Black Friday? – Everything Erin

When you aren’t allowed to leave your house that’s basically all you want to do and all you think about doing. We do some chores from the moment we wake up (about 6am) until the earliest second we can leave the house… which technically is supposed to be 12pm today.

Today’s goal: grocery shopping for 11 people. My family, that is staying in the condo, is out of propane which has been their only means of cooking food, so we are hoping (against odds) that we will be able to find some today. We also are looking for food that can feed a lot of people and be cooked on a grill. The family is waiting outside their condo at exactly 12pm ready to be transported to Bluewater Terrace and the grocery store. Time is of the essence. Ready.Set.Go!

It normally is about 10 minute normal drive to Seaside grocery store, but because this is the first day we are allowed ot after the storm it took 90 minutes. It was a very hot 90 minutes too. I was worried about using my gas in the car, not knowing if we would run out of fuel on the island, so I was trying to conserve.

When we finally made it to the store the line was so long with military guarding the doors only allowing a certain amount in at a time. Picture a third world country on Black Friday and that’s what we were experiencing.

Pushing, yelling, screaming, angry people just trying to good food to feed their families. It was a very weird and unsettling experience.

We made it in the store and much to surprise they had a lot more food than I thought was going to be left. As far as my refugees were concerned, the goal was more booze and mixers (because what else do you do when you’re not allowed to do anything?) and snacks. #naileditMy parents succeeded in securing more propane as well as logical food: canned items, rice, soups, and things of that nature.

As mentioned, I was super paranoid about having gas. I went across the street at 3:11 where I saw the line was gone for gas. Turns out, they closed at 3. Luckily, a smile and a few minutes later my tank was full and I was feeling better about things.

Meanwhile the rest of the family were also getting to enjoy 4 hours of freedom having delicious food and drinks at Bluewater Terrace. Hopefully this added a little bit of “normalcy” to their Caribbean vacation, even if only for a few minutes. My parents are I were unable to join today, but luckily, the rest of the family got us food to take home. Yay! A real meal.

We return to our respective homes, where we use our leftovers from dinner and add rice and beans to the mix on the grill. It was delicious. Colin, Kylie, Eric, Blake and I all sat down on the patio and enjoyed a nice family dinner. Hey, I’ve been wanting to get more use out of the patio set anyways right?

Hmmn…now what we will do with tomorrow’s 4 hours of freedom?