Belize : A Unique And Different Country

Guatemala is home to Maya civilians. Maya communities are decedents from the great Mayan Empire that ruled before the Spanish conquest. Colonization began a period of oppression and marginalization for Mayas. Being “Indian” has been viewed as negative identity since colonization due to oppression of the culture and negative implications caused by the Spanish conquerors. Mayas since decreased significantly in numbers but still make up 60% of the population in Guatemala.

Costa Rica is certainly more than a vacation location, It a place that makes you want to come back for many long lifetime memories. It a place that gives you interactive experience each day. The country provides a collection of biodiversity and environmental charm in which you want to crave more each day. With royal volcanoes, foggy cloud forests, stunning river valleys, and tons of beaches along both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. Costa Rica can grant you an amazing story that you can explore with its lovely geographic location. It shows the history of how peaceful and family driven culture is. So came explore what we call Costa Rica.

Guatemala is a small country in central America, bordered by Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, and Mexico. Guatemala is best known for their indigenous Mayan culture and excavated ruins of the Mayan empire, nature, and their world class coffee. If you visit Guatemala, you’ll see that it is unique in many ways.

Bastille Day celebrates a turning point in the French Revolution, the storming of Bastille Prison in 1789. In America, we celebrate Independence Day, or the day when the colonists declared independence from Great Britain in 1776. Both are celebrated in similar ways, with the French and Americans celebrating with fireworks and parades. Also, both points in the war were one of the riskiest moves both countries made. Declaring independence was treason, punishable by death, and storming Bastille could have caused the King to have a violent attack on the citizens. Therefore, both are similar.

Cinco de Mayo means the fifth of May. It is not an independence day for Mexico like most unknowledgeable people think. Mexican Independence Day is celebrated on the 15th of September. Mexico declared independence from Spain on the 24th of August 1821. Cinco de Mayo is not an American holiday either. Mexico and the United States savor this holiday because it is the day where Mexican peasants/ commoners defeated the French and Mexican traitor army that double them in size in Puebla, Mexico one hundred miles away from Mexico city on the 5th of May, 1862.

Having said that, it is actually very much religious in ways that the other Caribbean festivals and carnivals are not.

In America, there are so many different religions that are practice all across the country. In Guatemala there aren’t as many religions practiced. In Guatemala their main religion is Catholicism but the other two religions that are mostly practiced are Christianity and Mayan Spiritualism. You don’t see many other religions past these three. Because of this, Guatemala seems to have more festivals and holidays, because most people share the same religion.

The main religions of Guatemala are Roman Catholic and Protestant, though some still follow indigenous Mayan beliefs. Ancient Mayans who lived in Guatemala hundreds of years ago were advanced mathematicians and astronomers who were able to do some things with their limited technology that were just about as good as what we can do today. For example, ancient Mayans used zero in their mathematics in 300-900 A.D., which didn’t come about in Europe until the middle ages. Though a well documented civilization, no one today knows how Mayan civilization fell. For, by the time Spanish conquerors came to Latin America, Mayan civilization had

Water sports such as kayaking and white water rafting are very popular as well(Guatemala Sports). Some important holidays or dates in Guatemala includes: Holy Saturday Mach 26th, Army Day June 30th, Assumption August 15th, and All Saints Day November 1st(Guatemala Public Holidays). It is the third largest country in Central America. Guatemala shares a border to the north and west with Mexico, northeast with Belize and Caribbean Sea, and south with Pacific Ocean. Its landscape includes mountainous and heavily forested areas, narrow coastal plains, and humid lowland forests(Guatemala Weather).

On January 6, we cut a cake that is named Roscon DeRejas cake (three kings cake). There are little pieces of paper inside the cake that have good luck wishes. For Christmas we do tamales. We eat lots of foods, like mole with rice. One of my favorite parts of Christmas is opening my presents and eating traditional Hispanic foods. Another thing that I like about the 24th of December is that we get candy because we celebrate El Nino Dios (Baby Jesus). First, we need to kiss the baby so we can get candy. Then, we wake up El Nino Dios and put him to sleep with a kiss. After that, we pick a different day that we want, like for example January 27th, when we wake up El Nino Dios. On that day, we get candy again. For the September Fair, we get candy bread and play fun traditional games and eat all kinds of true Mexican

Surrounded by the Central American countries of Mexico, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador , lies the beautiful and captivating country of Guatemala. But looking inside the country filled with breathtaking views, is a whole new world marked with such diversity in its culture. Guatemala’s diverse culture is demonstrated through its people, traditions and etiquettes, arts and landmarks, and foods and holidays.

In the 60s, Belize was still considered by many global standards, a third world country. Because of the very small chance of being a success in Belize, many strive to come to the states for improving their quality of life. Migrating to the United States was on many Belizeans priority because it meant they could have more access to popular items usually seem from visiting relatives or heard about on radios. Belizeans believe in American exceptionalism because America’s standard for being the best gave rise to excitement to attain the previously unattainable instigated their hope to struggle and benefit for hardworking individuals.

“Estas flores aqui es Guaria Morada” he said pointing to a pink flower growing on the side of the path we were walking on. He was saying that it was the Guaria Morada, the national flower of Costa Rica. Alejandro also pointed the different trees out to us. The larger ones were Quanacaste, and most of the smaller ones were Costa Rican native trees that weren’t popular and almost extinct. While he was talking, a bright green frog jumped onto the tree he was talking about.

This day celebrates the removal of dictator Batista from power and the start of Fidel Castro’s power. Another holiday is Victory of the Armed Forces and is celebrated January 2 and is another holiday commemorating its revolution’s history. There also is Commemoration of the Assault to Moncada/National Rebellion Day which is a three day long holiday from July 25-27 that remembers the 1953 capture and exile of Fidel Castro. More holidays include Independence Day, on October 10th and celebrates the early independence of Cuba in 1868, when Carlos Manuel Cespedes freed his slaves and began the War of Independence against Spain. The last national holiday is Christmas and is celebrated on December

The history of Belize dates back thousands of years. The official name of the territory was changed from British Honduras to Belize in June 1973.