Signing Off From Los Baños

I am sitting at my desk during my final day of work here at IRRI. I don’t really think it has hit me that in less than 24 hours, I will be on my way back home. I have had such an amazing time both working in the lab with these amazing people and on...

5 F’s of the Philippines

It’s crazy to think that I only have 2 weeks left in the Philippines. It feels like just yesterday I was marveling at how new everything seemed, and now I am well-adjusted and feel like I really know how to manage day-to-day life here. Because I am now a pro at navigating life in the...

Carbs, Crabs and Caves

A lot has happened since my last blog post. For starters, my work in the lab has picked up, and I have been VERY busy. I also went on a trip last weekend to Palawan, which was absolutely amazing. Since the GC-MS is still having issues, I have started working on a different project here...

Hidden Gems

For most of the weekends here in the Philippines, we have been going around finding all of the places that people have recommended for traveling. We have been to Tagaytay, where we hiked the Taal Volcano and Manila, where we went to Rizal Park and visited the museums of natural history and anthropology. While it’s...

Lab Life

After 2 and a half weeks, we finally got our pictures from rice planting. They are in the My First Week at IRRI post if you would like to see me in action getting all muddy in the rice fields. Well, I just finished my first full week in the lab, so I figured it would...

Tagaytay Adventures

Now that we have been in Los Banos for 2 weeks, we have started to get used to life here at IRRI. After several weeks of break after the spring semester, it feels good to get back into a routine, but I will talk more about my internship in a later blog. This weekend was...

My First Week at IRRI

On the day of our orientation at IRRI, we started the day off in the rice fields. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect going into it, but I was ready to get my hands (and legs) dirty. The fields were super wet, and the mud was very slippery. I may or may not have...

Ingat Pozorrubio

Hello everyone. As many of you know, I have already been in the Philippines for a couple weeks. My internship at IRRI starts this week, and I could not be more excited! I just wanted to give an update and reflect on the time that I spent with my family in the Philippines in the...