Akil 5

We entered into a large room which was divided into a living room in the front and raised one step in the back to accommodate a large dining room table. The table was covered with a splendid white lace tablecloth, protected by clear plastic. The living room had a large, comfortable couch and chair, a TV and oversized entertainment center. The main focal attraction in the living room was a hand painted waterfall scene done in many colors on black velvet. We had expected to be roughing it but this was clearly not going to be the way.

Off to the side of the living room, and directly in front of where Juan parked, was another large room. This was the boys bedroom. It was probably 20' by 15'. The only furniture was a clear plastic wardrobe in one corner. Hammocks hung from hooks in the walls. Passing through this room and heading to the back of the house via a central hallway that ran the length of the house, was the kitchen. This was also connected by a doorway to the dining room, making a circular floor plan. Although Juan’s miniature white poodle did not make the trip with us this time, he assured us that she loved to run around this circle until she got dizzy!

A long hall ran away from the kitchen and this was flanked by the bathroom and master bedroom on the left and the girls bedroom on the right. We were going to be staying in the girls bedroom since it had two beds. Lupe would be sleeping on a hammock in the boys room with Carlos and Lizzie would be on a hammock in her parents room. We felt kind of guilty about shoving the girls out of their room. We did let them back in to watch the TV in there when we not sleeping or changing clothes. Both the master bedroom and the girls room had windows that looked into the hallway.

The entire house, every room, was painted the same shade of nipple pink. There were soft jade green accents here and there, mostly around the windows. Various pictures of the family were everywhere along with the many trinkets and figurines they had collected. All in all it was a very pleasant house and much, much larger than we expected.

There was a glass and wrought iron door at the end of the yard which opened onto a covered patio with a view of the back yard. We were expecting the lot that the house sat on to be like here on the island and that the house would be built right to the lot line. We were very wrong. There was an expansive back yard, big enough for an in ground swimming pool, should the mood and finances ever allow! For now, we enjoyed sitting out there every morning over our coffee and looking at the various wild dogs, cats, chickens, turkeys and iguana make their way among the orange and avocado trees.

Since we had had a late lunch, we assured Maria that we were not hungry and could wait awhile for dinner. The brothers came over to say hello again. I had met them once before when they visited the island briefly. We chatted with them for a bit over a beer and then they made their ways back home. Juan had decided it was time to go hunting.