Today, the Malaysian students who have been here for 6 months gave their seminars. Since Monday marked me at three weeks left, I’m working on my own presentation. Since I’m only here for 2 months, my presentation only needs to be around 10-20 minutes, so I’m currently gathering pictures to put in it.
We went to check to see how the plants I grafted are doing today. Unsurprisingly, most, maybe more than half, died. A few made it through, and one looks great. Last week I helped remove acylsugars from tomato leaves. Acylsugars are chemicals produced by plants to kill or repel pests. We mixed leaf samples with alcohol, then took samples of the solution to test which, if any, acylsugars are present. We also attended a seed storage seminar yesterday, which was interesting as it talked about the various effective ways of drying seeds.
This weekend, we took the train South to tour. We visited a bookshop, saw the ocean, had dinner at a Korean restaurant, and wandered around a few shops. By the time we got on the train back, it was pretty late. I bought two books at the store, and discussed a few words in a classic with another intern called “Chuck”.
There’s not much else to write about. I’m still running, now sometimes with a group of other interns. Last week we had around 10. Funnily enough, the fastest is a smaller boy who goes by the name “Rabbit”. I think the name suits him very well. I’m back to feeling a bit under the weather, but it’s not too bad, and I think it will clear up in a few days. Honestly, I’m amazed at how healthy I’ve managed to stay so far.
Tomato Girl 