Azoteando

We're back after spending a week in Puerto Rico. Unlike other visits, we didn't stay with my parents (since they had a full house most of the time with both my sister and brother and their kids visiting, too) but instead imposed on the generosity of my first cousin who built a comfortable room atop what used to be an old garage for his mother, my aunt.

A circular metal staircase leads to the quaint French door in the back of his show-house near the beach. The house is beyond gorgeous, with polished cement floors and shiny metal doors, high ceilings and large picture windows, and beautifully groomed and landscaped patio. Our surroundings reminded us of a 5-star hotel rather than my cousin's house.

My entrepreneurial cousin and his wife, the daughter of a famous Puerto Rican artist, have decorated their house so that it radiates nothing but charm and taste. But the best part is that despite all the show-house elements, they keep a warm home with their beautiful daughter and their nicest of Australian Sheepdogs. We witnessed how friends and relatives are constantly dropping by and always welcome. My husband and I were quite impressed with and grateful for their true Puerto Rican hospitalidad. It's quite a different life to the one we lead here in Ohio, that's for sure!

Our favorite part of the house was their azotea, which is a large rooftop area where we spent a few evenings and mornings enjoying the cool ocean breeze and listening for the distant roar of the sea.

We also enjoyed ogling other people's azoteas, like those of the neighbor's house with a blue-tiled roof. Although the neighborhood is quiet, the people in this house have eight dogs of all breeds and sizes, from the largest German Shepherd to the tiniest black chihuahua. And they all enjoy barking in unison at any time they perceive an intruder in the area.

Thus, they serve as largely unwanted and unwelcome alarm clocks. One day we heard them at 3:30 a.m. and another at 5:30 a.m. (I guess when the paper is delivered). But it was vacation and since nobody seemed to mind, we didn't either. My husband and I chuckled thinking how, if we were back in our Ohio neighborhood, the police would have been called already.

We well knew that in Puerto Rico, however, if we'd call the police about barking dogs, they'd likely have laughed at us. And with good reason.

Our azotea adventures were only part of the cool pictures I took of this visit to Puerto Rico. There is more to come later. Now, I'm off to the back-to-reality, vacation-is-over, time-to-do-laundry evening that stretches ahead for me.

The azotea, and all its generous promise of tropical leisure, I will miss.