It's no secret...the economy officially sucks! After spending 15 years in the Interior Design industry, here I am unemployed for the second time in less than a year (along with about 10% of America) and wondering, "What the heck am I gonna do? Why did this happen to me and not the schmuck who doesn't give a rat's ass about their job? How in the world am I going to support my son? Why, Why, Why...???" into an oblivion until I realized I need to suck it up and play the cards I've been dealt. It is what it is and there's no use crying about it. Besides, I've never been one for feeling sorry for myself anyway, I just needed to get over the initial shock I guess. I've decided to make the most of my free time and make do, as in, make some serious lifestyle changes and work on getting inspired and reinventing myself.
So, during my endless hours of free time I became what many of us thirty-somethings are: addicted to Crackbook...oops, I mean Facebook. I mean seriously people...what's the deal? For the longest time I refused to jump on the band wagon of the social networking scene. ("It's nothing but unemployed hermit losers who have nothing else to do with their time and don't like meeting people in public anymore!")...oh wait...
And, yet, here I am, on the website like white on rice. After my initial affront to Facebook, I have come to embrace it and all its glory. Why? Because despite a longtime yearning to keep in contact with my vast quantities of friends and family worldwide, I have never been much of a phone-talker or letter-writer, or even an email-sender. (Remember that hermit thing I mentioned earlier?). I dunno...it's just a thing. But, just-a-thing no longer, thanks to Facebook!
I have been able to reach out to sooooo many of my "peeps" without having to physically talk to anyone, and know what goes on in their lives on a daily basis...I LOVE IT!!!!
Now, I must declare that I am NOT an "Internet whore"...in other words, I do not accept friend requests or invites from anyone I do not personally know UNLESS they are friends of friends/family and/or we have several friends in common. As a result, this has assisted in bringing me out of my hermit shell and I have truly "met" some cool people over the past few months. MOST of my Facebook contacts are friends and family in Haiti, where my dad's family is from. Many are in Miami, and then sprinkled in various locations throughout the US and the globe.
I just type in random stuff about me and I read random stuff about them and I don't have to run up the phone bill...it's fantastic! For the most part I maintain my profile for entertainment purposes only, not for serious business networking (I used LinkedIn for that) so I had no real expectations about finding anything business-y. However...
One day about a month ago, I received a message on Facebook from someone inquiring about my work history. Being cautious not to divulge too much info to someone who didn't even have a profile picture posted (suspicious in the social networking world), I gave the basics...just enough to taste! Next thing I know, I am having a phone interview with the head of an organization in Haiti (details to come in later posts...Sssshhhh! It's Top Secret!), and it went surprisingly well! Apparently, they have no one in the whole entire country who has my type of experience...and, boy, do they need it! This is my chance at helping to make a difference in Haiti! A GOLDEN opportunity!
For those who are unfamiliar with the country, it is located smack in the middle of the Caribbean, (off the southern coast of Florida for those of you who flunked geography) on the island of Hispanola. It shares the island with the Dominican Republic. Haiti also happens to be the first freed black republic...and the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Over the past 200 years, Haiti has struggled with creating its own identity, and government, being self-sufficient, and rising from the ashes of a tumultuous past of slavery and independence from invading countries such as Spain, France and the good ol' U.S. of A. It's been a long, ugly, blooody, violent, corrupt (stop me at any time) road and yet there is NOTHING like the spirit and resiliency of the people there! Hands down! Amen!
I think my first trip there was when I was about 6 months old. I used to go with my family every year for Carnaval (The original Mardi Gras!) and have spent the summers there as a teenager and into my 20's to visit my grandmother. I used to be scared to death of the place when I was little (a fancy old lady in a big scary house on top of a hill overlooking the city of Port-Au-Prince with mean looking cooks and house maids and head-hunting bats at night)...and Mom and Dad used to leave me and my brother in this Haunted Mansion at night while they partied it up in the city. WTF?!?! But as I got older, I learned to love it and appreciate it so much more. Soon, I was old enough to socialize with my plethora of cousins and do fun things like go to parties, go horseback riding, hike to the waterfalls, spend a day at the beach, go shopping in the boutiques, lay out by the pool and hit the club scene at night. Haiti is PARADISE!
And the best part is...no one knows about it. No one wants to know about it because everyone in the States has a nasty tendency of being brainwashed by the one sided news reports provided by our own blessed media. "It's too violent", "There's too much poverty", "It looks dirty", "Why the hell would you ever go there?!?!" are just a few of the comments I get on a regular basis. But I get it...really.
Haiti has never been given a chance because of its small size and, yes, there is a higher-than-normal concentration of violence and poverty there, but there is also many hidden gems there that no one is EVER exposed to nearly enough. All the colorful people, artwork, craftsmanship, Kompa and Zouk music, parties, crystal-clear-80-degree-snorkel-friendly beaches, old pirate stomping grounds (did you know the island of Tortuga is just off the northern coast?), ancient fortresses of ages past...in short, it's the Good Life! And it's all mine! (Que evil, maniacal laugh): Muuuaaahahahahahaha...
Shamefully, it's been 11 years since I have been to Haiti. 11 years too damn long. I was last there for the funeral of my beloved grandmother, Mamie, (now one of my personal heroes...what a woman!!!). It was almost as if Haiti ceased to exist with the passing of La Reine Mere (The Queen Mother as she was sometimes affectionately known). I had just become a mother to my son, Dominic, and so my new life in the States took me away from Haiti...for a while.
Now, I have this job barreling at me at a hundred miles per hour...and I can't even BEGIN to tell you the sheer excitement that's welling up inside me. I finally have a job, I'm no longer unemployed (WOOHOO); I finally get to go back to Haiti...I can eat all the Griot and sugar cane I want; warm tropical weather ALL year round (California is too cold for me! HMPH!); Cool, chic, tropical clothing to compliment said weather; dancing the night away allll the time; La Vie Douce (the sweet life); and I can possibly be there for good!... (screeeeech!!!) OH CRAP! I gotta MOVE?!?!
I haven't moved since Dominic was knee-high to a grasshopper. I have become so established in my parent's house I am like an ancient fossil that has embedded itself and become quite comfortable in its permanent home called a rock...it ain't ever leavin'. But wait, I'm leaving (and it's about damn time!)
All of sudden, not only am I faced with giddy excitement, I'm also facing pure panic! What about Dominic...what's his dad gonna say? What do I take? What stays? What school? What car? How much? Where will we live?...What, What, What???
Ugh! I need a cocktail!
So, during my endless hours of free time I became what many of us thirty-somethings are: addicted to Crackbook...oops, I mean Facebook. I mean seriously people...what's the deal? For the longest time I refused to jump on the band wagon of the social networking scene. ("It's nothing but unemployed hermit losers who have nothing else to do with their time and don't like meeting people in public anymore!")...oh wait...
And, yet, here I am, on the website like white on rice. After my initial affront to Facebook, I have come to embrace it and all its glory. Why? Because despite a longtime yearning to keep in contact with my vast quantities of friends and family worldwide, I have never been much of a phone-talker or letter-writer, or even an email-sender. (Remember that hermit thing I mentioned earlier?). I dunno...it's just a thing. But, just-a-thing no longer, thanks to Facebook!
I have been able to reach out to sooooo many of my "peeps" without having to physically talk to anyone, and know what goes on in their lives on a daily basis...I LOVE IT!!!!
Now, I must declare that I am NOT an "Internet whore"...in other words, I do not accept friend requests or invites from anyone I do not personally know UNLESS they are friends of friends/family and/or we have several friends in common. As a result, this has assisted in bringing me out of my hermit shell and I have truly "met" some cool people over the past few months. MOST of my Facebook contacts are friends and family in Haiti, where my dad's family is from. Many are in Miami, and then sprinkled in various locations throughout the US and the globe.
I just type in random stuff about me and I read random stuff about them and I don't have to run up the phone bill...it's fantastic! For the most part I maintain my profile for entertainment purposes only, not for serious business networking (I used LinkedIn for that) so I had no real expectations about finding anything business-y. However...
One day about a month ago, I received a message on Facebook from someone inquiring about my work history. Being cautious not to divulge too much info to someone who didn't even have a profile picture posted (suspicious in the social networking world), I gave the basics...just enough to taste! Next thing I know, I am having a phone interview with the head of an organization in Haiti (details to come in later posts...Sssshhhh! It's Top Secret!), and it went surprisingly well! Apparently, they have no one in the whole entire country who has my type of experience...and, boy, do they need it! This is my chance at helping to make a difference in Haiti! A GOLDEN opportunity!
For those who are unfamiliar with the country, it is located smack in the middle of the Caribbean, (off the southern coast of Florida for those of you who flunked geography) on the island of Hispanola. It shares the island with the Dominican Republic. Haiti also happens to be the first freed black republic...and the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Over the past 200 years, Haiti has struggled with creating its own identity, and government, being self-sufficient, and rising from the ashes of a tumultuous past of slavery and independence from invading countries such as Spain, France and the good ol' U.S. of A. It's been a long, ugly, blooody, violent, corrupt (stop me at any time) road and yet there is NOTHING like the spirit and resiliency of the people there! Hands down! Amen!
I think my first trip there was when I was about 6 months old. I used to go with my family every year for Carnaval (The original Mardi Gras!) and have spent the summers there as a teenager and into my 20's to visit my grandmother. I used to be scared to death of the place when I was little (a fancy old lady in a big scary house on top of a hill overlooking the city of Port-Au-Prince with mean looking cooks and house maids and head-hunting bats at night)...and Mom and Dad used to leave me and my brother in this Haunted Mansion at night while they partied it up in the city. WTF?!?! But as I got older, I learned to love it and appreciate it so much more. Soon, I was old enough to socialize with my plethora of cousins and do fun things like go to parties, go horseback riding, hike to the waterfalls, spend a day at the beach, go shopping in the boutiques, lay out by the pool and hit the club scene at night. Haiti is PARADISE!
And the best part is...no one knows about it. No one wants to know about it because everyone in the States has a nasty tendency of being brainwashed by the one sided news reports provided by our own blessed media. "It's too violent", "There's too much poverty", "It looks dirty", "Why the hell would you ever go there?!?!" are just a few of the comments I get on a regular basis. But I get it...really.
Haiti has never been given a chance because of its small size and, yes, there is a higher-than-normal concentration of violence and poverty there, but there is also many hidden gems there that no one is EVER exposed to nearly enough. All the colorful people, artwork, craftsmanship, Kompa and Zouk music, parties, crystal-clear-80-degree-snorkel-friendly beaches, old pirate stomping grounds (did you know the island of Tortuga is just off the northern coast?), ancient fortresses of ages past...in short, it's the Good Life! And it's all mine! (Que evil, maniacal laugh): Muuuaaahahahahahaha...
Shamefully, it's been 11 years since I have been to Haiti. 11 years too damn long. I was last there for the funeral of my beloved grandmother, Mamie, (now one of my personal heroes...what a woman!!!). It was almost as if Haiti ceased to exist with the passing of La Reine Mere (The Queen Mother as she was sometimes affectionately known). I had just become a mother to my son, Dominic, and so my new life in the States took me away from Haiti...for a while.
Now, I have this job barreling at me at a hundred miles per hour...and I can't even BEGIN to tell you the sheer excitement that's welling up inside me. I finally have a job, I'm no longer unemployed (WOOHOO); I finally get to go back to Haiti...I can eat all the Griot and sugar cane I want; warm tropical weather ALL year round (California is too cold for me! HMPH!); Cool, chic, tropical clothing to compliment said weather; dancing the night away allll the time; La Vie Douce (the sweet life); and I can possibly be there for good!... (screeeeech!!!) OH CRAP! I gotta MOVE?!?!
I haven't moved since Dominic was knee-high to a grasshopper. I have become so established in my parent's house I am like an ancient fossil that has embedded itself and become quite comfortable in its permanent home called a rock...it ain't ever leavin'. But wait, I'm leaving (and it's about damn time!)
All of sudden, not only am I faced with giddy excitement, I'm also facing pure panic! What about Dominic...what's his dad gonna say? What do I take? What stays? What school? What car? How much? Where will we live?...What, What, What???
Ugh! I need a cocktail!
