log 01 - san pedro, belize
In Christmas of 2025, my family took a weeklong trip to San Pedro, Belize. This vacation we did a lot more relaxing and lying around than I ever recall doing on a trip historically, so I don’t have too much to say unfortunately. I really only have some rambling thoughts to share and my own research to do, so please forgive the following log. Going into this trip, I thought it would be interesting to just jump in “blind” in a sense, not knowing anything about where I’m going and instead learning and taking note when I get there. (Note that I have the privilege to do so because my mom plans these trips and I’m there for the ride.) In the past I’ve had some insight into the language or cultures of the places I visited (notably China and Chile) because of prior experiences and education. But anyway, back to the point. Usually when traveling, I expect to dust off a language I keep in my back pocket. I’m rusty as all hell but I know enough to get by and have a basic conversation. The first thing I notice upon landing in Belize is that everything is in English. Airport signs, that’s typical, so whatever. But when leaving the airport, I’m not at all joking when I say everything is in English. Road signs, billboards, even a few American brands like Ashley Furniture. Deeper into our trip, this detail continues to stand out to me as we go to meals, look around the city, and travel. I had only one conversation in Spanish this entire trip, which I’m a little sad about but it’s all done now. This is all kind of not going in any direction. I guess the bottom line is this is the first time I’ve been out of the country in a few years and I expected to learn and experience more than I did, but everything too similar to how things are at home to foster that kind of exploration. Colonization and tourism likely heavily contributing to this. In any case, my parents seem to love Belize a lot (this is my first visit but their 3rd or 4th) so it is likely I’ll be back. When that time rolls around, I’ll be sure to note some places of interest for me and hopefully learn more about Belize.
In lighter news, I made it a goal to try many new foods while I was here. I have negative spice tolerance and texture issues with a lot of foods, but this is something I’d like to improve in my life overall. I didn’t go too crazy with the experimentation but I did try things! I now really love empanadas though they did make me miss my friend’s mom’s arepas she made me… ough. I now also like fish and shrimp ceviche, chimichurri sauce, and red snapper fish. I do not like pickled radish. At all.
Overall, I had fun just chilling and going out to eat. When I get around to it, I’ll put some of the restaurants we visited on the recommendation page.