...Introductionsiago?

So the whole point of my being in Chile is to work on a research project. Running data, surveying women about how they chose to feed their babies and why... you know, the real nitty gritty work. All of this is to be done in 12 short weeks, which is really 11 weeks because the last week we travel, but if I'm being really honest is only about 10 weeks because of the long weekends and holidays here in Chile.

If you have ever done a research project, then you know how difficult it is just to get started. Before you can recruit your first participant you have to get approved by the IRB (Institutional Review Board), aka the big scary judges of research. The IRB is a group of super important, super detail oriented professionals that catch every shortcoming, pitfall, and mistake in your study design. They make sure your research is ethical and not putting people in danger for no good (or bad) reason --you know, no sending people to Mars without a spacesuit and opening the doors to the ship just to see what will happen.

Thankfully I don't have to do everything by myself. When I arrived to work the first day, I was introduced to a billion people who ended up not being relevant to the work I will be doing over the next approximate 10 weeks. Then I met four women who I am pretty sure will be invaluable resources as I complete my project: Maria, Paula, Maureen, and Nancy. These women are nutritionists, midwives, sociologists, baby whisperers, you name it. They have been super welcoming and probably more excited about my research topic than I am. I'm excited to collaborate with (ok mooch off of) these awesome women to produce some excellent research.

I haven't started working on my own project yet (still waiting for the final stamp of approval), but I have been able to observe what happens in their ongoing study. The study is looking at a nutrition intervention for moms and babies to see if obesity can be prevented or predicted based on moms weight during pregnancy and which type of food the baby gets in the first two years (breastmilk, formula A, formula B, solids etc.). I got to talk to moms about their experiences and awkwardly stand in a corner while Paula measured babies and mommies and asked a bunch of questions. It was awesome. And all the babies are super cute (sorry no pictures).





Poll: How long do you think I will have to wait until I finally get to start my project?


Answer in the COMMENTS  section!
A. One week
B. Two weeks
C. One Month
D. Forever