Goodnight, Moon.

Ahh, the beautiful Haitian nights. I had the sweet spot-the roof of the American quad. I would lay back, look at the millions of stars covering the sky, each and every one beautifully shining, adding a little light to my life and everyone who saw them. The people of Haiti are like these stars. To the outsiders, there seems to be so much "darkness" in Haiti. The poverty, the disease, the death rate, until you go there and see for yourself. Despite all of the things that give Haitians every reason to be miserable human beings, that doesn't stop them from shining. Each and every person I came across was shining. Adding just a little more light to my life. A little more love. Filling my heart with joy, spreading the most genuine grin across my face. I still think about the people I met and realize minutes later that I had a silly grin on my face the entire time. Amusing to my classmates and the passerby I'm sure.
My favorite nights on the roof were when I had my close friends Annie, Riley and Katie by my side. Each with a towel and a little lantern. Riley with his guitar playing feel-good music, the rest of us singing along. The random goat or cow call.
The nights we gave the songs a rest, the most beautiful songs were heard. The songs of children playing and laughing into the night. The sun may have gone down, but the playfulness and spirits of the children sure didn't. The sound of these children laughing is infectious. You couldn't help but smile, or laugh along even being clueless as to why they were laughing.
Sunday nights (out of all nights) the club outside the orphanage would rage all night. The sound of foghorns into the wee hours of Monday morning were the least favorite sounds. But still beautiful, because it reminded you that everyone celebrates life. They are happy and energetic. They dance all night long. They are so emotionally fulfilled that they just want to dance. Every Sunday. All night long.On the same schedule as the stars.