Personal Narrative: My Trip To Papagayo Beach

Giant blue bodies of water and rocks with white sand were things I would see in TV commercials as a kid. Dream destinations were exactly just that, dream destinations. These blue water and white sand beaches looked nothing like the brown gunky sand and water down in Galveston. I was 11 and had only been to Galveston once as a toddler, so I had little to no memory of what a beach looked like through my eyes. I could only imagine what it was like to be at a beach. I was 11, we had a direct flight to Acapulco, Mexico. As the airplane descended on to the landing strip at the International Airport General Juan N. Alvarez, I remember seeing the ocean from the window of the airplane. I had been to Mexico a couple of times before, so seeing cluttered streets and compacted buildings was nothing out of the extraordinary for me. However, seeing child labor in the beaches was a real eye-opener. Children my age were selling candy, quesadillas, and many more goods to provide money for their families. My family and I arrived at Papagayo beach, it was my siblings and I’s first time being at the beach. My parents would both visit Acapulco occasionally as kids. When we first arrived at Papagayo beach everything seemed perfect, there was 80-degree weather, occasional cool breezes, the sun was strong but pleasant, warm and soft-gold sand, and a huge

We headed to La Quebrada, an event hosted shortly after the sun has gone down, the event takes place at a cliff which is about 40 feet at the lowest jump and 80 feet at the highest jump above the ocean. The event consists of many professional divers jumping off different heights. Being a kid and staring at the divers jump off the cliff was exciting. As a kid, I always enjoyed the show and its performers. However, I would not recognize the dangers that came along with the show. I found it fascinating seeing divers jump, they all seemed so