Ala

It's been raining a lot since I´ve been here. Now I understand why the beach road is always so full of puddles, or small lakes, as it were... Monday it started with a short shower, which was really lovely. I was on my terrace and suddenly felt a new coolness in the air, and heard a sizzling sound. It was the rain. I watched as people came running up from the beach with towels over their heads, thinking it was kind of silly because they were in their bathing suits after all. After the rain stopped, I went down to the beach. There was one couple there, French, of course. The woman was topless, of course. It was kind of hot. I went for a swim. The water is beautiful, very clear, shades of turquoise much like the colors of my room. There are little patches of sea grass or something that create these interesting designs in the water. Because there is a sand bar or a reef a bit of a ways out, there are no waves. The water is calm like a lake. Maybe even calmer. It is so beautiful and so relaxing juyst to float in the water and look up at the sky and the palm trees. As I did this I heard a little splashing sound approaching. I looked up to see an adorable little boy with dreadlocks being tagged along by a very sweet German Shepard. The boy bounced around making sure he was getting my attention, which he was. Partly I was concerned that he was out there alone swimming, even though the water wasn´t deep or in any way dangerous, he seemed a bit small to be out there alone, but partly I was watching him because he was so cute and was having so much fun and I kind of wanted to speak Spanish with someone! Then it started to rain. Since I was in the water, and already wet, I decided to stay. I looked out at the ocean in front of me and watched as raindrops hit the smooth surface of the water and bounced up again. It was the most amazing site. The little boy with dreadlocks bounced around behind me. I turned around to smile at him and he smiled back. His dog stood at the edge of the water looking very unhappy. The little boy with dreadlocks got out of the water and tried to pull him up to a spot under a palm tree where it was not as rainy. The dog started to move, but then decided he wasn´t going anywhere, and slouched down in the sand trying his best not to get wet. The little boy with dreadlocks came running back and splashed around in the water again. I asked him, " your dog?" and he said "yes, his name is Ala". I thought it was ala, as in wing, but as I type this I wonder if it might have been Allah?