The Colors of Amman

Any direction you look in Amman, two colors are prominent: green and brown. The homes, the travertine earth, and the wild grasses all contribute to Amman's brown backdrop; shades vary from almost a creamy white to a deep chocolaty orange. The green, mostly from olive and palm tree-lined streets and gardens, is less varied but much more vibrant. In the short time I have been here, I have learned that green is very important to the people of Amman. Though they are small, each house has a meticulously-kept garden and when an Iraqi ex-patriot built a home with no garden in our neighborhood, it was considered an extreme offense.

Yesterday, we experienced another form of green in Jordan at Wild Jordan. Wild Jordan is the only location I've seen in Jordan that prohibits smoking. It is also sustainably designed, the only place that I have noticed promoting recycling, and sells local products. We had lunch at the Wild Jordan Cafe and enjoyed the views of the Old City and the Roman Ruins from the patio.

Today, we experienced a very different shade of brown in Amman. This morning we were greeted with slightly cooler temperatures and strong breezes. It seemed a pleasant reprieve from the previous days' heat until I realized that we were in the midst of a dust storm. The cloud that covered the city was thick and left a film on my skin and hair as I sat outside the neighborhood falafel stop at lunch.

While a little more of the Wild Jordan variety of green and a little less of the dust storm's shade of brown would be nice, as is apparent by the prominence of these colors in the city flag, greens and browns define Amman.