A Few Words About Grapes
The landscape of Amman is striking. While the buildings are all a sandy white that melds with the land itself, there is also a distinct, albeit sparse, variety of plant life. Without a doubt the most beautiful of them (at least to me) are the grapes and grapevines.
The only place I’ve ever seen grapevines are at wineries, but here they thrive as a useful and beautiful commodity. They are not only for decoration. The vines have been carefully led to grow into a canopy over parking spaces to protect cars from the sun or to provide shade on decks and porches. There are green and red grapes, hanging down in full bunches, and as they have become ripe people are placing bags on them for what I assume is protection and gathering.
Other common plants include little trees planted all along the sidewalks that I believe to be olive trees and a strange sort of palm tree (but shorter and thicker). None of these grow naturally and any greenery at all has been planted and is watered by hand on a daily basis. Which makes me a little uncomfortable because it seems like an awful lot of water to be using in a country with such a serious water deficiency. Of course this daily water usage pales in comparison to those living in Abdoun, where I had the experience of visiting for the first time last weekend. Abdoun is a new and developing part of the city near the American Embassy, distinctly upscale with new mansions and villas being built at a rapid rate. There, for the first time since I arrived in Jordan, I saw grass, actual lush green grounds dripping with plant life, almost to an entangled state. Isolated patches of almost jungle-like greenery behind huge metal gates and surrounded by dusty construction sites and white stone. It all looks very out of place and turned my stomach. The amount of water it must take to maintain grounds like that! Imagine what could be done with that much water (or money)! I hate to say it but I guess the exorbitantly rich are the same in all parts of the world. Why? I want to know why. Why can’t everyone feel responsible for the planet? Why don’t people care? Do they think they’re immune? Do they really only worry about their own isolated lives and not care about anyone else or what the future may hold as a result of their apathy? Is there a way to change this indifference (or at least make sure it isn’t passed on to their children?)
The only place I’ve ever seen grapevines are at wineries, but here they thrive as a useful and beautiful commodity. They are not only for decoration. The vines have been carefully led to grow into a canopy over parking spaces to protect cars from the sun or to provide shade on decks and porches. There are green and red grapes, hanging down in full bunches, and as they have become ripe people are placing bags on them for what I assume is protection and gathering.
Other common plants include little trees planted all along the sidewalks that I believe to be olive trees and a strange sort of palm tree (but shorter and thicker). None of these grow naturally and any greenery at all has been planted and is watered by hand on a daily basis. Which makes me a little uncomfortable because it seems like an awful lot of water to be using in a country with such a serious water deficiency. Of course this daily water usage pales in comparison to those living in Abdoun, where I had the experience of visiting for the first time last weekend. Abdoun is a new and developing part of the city near the American Embassy, distinctly upscale with new mansions and villas being built at a rapid rate. There, for the first time since I arrived in Jordan, I saw grass, actual lush green grounds dripping with plant life, almost to an entangled state. Isolated patches of almost jungle-like greenery behind huge metal gates and surrounded by dusty construction sites and white stone. It all looks very out of place and turned my stomach. The amount of water it must take to maintain grounds like that! Imagine what could be done with that much water (or money)! I hate to say it but I guess the exorbitantly rich are the same in all parts of the world. Why? I want to know why. Why can’t everyone feel responsible for the planet? Why don’t people care? Do they think they’re immune? Do they really only worry about their own isolated lives and not care about anyone else or what the future may hold as a result of their apathy? Is there a way to change this indifference (or at least make sure it isn’t passed on to their children?)
posted by prairie at
6:43 PM
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