aquatic insects. But as I have mentioned earlier, most of us just used our fast reflexes to grab water striders.

Again, we grabbed lunch and went back to the house to get some rest. What we thought was a little rest turned out to be a 2-hour sleep. It was too late for us to go the Mudspring since it was, I think, 4-5 kilometers away from the house. And we had to walk to get there. Our professor was too sweet - he didn't wake us because he thought we were too tired, sleeping oh-so soundly. Oh yeah, mine was not a 2-hour sleep. I slept for four hours! I was surprised to see nobody inside and outside our bedroom. My roommates returned after some time. Turned out they were hunting insects in the streets.

We spent the night a little differently this time - outside the guesthouse. I was hesitant to go at first (because it's 9:30PM and I think it's late), but I thought hey, tonight's our last night. I have to make the most out of this trip. Our professor took us, his Bio 118 students and his thesis advisees, to LB Square where we reunited with the other professor and his thesis advisees. I forgot to tell you - that morning in IRRI, our professor's thesis advisees came together with another professor from Diliman and his own advisees. We sang in the videoke until the wee hours of the morning. I do not have photos from that night because I purposely left my camera for safety reasons.