I was able to visit what was once known as the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. I had heard about it on my first visit to San Francisco when I was just eight years-old. At such a young age I was already curious about the horrors occurred on the not so distant island. Its purpose was to make the prisoners feel bad about the crimes they had committed while they looked upon the city and the freedom they were missing on. In the last twelve years I have watched endless documentaries and read books about this prison wanting to know the details of this obscure place.
I never really saw myself getting on a ferry and setting foot on the notorious island. The day was January 7th, a gloomy, rainy day in downtown San Francisco and the lines seemed endless. My uncle took all the family as if it was another glorious family trip. No one really knew what to expect. I had never been inside a prison, but the only thing I could imagine was the small, crowded cell prisoners went crazy in.
The boat ride was small only about ten minutes. Arriving at the island, we were given a small introduction on where to go and what we would be able to see. In order to visit the prison itself, we had to climb the steep hill and once entering the building go up a flight of stairs. What makes this tour more interesting is the audio narration of the entire building and what happened back when the prison was opened. The very first thing we were able to see was the showers located in the middle of the room which every prisoner shared. I can already detect the decrepit state in which the prison sustains itself due to the rain and cold. I can feel chills run down through my body as I don’t dare to stop walking once I see the cells.
The cells were tiny; one could barely move a couple feet in there. There were certain displays of escape attempts made by some prisoners and was able to see how isolated they all were. There were no windows and they were only allowed fresh air once a week. I certainly can say that visiting Alcatraz had a big impact on me because it was a very depressing feeling throughout the visit. There was nothing cheerful about the place, it was just another historical location I wanted to visit to learn about it and in a macabre way see it for myself and not just in a television screen. Although the prison has been closed for more than fifty years, you can still see the way these prisoners suffered their sentence. Although they were criminals, their prison years were far more than inhumane.
