Wow… the last week! It’s crazy to think I’ve been in the Philippines for almost 2 months! Here comes my last post… I hope you’ve enjoyed just as much as I have!
Last Week in the Office
At the beginning of the internship, we were informed that we were going to give a final presentation documenting our entire experience with the FNRI and in the Philippines altogether. Each of our supervisors in the office would be in attendance, along with some faculty back at Wesleyan through zoom. Having said this, we had Monday through Wednesday to prepare prior to presenting on Thursday. The presentation went great and just like that… 235 hours of interning with the Food & Nutrition Research Institute complete!
Last Weekend in Batangas
Our last thing on the bucket list to be crossed off was to scuba dive for the first time. A popular diving destination is down south on the main island in a province called Batangas. Abi, Hunter, and I hopped on a bus and booked a place to stay while on our way there! Thank goodness we didn’t end up without a place to stay… I’m not sure how many more mosquito bites my body can take! Anyways, our place for the weekend was a small 4 room dormitory resting on a beach! Such an awesome homey feel.
Scuba diving was amazing! I was super excited as I’ve always wanted to have this experience, however the nerves started to kick in while receiving a brief 10-minute introduction on how to us the breathing apparatus and the mechanism of equalizing pressure in your ears (holding the nose closed while trying to push air out). Overall, it was so much fun. The gaining of pressure in my ears was frightening at first… but the feeling that my head was going to explode eventually faded, thank goodness! I was able to see and touch so many cool things. There were huge sea urchins everywhere which left me panicking internally as it seemed like I was getting way too close at times. Those things are scary! Altogether, it was another awesome weekend filled with lots of adventure and meeting more amazing people.
Departing Remarks
Well guys… we made it. My summer internship in the Philippines comes to an end. I am overly grateful for this opportunity as I learned so many life-applicable lessons, gained insight on an entirely different way of living, and most importantly… met some of the most amazing people. The world needs more people like those I’ve met in the Philippines. A culture based on friendliness, respect, and positivity is something the world needs to adopt!
Thank you to all the readers out there although I’m unsure of who that may be apart from my family haha! I hope you’ve enjoyed following my journey just as much as I’ve enjoyed writing about it. Remember to just go for it in life as right on the other side of fear often lies some of the greatest things in life! Signing off with love… Lukas Wenz!
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