4/30/20 4/30/20

Lockdown in the Caribbean - No Liming

Greetings from my parents’s veranda.

Liming is Caribbean slang for hanging out. Spending time with family and friends. A party. There’s no liming going on here.

I arrived in St. Martin a day before all Air France flights to and from Italy were canceled. Sheer luck. I had booked my trip after a major project in Italy was postponed due to the CDC raising the travel alert to Italy. My American clients were unable to fly to Italy and I needed to go the Caribbean for our Anguilla beach house project.

When I arrived in St. Martin, in mid-March, I had to self-quarantine for fourteen days. I spent a lot of time in my room and on the veranda, far away from my parents. I was stressed out. I felt fine and we didn’t have a major outbreak in Rome. However, I knew that Covid-19 was highly contagious and it’s possible to be asymptomatic.

During my quarantine period, we (France and French territories) were placed under a strict lockdown. It was supposed to end on April 3rd. It was extended to May 11th.

We’re hoping some restrictions will be lifted in two weeks. It’s been a difficult period. We’ve been very fortunate here on the French side with very few cases of Covid-19. I’m curious to see how the local governments will reopen the borders. I can’t imagine cruise ships with thousands of people docking on the Dutch side any time soon. How will they test for the virus? What about international flights?

Anguilla has no cases at all. They completely shut down their borders. I won’t be able to get to the construction site until sometime (maybe!) late next month.

I’m glad that my parents are not alone during this lockdown. I’m the designated grocery store shopper for them and other elderly relatives. I’ve never been so excited to go to a grocery store or a pharmacy in my life! I put on a nice (but casual, it is the Caribbean) outfit for my once a week trip. I skip lipstick as we must wear a mask. We’re allowed to go outside in/near our neighbourhoods to workout/walk dogs. We have special documents with us whenever we leave the house. The Gendarmes are not messing around.

I did hit a rough patch a few weeks ago but I’m on the other side now. It could be because we’re seeing the positive results of the lockdown and know that better days are coming here and in Italy. I’m worried about the States.

I hope wherever you are, you’re safe and well.

Looking forward to having a rum punch on this beach, Friar’s Bay.

10/30/19 10/30/19

Work in Progress - Anguilla, British West Indies

The last few months have been off the charts hectic, in a good way.

One of the projects I’m working on is a new beach house on Meads Bay Beach in Anguilla. I don’t know how or why our job site suffered only a little damage during Hurricane Irma, the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic. Meanwhile, just down the beach, the Four Seasons had twenty million dollars worth of damage. We were very lucky.

Hotels have rebuilt and reopened. Many of the damaged homes have been repaired. There’s still some work left to do but things are moving forward. I’m in awe at how quickly this tiny Caribbean island bounced back.

The construction should be finished in a few months.