Tropical Paradise a Narrative Essay

Barbie Miller

Professor Menapace

English Comp. 101

24 September 2016

Tropical Paradise

The Good and Bad of the Bahamas…

The dark night greeted us as we arrived. Sand blowing, waves crashing into the sea walls, and the seagulls chirping. The hot air rushed through our hair and the sound of Bahamian music came from the resort where we were staying and completed the welcome. As I walked through the lobby door, a cool rush of air blasted me in the face from the nice air conditioning. I always saw the Bahamas through the lens of the travel channel: luxurious pink hotels and awesome beaches. But while I was there I saw a different side emerged with people just trying to survive.

To get to where we were staying, you had to go through the roughest conditions, unlike any I have seen before I had pictured big, fancy houses and resorts. But it was the complete opposite. The homes we passed were just cinder block, without doors and windows. Some weren’t even close to being finished. From the SUV, we could see inside the homes and it was nothing but dirt floors. Later that night we stopped in one store where the locals bought their food, it was more like a convenience store then a grocery store. It was called Friendly Bob’s and that name fit the owner perfectly. He was very friendly and outgoing. We learned that he lived across the street from his business in a shack you could call it. Coming from a small town called Rockford, I think of a close-knit community in which people are always willing to help each other. I wasn’t left with that impression after driving through these small towns. Seeing all the despair, that brought about a different view then what they advertise. Even though I was staying at a lavish resort, it hard to believe that this tropical paradise I come to had a much darker image then imaged.

Barbie Miller

Even with seeing the poor side of town and what you don’t expect. My visit to Freeport was a magical visit that left me with a lot of great...