How Hard do you want it...Sophie's Edition

It's been stated in the beginning of this blog on the About Me section that I was transitioning from the Sunshine State Florida to my tropical Home, Haiti in Port-Au-Prince. This 30th of past September marked a year since I moved back and from my time frame here it's been one ride full of transitions to say the least. For the year that I've been back, I never thought that I would get culture shock since I had a good case of in 2004 as a Freshman in High School and because I was in Port-Au-Prince for the summer in 2011 but little did I know I had it. I grew to realize that vacationing in a place and living in that same place are two different things,so it's only normal that I experienced these slight changes after all.

Among these changes came the decision of continuing my education here in Haiti while I am working. I had to get rid of the stigmata of being reserved and shy to market myself and integrate into communities and networking as well. Little by little I have no choice but to work on outgrowing my shyness.Besides being a little off from inspiration and out of electricity sometimes,these past few months I spent a lot of my time getting ready for admissions exams to get in a good University. The good news is that I got in and already have lots of work to do, researches on top of researches.


One thing that I like about my schedule is that I have a good time to study after each classes rather than trying to squeeze time to study for all my classes. Speech is among the principal outlet in most of my classes a way for us to break from our comfort zone so there is no way to escape exposing yourself and be a little vulnerable in front of million little eyes.  (Ok I am exaggerating)

Haiti may go through a lot of difficult times but some of us in Universities are giving our all and our best.

It's All Love
Sophie :)

Allons au marché

It is amusing to me that only in my illustrations a girl can be anything that she wants to be such as wearing a fancy sundress with a loud jewelry pearl statement and go to the farmer market afterward. This is the case for this young lady; Stella who along with other young designers showcased their work. Her creations are all made of pearl jewelry statement. Hard work and long hours and sleepless night does pay off since her crowd was supportive.
         I love supporting local market in my area and I believe subconsciously it is the reason why a farmer's market is never too far from my illustrations. I am not exactly where I want to be yet as an illustrator who happens to love fashion but I am seeing progress and my evolution as an artist. Although I am building my "niche" little by little, taking chances to be seen, I believe there is always room for improvements whether by observing, learning, being patience and study as well.

It's All Love
Sophie :)

Notes on Autumn Leaves

Images replacing the absence II

That day was filled with

wild wind

salt air

contact bare feet with the sand

multiple attempts at swimming

drinking coconut water directly from the coconut

fellowship

and a good laugh from the way to Cote des Arcadins

to the way of Port-Au-Prince

....and a surprising tropical storm as I made my way home

It's All Love

Sophie :)

Images replacing the absence I

Throughout the days of this summer, I had the chance to be hired as a translator for the Compassion International whose mission is to liberate children from poverty. That Friday morning the sponsors were waiting to see their children at Mont Rouis(The children they sponsor) with impatience while in the wide awakening of the sun at Port-Au-Prince, these children could barely seat still for the impatience was felt by them as well. That morning before I left for work my prayers were that God use my talents and the love that I have for people shine through the way that I would help these people; the connection between the sponsor and the teenage girl. Lights of happiness with a small dose of nervousness were present but as soon as I took my place in the bus, they all vanished.

 Despite my shy features heavenly said from people, I didn't take a long time to get out my gear to photograph and meditate along the way. It was wonderful to get away from the noisy hustle of Port-Au-Prince even for a day and get lost in the surprises that the streets reserved for my eyes. As soon as we were approaching our location; The Hotel Xaragua, the mild agitated waves, the white sand beach were definitely giving us a treat from our far away window on the bus...For the rest of the posts I'll just let you take part in the pictures as well.

I had super long and heavy brown braids this summer so in this shot abovI had super long and heavy brown braids this summer so in this shot above, I seriously felt like running like Pocahontas who sang "The rainstorm and the river are my brothers, the heron and the otter are my friends" in the color of the wind.




















We were all working and playing hard as well.

It's All Love

Sophie :)