The second week started off to a slow start. I began the week in lab with reading some more materials relating to the project we will be starting soon. The project is surrounding the main idea of reducing methane production in rice farming by finding a more friendly long term solution. I began this project by making some media and plates, these included LB broth and plates, Kings Medium plates, PDA plates, some sterile water and 50% glycerol. All these materials made are in preparation for the isolation of microorganisms from the leaf and roots form the rice varieties we have. Later that day on Wednesday I sat in on a lab meeting where the advisor I am working with presented the proposal of this new project to the entirety of the lab. It was good for me to get a better in depth view of the overall project. While presenting the rest of the lab would put in some comments on what would make the project go more smoothly and other advise. For example we will be using rice samples from the long term rice experiment in order to have samples that have exposed to non-controlled rice samples. We may also use some endophytes that are stored in the lab to start with our experiments. I had a short week last week with my day ending on Thursday where my advisor wasn’t in lab so I just ended up ding some computer work that day. But then on Friday we got a tour of IRRI starting with the Library and ending with the gene bank! The gene bank was so cold that we had to wear some heavier jackets but it was deficiently an amazing room to see. The tour allowed us to see the other facilities that IRRI has to offer. We visited the seed health department in which they make sure the seeds are healthy, we also visited the growth facilities where they have growing rooms which enable the perfect amount of sunlight, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels in the room. Lastly we had a tour of their farm. Which we got to see the larger scale experiments being put to the test in the large rice patches.
Finally the weekend hit and we decided as a large group with more of the interns to go to Villa Escudero. 12 of us went there for the whole day, We had to wake up to leave at 7 AM in the morning, and f=drove around an hour to Tiaong where the resort was. We began by visiting the museum which had many artifacts explaining the religion then on the top part of the museum it had more displays of wildlife found around the world as well as some history on the Philippines. Then we got to ride a water buffalo carriage to the resort area where there was a pool and a rafting pond. We decided that we would do the rafting which was so much fun. It was a two person raft and my partner was Julia. We had such a great time. However, it was very hot so after rafting we jumped in the pool till lunch which was at one. Lunch was at the base of a man made waterfall where there was traditional Filipino food served buffet style. We spent a while admiring the waterfall and getting our full of the delicious food. To end the day we spent it once again lounging at the pool.
Overall the Philippines have been welcoming and a great experience. I think I am finally getting used to the humidity here. I look forward to the work a head me! See you soon 🙂