Even though I have been in the USA for 3 and a half years, there are still many things I haven’t yet done here. Like, I’ve never had Kentucky Fried Chicken (not that I want to), nor have I had a funnel cake, root beer, or biscuits and gravy. Until today, I had never tried Chili. In fact, I had always thought it was made from peppers and would be extremely hot! Well, my friend had an extra ticket to the Chili Cook-off. I jumped at the invite, as I had heard about it before, and I knew that Jewel (one of my favorite artists) would be hosting the event. Country isn’t my favorite genre of music, but I can appreciate it. Basically, there is a huge stage and a variety of country singers that perform.

From the minute I arrived, I couldn’t help but stare at all the different people. I had never been exposed to this side of America before! There were ‘cowboys’ everywhere, donning their hats and boots! There were all sorts of booths with food ranging from pretzels, burgers, hot dogs, BBQs, and much more. We sat down on the grass amongst the field of camping chairs and blankets. It was actually really fun, but I found the people much more entertaining than the music (although there were a few I actually knew the words to).

When we left the Chili cook-off, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t actually had any chili. In fact, I hadn’t even seen any chili at the event. So, they took me to my first visit to Chili’s to have my first bowl of Chili. It was delicious! For the past three and a half years I have seriously been missing out!