04/11/21

Final Blog Post Introduction

      Hello everyone and welcome to the intro of my final blog! I am saddened to announce this but like my grandfather used to say, all good things must come to an end. Hopefully, this blog has given you all the motivation to visit the Bahamas one day. With that being said, allow me to explain what I have in store for my final blog about the island that we have gotten to know for the past few months. Although this blog has been about the various things that are delightful in the Bahamas, we must discuss the negative aspects as well. I will be discussing the drug abuse, alcoholism, and HIV/AIDS rate in the Bahamas. This is just to inform you all that just like the U.S. or whichever country you're from, they all have the same issues more or less. 

     I will be speaking on this topic in hopes of being able to find a reasonable solution to put an end to these life-threatening issues. There will be a paragraph explaining how severe each issue is, what can be done to stop it, and what would happen if they are not handled correctly. I can find the severity by searching for the rate of each issue from the current or recent year such as 2018 or 2017. The solutions of each issue will be gathered from my personal observations; this means that the written solutions here will be opinionated and you do not have to approve of them. And lastly, the predictions will be opinionated as well. 

     

    

 To close out my final blog, I will restate my purpose for writing this post in the final paragraph and what my solutions are. Once that is done, my final blog post will be completed. Thank you all for taking the time to read my entries and I hope that it has given you the desire to visit the Bahamas one day. 

 Madelyn Davis

02/22/21

Self-Assessment Blog

     Hello everyone and welcome back to "The Maddy Files." Today I will be reflecting on my past blogs and what I can do to enhance their quality. My parents always told me not to settle for less and there's always room for improvement; so I will use that piece of advice to examine all of my blog posts and find a solution to each problem. When it comes to following the rubric, I believe that I do a decent job of meeting all of the requirements, but "decent" is not the word that I want to associate with my blogs. When I'm writing my blogs, I find it hard to stay on one topic and keep it interesting and I end up missing key details and information regarding the topics that I'm discussing. If I can find a way to avoid straying away from the topic, then my blog will be far from decent. 

     Blogs are meant to be more personalized, so I find it hard to remember to incorporate some essay aspects in the post as well. One way that I could improve this is by treating the blog like an essay but I can add in some personalized aspects to keep the blog from getting boring. For the first couple of blogs, I was putting my best efforts into them; but sadly I had lost a family member that I had not seen in about seven years a couple of weeks ago. Because of this, I was getting behind on a lot of assignments and I would wait until the last minute to complete them. But now that he has been laid to rest and I've had the proper time to grieve, I am once again motivated to write blogs and showcase my writing skills. 

     I've been told to proofread my essays or have a peer look over them before I turn them in, and I  have stuck by that during all of my school years. Therefore, when I am writing my blogs, I make sure that my grammar, spelling, and punctuation are satisfactory. Having other students look at my blogs is a little uncomfortable but I know that there will be certain situations in life that will make me feel uneased, but I have to adapt. 

     Discussing how a blog should be typed during a zoom session would be something that I would like to see; and if I have further questions, I can have a one-on-one session with my professor, email her, or send her a text. One thing that I learned about blogs is that they're not just about personal situations; they can be about things that are happening around the world or something that the writer is going through alone. 

   Now that I have noted the problems that I have when it comes to writing blogs, I can work on improving them. This will allow me to write and publish a satisfactory blog. 

Magical Jamaica

 02/15/21

Magical Jamaica 

Hello everyone and welcome back to yet another blog post where I convince you guys to visit various islands in the Caribbean. This time we will talk about the flamboyant that we all know as Jamaica. This island is one of the types that you can visit whenever you please because the climate is tropical, hot, and humid. This island receives about 78 inches of rainfall. But enough about the weather; let's talk about what Jamaica is known for. 

Jamaica is known to be the birthplace of reggae, Olympic runners, Blue Mountain Coffee, Red Stripe Beer, Jamaican Rum, Jerk foods (jerk chicken), and breath-taking beaches. For example, the late Bob Marley was born in Jamaica and he has been celebrated all over the world for his reggae hits. A few more notable acts are Sean Paul, Shaggy, and Jimmy Cliff. Jamaica also produces the most music per capita. And while we're on the topic of praised individuals, Usain Bolt, one of the world's fastest runners was born in Jamaica. I don't know much about Olympic sprinters but Usain is defiantly a familiar face. 

When it comes to religion, Jamaicans have their own cultural movement as well; the Rastafarian movement was created in the 1930s and since then has been a significant part of Jamaican culture. This movement involves methods of protestant Christianity, mysticism, and pan-African politics. Rastafarians believe that people who are African (but do not live in Jamaica) are exiles who live in "Babylon."  

But their cultural impacts don't just stop there; Jamaicans also have their own slang which is known as, Jamaica Creole (patois). This slang has been incorporated in many movies, songs, clothing, and books. If that's not influential then I don't know what is. However, Jamaica Creole is not a written language. 

Jamaica is a huge island that is filled with many activities that everyone can enjoy; you might even make a few native friends or two who can show you the best tourist spots. 

Sources:

Morrow, Kylie. “17 Amazing Things Jamaica Is Known For BEACHES.” Here Comes The Sun - The Official Beaches Resorts Travel & Lifestyle Blog, Here Comes The Sun - The Official Beaches Resorts Travel & Lifestyle Blog, 1 Feb. 2021, www.beaches.com/blog/things-jamaica-is-known-for/.

Writer, Staff. “Facts about Jamaica.” Jamaicans.com, 16 July 2015, jamaicans.com/facts-about-jamaica/. 

Parke, Marvin. “10 Cool Facts You Never Knew About Jamaica - WanderWisdom - Travel.” WanderWisdom, WanderWisdom - Travel, 27 Mar. 2013, wanderwisdom.com/travel-destinations/10-Cool-Facts-about-Jamaica.

The History of Haiti

02/08/21 

The History of Haiti

Hello guys and welcome to the third blog on my page. Today we will be discussing the island Haiti and the certain things that the island has experienced throughout the years. It all started in 1804 when General Dessalines became the dictator; this led to Haiti becoming the second independent nation in the Americas. Haiti had actually been under colonial rule for 300 years, which is a very, very long time if you ask me. Now that we've gotten the colonizing origins out of the way, we can focus on the historical highlights and cultural tendencies of Haiti. One interesting fact that I learned about Haiti is that the name means, "Land of Mountains," which is very interesting in my opinion. Another thing that I find interesting about Haiti is the people's form of transportation; they have these colorful buses called "Tap-taps" and the cool thing about them is that there is plenty of room for passengers, especially on the outside of the tap-taps. Haiti is also known for having the first successful slave revolt in the late 1700s. 

When it comes to an island in the Caribbean, their foods are very flamboyant and flavorful. One interesting fact that I learned about Haitians is that spicy spaghetti is a part of their breakfast menu; which is funny because here in the U.S., we eat spaghetti for dinner and sometimes for lunch. But the interest in food doesn't stop there; Haitians have plenty of foods such as Griot, Accra, Lambi Guisado, Joumou, and Kibi. If I ever get the chance to visit this island, I definitely have all these on the list of foods to try. The next subject that I will touch on is their fortress which is the largest in the Western Hemisphere; this fortress is called "Citadelle Laferriere," This tourist attraction was built to protect Haiti from anyone that had evil intentions; but luckily for them, no one posed a threat. 

In conclusion, when it comes to finding an island that is filled with many cultural foods and vivacious tourist spots, Haiti is the place to be. 

Sources:

Heather Ostalkiewicz, COTN–USA Staff Writer. “10 Things You Might Not Know About Haiti.” Children of the Nations, cotni.org/news/haiti/2014/06/19/10-things-you-might-not-know-about-haiti?gclid=Cj0KCQiA34OBBhCcARIsAG32uvM5CztVROTHEzbLXRjQZ_yz8nNBOZxkM2CssCh6SBtnuaYVy6kGAawaAqfBEALw_wcB. 

Pay the Bahamas a Visit, It's Life-Changing.

 01/28/21

Pay the Bahamas a Visit, It's Life-Changing

Hello everyone and welcome back to "The Maddy Files." If you haven't noticed, I will attempt to convince you all to take a trip to the Bahamas the next time you decide that you want to get away from your everyday lives for a few days. Once my persuasions have been halted, you will have no choice but to buy yourself a plane or cruise ticket and make your way to the magical island that is worthwhile. To do this, I will touch on a few subjects that will have you hooked in an instant; these subjects will contain foods, fun activities, breath-taking landscapes, beaches, and the inviting personalities of residents. I can guarantee you, you will not want to leave the island once your trip has commenced. 

The first thing I want to talk about is something that we all know and love, which is food. According to Sheri-kae McLeod, Bahamian food has a mixture of South American and Caribbean food styles; this would mean that their foods contain a lot of cornbread, peas, rice, and spicy seafood. Did you know that a conch (a tropical mollusk) is their national food? Neither did I; to be honest, I didn't know that humans ate conch at all. But Bahamians love conchs so much that they've learned how to incorporate them into various meals such as pizza, soup, and fritters. 

Now that I have your tastebuds watering, allow me to take you on a sight-seeing journey. I want you to close your eyes and imagine that your standing on a beach with cool sand between your toes which is washed away by the chilly water every 40 seconds. Next, I want you to imagine the cool breeze flowing through your hair and allow that fresh air to run through your system. That feeling your getting is something that I like to call paradise. Now that I have you fantasizing about standing on a beach and basking in the sun, the Bahamas is the best place to do this. With their various beach locations, there is plenty of room for you and your friends to write sweet messages in the sand and go shell hunting, and we can't forget about the pigs that are cooling themselves off in the water; you might even find a sea dollar. The best thing about this island is that the weather is consistent and never goes below 60 degrees, which is my favorite type of weather. So if you enjoy cool weather and souls-cleansing areas, the Bahamas is the place for you. 

The last, but definitely not least subject I will touch on is the activities that you can do on the island. Since the Bahamas is an island, it only makes sense that there are large bodies of water surrounding it; this means that snorkeling and scuba diving are a sure thing. If you're nervous about being lost at sea, there is an easy solution for that. Everyone who plans to go snorkeling or scuba diving will be monitored by the Bahamas Diving Association, so the only thing you have to worry about is not seeing enough marine life. If you're into history, visiting the Bahamas should definitely be on your bucket list of places to visit. The Bahamas has many tourist spots that contain various back-stories such as the Columbus Monument, Adderly Plantation, Long Island Medium, and Dean's Blue Hole; these are just a few of the monuments that are worth visiting when you're in the Bahamas. The best time to visit the Bahamas would be at the end of April because of the annual Junkanoo Carnival, which is the heart of Bahamian culture. This event is filled with live entertainment, cultural events, and a mass amount of parties. Therefore, if you're outgoing and enjoy meeting new people, make sure you book yourself a trip once April comes to an end. 

Now that I have given you an insight into the many things that you can do in the Bahamas, I hope that I have convinced you to pay them a visit someday. To conclude this blog, you should visit this island for the flavorful foods, jaw-dropping tourist spots, and mind-boggling activities. Allow the following pictures below to secure your decision of visiting the Bahamas.

Conch Fritters

People Celebrating the Junkanoo Carnival 

Dean's Blue Hole 

Swimming Pigs

Snorkeling

Sources:

McLeod, Sheri-kae. “11 Reasons Why You Should Visit the Bahamas.” Culture Trip, The Culture Trip, 25 Oct. 2017, theculturetrip.com/caribbean/the-bahamas/articles/11-reasons-why-you-should-visit-the-bahamas/.

About Me

Maddy D. 

About Me

Hello, my name is Madelyn but I prefer to be called Maddy; I would like to officially welcome you all to my blog, "The Maddy Files." This blog isn't about my life so I won't waste your time with a full spreadsheet about what I like to do in my free time. A few things about me are that I am a first-year student at Georgia Gwinnett College and I am hoping to get a bachelor's degree in special education. And if you haven't guessed it yet, I am trying to become a SPED teacher; I'm just not too sure on what grade I would like to teach. But when I'm not doing homework or trying to cram a bunch of information in my head for a test, I like to listen to music, play video games, and read books. My favorite genres of music would have to be R&B and Pop, but I listen to pretty much anything. While doing these activities brings joy to me, nothing beats watching documentaries on crime all day long. 

"The Maddy Files" will consist of me talking about various serial killers and what makes them so interesting, I will also add little comments on how I feel about certain situations; after all, you can't make a blog without adding your own opinions. Ever since I was about 13, I've loved watching documentaries on people who have committed heinous crimes such as the B.T.K (bind, torture, kill) killer, Ted Bundy, and Aileen Wuornos. If you're ever interested in binging on these things, Investigation Discovery, HLN, and Oxygen will be your best friends. But we won't just discuss serial killers either, there are plenty of people who haven't murdered mass amounts of people but their story is just as interesting. The main purpose of this blog is to just inform people who aren't too aware of things that have happened in the world that are considered as "pop culture." I know you all are probably thinking, "why is she so obsessed with killers?" and I can assure you that I am not studying to follow in their footsteps; I am just fixated on the fact that there are humans that can carry out these horrific tasks and feel absolutely no remorse. It's truly mind-boggling if you ask me. 

With that being said, grab some popcorn, a refreshing drink, your favorite blanket, and come hang out with me for a while.