Welcome! Bienvenido!

Hello there! Or should we say, "HOLA!" That's right, we're talking in Spanish because, well, we're going to a Spanish-speaking country (Chile, to be precise!) for 5 months! And we wanted y'all to be involved in our experience as much as vicariously possible. But to those of you who know one of us and not the other, maybe we should do a little introduction*:

Madeline Swayze, n., possibly a verb when used in certain contexts (Example - Person A: "Hey, look at this picture that was just taken of me." Person B: "Did you Madeline it?" Person A: "Why, are you asking if I stuck both thumbs up in the characteristic Madeline Swayze photo pose? Yeahhh.")

5'6" beautifully bubbly brunette from Atlanta, Georgia (Buckhead, to be exact). Majoring in Spanish. Will soon be applying to nursing school at Vanderbilt. Loves fried pickles, the word "snarky," snuggling, illegal coniferous plants, and floral blouses. Can speak French and Portuguese in addition to Spanish, but only if you want to hear, "I'm sorry I left the milk on the table," or "Good luck." Also answers to Mads, Madandelion, and Badger.

Quote about Chile: "I can't wait to be a native Latin American!"

Abby Hannifan, also a n.

5'10" blonde bombshell from Kansas City/Leawood/Overland Park (Confused? You’re not the only one.), Kansas. Majoring in Medicine, Health, and Society and Latin American Studies. An Ingram Scholar with a heart the size of the Milky Way, on a mission to save the world one continent at a time (watch out, South America). Loves fried pickles, neon earplugs, neon Post-Its, Ezekiel cereal, and illegal immigrants. Prides herself on her abilities to manually perform peristalsis and to testify against creepy criminals. Also answers to Abner, Hannifla, and Abdominal.

Voted most likely to come home with an alpaca.

*Note: Madeline's biography composed by Abby, Abby's biography composed by Madeline ... for credibility's sake.
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Now, what about the name of our blog? Believe it or not, "Chile Cheese Blog" did not magically materialize at first thought. We went through many ideas before finalizing the title. Here appear some of the original sketches:

Cornbread and Chile
Apropos in Santiago
Hillbillies in Chile
Red Hot Mabby Peppers (Madeline + Abby = Mabby)
Gringo Lingo
Llama Drama
Chile? Grab a sweater.
Alpaca the suitcase, you pack-a the duffel bag.

After months of deliberation, heated dinner table vote-casting, and rejection after rejection of rhymes and witticisms, we settled on "Chile Cheese Blog." The title came to us on America's birthday when news broke that Joey Chestnut (pictured below) secured his fourth victory in Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest by consuming an impressive 54 hot dogs. What's more American than that? Probably not much. So, in the end, it was this great American tradition that inspired our blog's cheesy (hehe) title. While we might be two traditional Americans, we're about to embark on anything but a traditional American experience ... we're going to Santiago! Hurrah!

With our adrenaline hopping like a can of Mexican jumping beans, we are oh so excited for our adventure! We are also going to miss family and friends like crazy, so starting on July 13th, our Chile Cheese Blog will be here to fill you in on life below the equator. Feel free to comment and send some virtual love our way! Thanks for reading! ¡Hasta Santiago!