In Response to Calvin Dilibero's Weekly Letter

My assignment this week is to state 3 things I could be more honest about in my life. While there is most definitely more than 3, here are the top (in no particular order) that come to mind...

1. I am tremendously competitive with myself and others
This is something that has become more an more apparent to me as I am getting older. It also applies inside and outside of school. It can typically be anything from how fast I can walk home from school compared to the previous day all the way to how well I did on an exam compared to another person. I know I try to pretend that it is a way for me to get better, which it is, I am leaving out the aspect of having too much of something. If I am to be honest about this, I believe I could most definitely be less competitive and still achieve my life goals.

2. I am not good at taking advice from my parents
When it comes to major life lessons this does not apply because I have intently listened to that advice, however many times I underestimate the simple advice my parents can provide. Even more, I do not utilize it for my advantage. I know that while I may not always agree, perspective is beneficial to myself. It is very hard to think of a simple action like driving and accept correction from someone who isn't the world's driving coach. I have begun to become more coachable as I have recognized this truth that is to be revealed. So, to complete this honest statement, I know I could listen to more of my parents advice.

3. I pity my self in rough situations
I recognize that it is normal for someone to be upset about events that do not go their way, however wallowing in self-pity has taken m from being upset to be more upset. Wile many times I may tell myself I am not pitying my situation but rather solving it, I tend to cross the line without recognizing I am doing so.


So there you have it! Three things that I have not been truly honest about. I hope that you enjoyed this Blogging By Talia and that you can apply this activity to yourself.

In Response to Middy Vogel's Weekly Letter

Hi again!
The assignment for this weekly letter is to create an antihero and give it a story. Here it goes!

My character's name is persona perfectionist. A typically relaxed and adventurous person however when she encounters the daily events of school and projects, Polly's work tends to drive her to the depths of a pit of idealism. A pit so deep, that even her smallest assignments and projects can drive her to her perfectionist qualities as well as a mistake put on my another individual out of the ordinary. The qualities alter Polly's persona to become rigid and distanced from friends and family and sometimes bother them.
One morning, the day was so wonderful and teeming with life and happiness, Polly decided to go on a walk and find some excitement. As she began to walk she passed her sister who was on her way to a friends house. He sister was in a hurry due to the fact that she was running late and needed to get to her friend's home as soon as she could. However, as Polly looked to her sister, her perfectionist qualities began to bubble inside of her. Her sister had put one two different colored shoes in her rush. Before she could control her tongue she spoke up and informed her of the mistake.
He sister turned back to the house rather than cross the street in order to quickly correct her shoes. She was angry and quickly stormed by persona perfectionist with rage. Nearly 10 seconds after she came on to the sidewalk and car sped by through the stop sign with no care as to whether or not there was a person in the walkway.
With this event, Polly's perfectionist qualities saved her young sister from crossing a dangerous street where she may or may not have been hit by a speeding car.
Polly learned that although her character had driven her to anger others and herself at moments, it has also proven to support and help others as well.


Okay, thats my story. I know that it was quite simple and most likely would not be a conflict that I would ever come across in my life, however it does display one (of many) flawed characteristics of mine. While I may not be so particular in that I would inform someone of mismatched shoes, I have experienced situations where I have angered people around me for such a strict outlook on certain aspects of my life.  Although this quality is one that I have wished to improve, it has also proven to help me complete challenging projects in school and help others do the same as well.
I encourage anyone to think about their flaws for a moment. Because whether or not your flaw can be seen as something that could be used as a quality of an antihero, it is most definitely worth thinking about. That is the most important thing that I have learned from this project. Thank you Middy for inspiring this Blogging By Talia! 

Final Day/ Day of Birth

April 12th

Hey! So today was my last day. It was a travel day all the way from the island, to the city, to the airport, to the Houston airport and finally back home. Long day.

Can you Belize it or not:
1. Belize is roughly the same size as Massachusetts in the United States
2. The population is 3700 people
3. And heir plant is also known as an Epiphyte
4. The pyramid in Belize is also the second highest point in Central Meso America (130 feet)
5. The highest point in 140 feet in the neighboring nation, Guatemala

This will be short, just as a closer to this trip and chapter in my story.

While the day was decently uneventful besides alot of sleeping and traveling I did want to mention one thing. While today is my birthday, not once did I feel unhappy to be spending it with these people. If this had been at the beginning of the trip, I am sure my mind may have been different. However after this amazing week, my day was made wonderful because of the close friends I made. I am so very thankful for this unbelizeable experience and the people I got to experience it with.

I was greeted by my family at the airport and I was so happy. I missed them all so much and although I was wiped, I got to revel in the moments of my trip with them as well as the last hours of my birthday.

Overall, this spring break was amazing. I hope you could grasp at least a small aspect of the trip through the past posts! And most of all I encourage you to travel. As my teacher mentioned in a quote earlier this trip, "The world is like a book, and travel takes you past the first page." Phenomenal quote and very true.

Thanks for sticking with Blogging By Talia! Bye!

Last few days of Belize

Hi again!

As the days are dwindling down I am becoming very nostalgic even though we haven't even left. The people I have met here have truly made this trip and helped me strive to be a better me. I know I have been impacted.

April 10th

Today is the second to last day. Holding on as much as I can. On the agenda we have a snorkel adventure!!!

Can you Belize it or not:
1. The national colors of Belize are Red, White and Blue
2. There are 63 different kinds of snakes in Belize
3. The jaguar is known as the king of the jungle (the 3rd largest cat behind the lion and the tiger)
4. 2688 is the highest point in Belize on a Maya mountain range
5. 62% of the nation is jungle

After history, on with the day!

This morning we woke up in order to eat breakfast and head onto a boat to take us to snorkel. The water was crisp blue and turquoise and I did not believe anything could be as beautiful as that view from the boat. I was later proven wrong after diving under and opening a world of vibrant sea life made up of turtles, fish, eels, more fish, coral, and sharks. It was absolutely gorgeous.
Later we were taken on a snuba adventure, which is a deeper version than snorkel. Essentially we took this fabulous picture and zoomed it. I was so happy to experience this beauty. Today I got to laugh with a lot of people and that could have been equally as amazing and fun.
Another quote stood out to me today. The guide that took me down 10 feet for snuba mentioned it to me, "Let life live."
This stuck with me because I realized as I was trying to hold on to the last moments, all I needed to do was be present. I will have time to go back and reflect on these amazing adventures. But now, I live, I enjoy this day this week as each moment floats by, one better than the next.

Have an amazing day!
Blogging By Talia

Another day in Belize

Hello! These next few posts will be on the same day because unfortunately the wifi on the rest of my trip was not strong enough to upload these posts. However, no worries because I wrote them on a Word document so that I could post them as soon as I could.
Here we go!

April 8th

Today was wonderful. But before I get started... some history!

Can you Belize it or not?
1. The capital is not Belize City because it had to get moved due to constant natural disasters
2. It's total population is the smallest in Central America
3. However, it is only the second smallest country (The 1st is El Salvador)
4. The May flower tree was and is used to tell the time in the country
5. Creo is a commonly spoken language and sounds similar to a shortened and sped up version of english

Hope you have learned something!

Now on with the day.
I would like to write about one of the events that we did today, which was visiting a k-8 school in Belize known as Santa Elena Primary School. I met a young 8 year old named Shahidda and can honestly say that I learned so much from her. She was honest and hard working and most of all, with any bump in the road Shahidda pushed on. She has truly inspired me as a person and I hope and cane be a better one after our day together. I also hope that I made even the smallest print on her life as well.
The last thing I would like to mention is a quote I saw at the school. "Do my best, so that I cannot blame myself for anything." This quote was written on the inside of one of the classrooms we visited. It stood out to me because of the concept that is so very true. Often times we get upset at others and ourselves and believe there is no cure. Well, in Belize I discovered the only cure is to do your best, and if that does not prevail you push on until you reach the other side.

I'm am so grateful for this experience and hope you enjoyed this Blogging By Talia!
See you soon!

unBELIZEable

Hello from Belize City, Belize!

This country is amazing. Beautiful, sunny as well as historical. That is why I have decided to start each blog with a history excerpt because I am writing down all the new interesting facts about Belize each day.

Belize it or not:
1. Belize was named after the river flowing through the country (Belize River)
2. It was a British colony previously known as the British Honduras
3. Gained its independence in 1981
4. It is on a peninsula in Central America along the Caribbean Sea
5. Belize is known for being the "melting pot" of languages and dialects because while English is the official language, it is the least spoken

Alrighty, hope you learned a bit that you didn't already know and that you found it as interesting as I did! There will be way more to come :)

So far we have only had one day in this city and it was spent at the Mayan Ruins. These ruins are very interesting because they have remained preserved. This is because the ruins were made and as years went on, mayans built new temples on top of their ancestor's temples. This ensured that the easily deteriorating limestone remained in tact. So in tact, that our tour group had the ability to climb to the top. I will say that it was easily one of the prettiest views I have seen in my entire life. I took a picture however it does not do this image justice. I felt as though I could sit and stare at the clouds outlined by deep and fluid blue all the way to the sun-kissed trees. It was truly remarkable.

I hope you are encouraged to do something daring. See a view and take in every essence of it. Absorb the small moments because soon you will be heading down the steps and the view will be gone.

Can't wait to post more on Blogging with Talia! Write you later!

1st Day of Spring Break!

Today is Saturday April 4th and it is a beautiful sunny day. The weather and the trees seem even more beautiful than usual because it is Spring Break!
A very exciting event is about to happen for me and I will be blogging about it very frequently so take this blog as a prologue to my adventure in these next few days.
I am going to Belize with my school tonight on a red eye flight! I am thrilled to be given this opportunity by my parents to get to travel with my friends to a foreign country. Instead of explaining my agenda for adventure now, I will talk about it in posts to come but for now I will write about what I am expecting.
To be honest, I am expecting a trip that I will be able to experience events that I would not regularly do. I have a minor fear of heights however I know that no mater what I do, it will be worth the fear.
I recently read a novel called Behind Enemy Lines by Marthe Cohn and while my story has nothing related to the horrors of nazi Germany, nor does it have anything to do with her prevailing heroism, I do feel a sense of inspiration.
I learned from this book that fear will happen, as it should, but it is your job, your choice evidently, to pursue the next step.
Now with that in mind I plan to take everyday as it comes. The amazing, the good, the bad and the frightening, all together and live.
Every moment will be made the best and I hope for stories to share and enlighten my fellow family members, friends, and bloggers.
I leave for my trip in 3o minutes, so I will have to leave this post at that.

Happy spring everyone and remember to live life to its fullest!
- Blogging By Talia