The Palace at San Souci

A short walk from the compound is the Palace at San Souci which stands in ruins, a mere shadow of its previous glory.  Henri Christophe built San Souci in the 17th century to mirror Versailles, but an earthquake in 1842 left the palace in ruins.  After centuries, children play soccer on the vast fields and high school students litter the steps as though the invisible walls form a library.


I ventured up to the ruins with a friend after work one day and we were bombarded with locals wanting us "blancs" to buy their goods at one of the few tourist attractions in Haiti.  We ignored them and walked toward the palace gates, but somehow my friend was a few paces behind me and a local closed the iron gate behind me, trapping her on the outside.  I turned and realized what had happened.  They wanted to exploit whatever money they could from the blancs.  After the last couple of days I had been through at the hospital, I was emotionally fatigued from our work and this gesture enraged me.



As a side note, I "speak" French.  The quotations indicate that I'm coherent and can compose an intelligible thought, but I'm always aware of my grammar mistakes and vocabulary deficits.


I calmly walked back to the gate where my friend was standing and in perfect French had a dialogue with a tradesman:
What's going on?
You have to pay $5 each to see the palace.
I know you don't have to pay to see the palace.  And we don't have any money.  We work at the hospital in Milot for the sick children.  Please let her pass, sir... (He frowns and the gate opens).  Thank you.


My friend's jaw dropped open once we passed.  What did you say?!  I wasn't even sure I knew what I had said.  But the adrenaline of being indignant at our exploitation when we were working so hard was enough to inspire fluent French.  We stayed at the palace until the sun got close to the mountains and headed back for the town.