Mrs. Flo and My Mangos

Around the same time every year for the past 3 or 4 years, there has been an alert for a deadly hurricane. Last year it was Matthew and this year it was Hurricane Florence.
Because of the devastation left by Matthew, businesses and schools were forced to close and millions of people were urged to evacuate from their homes for safety including my family members in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Typically, this Tuesday would have been filled with memories and acts of commemoration for 9/11, but this year all eyes were on Hurricane Florence.

Hurricane Florence aftermath, photo credits to my grandma (no she does not have Snapchat).

Monday, September 10th, a notice was sent out that the school would be closed and al students would need to evacuate their dormitories soon. After countless calls from my family, my boyfriend and I retreated to his home in Georgia. We left Tuesday afternoon expecting the worst (gas stations without gas, highways with cars going in the same direction on both sides, extreme traffic, etc.). To our surprise the roads were mostly clear with the exception of a little traffic in Atlanta.

We arrived around 5:00pm and from there the adventure began, we were determined not to be stuck in the house all week. We visited friends, family, tried new foods and new drinks. During all this we stumbled upon a 24 hour Mexican restaurant that served Mango water. I was skeptical at first, but my boyfriend got some and his friend tried it later too and by the end of the night we were all in love with the water. Later, I decided it was so good I had to make some.

With a little additives of our own (since of course we didn't know the exact recipe: pineapple juice, lemon juice, natural sugar) and a blender of course, we recreated the delicious mango water and for just a second relived our time at the Mexican restaurant. Moral of the story is, when life gives you hurricanes, make mango water.