Last summer my family and I went to the Bahamas on a vacation. We stayed there for a little over a week and it was a great experience! I learned a lot about the culture there compared to here. All the people in the Bahamas are so friendly and welcoming to tourists. Even though the area outside the resort was really poor they all seemed so happy.

One major difference between the United States of America and the Bahamas is security. When we arrived in the Bahamas, all we had to do in customs was get our passports stamped. However, when returning back to America, the security was very strict. In customs we had to fill out paper work of anything we were bringing back from the Bahamas and how much money we spent. We also had to approve that the picture of our luggage that they had matched with our name was in fact our luggage. The line for customs going into the Bahamas was really short; we basically just walked right through. Going back to America was completely opposite. We stood in a long, winding line for almost two hours because the security is so detailed. However, the wait was really boring it shows what great lengths America goes through to make sure we are safe from any form of threats and terrorism.

Another huge difference in the Bahamas was their driving. In America there are laws on how fast a person can go, which side of the road we can drive on, when a person can go versus when we need to stop, but in the Bahamas they basically do whatever they want. Honking is a very common sound we heard. On our way to the resort, Atlantis, our driver was constantly honking at people. Many times my family got nervous thinking he was going to hit another car.

A really interesting thing was that we were on vacation there over the fourth of July. We were not expecting the resort to do anything for the fourth of July since it’s an American holiday. However, we were wrong. They had a huge celebration. On the night before the fourth of July, they set up a huge carnival to enjoy the whole next day. They had bands there and many carnival games to participate in. As night came they began setting up for the firework show. The fireworks were the best show I had ever seen. They set them off from three different places around the resort so anywhere we looked there were fireworks. Another really exciting and important thing they did was they honored all the men and women who served the USA in the military. Even though the Bahamas do no celebrate Independence Day, they still did a fantastic job of honoring people and putting on great entertainment for all the Americans visiting.

The Bahamas was a great place to visit. I learned about how different they are from America. Many of the people we met outside of the resort are constantly working and selling whatever they can to get enough money to survive, but they are some of the happiest people I have ever met. They appreciate anything we did for them, even just being friendly and talking to them. I would love to return to the Bahamas to learn even more.