For the best experience using our website, we recommend upgrading your browser to a newer version or switching to a supported browser. More Information. If each city is like a game of chess, the day when I have learned the rules, I shall finally possess my empire, even if I shall never succeed in knowing all the cities it contains. Amman is a city of overlapping contrasts. The day my grandfather died, January 4, He died on a frigid winter morning, a thick fog swallowing up the city.
The decades-old apricot tree in his backyard, prolific companion of childhood summers, collapsed. Participating in the rituals of mourning claimed me for the city. What is the most extraordinary detail, one that goes unnoticed by most, of the city?
Modern-day Amman is built on seven hills each of which is known as a jabal. Fortunately or unfortunately, Jabal Elweibdeh is experiencing a growth in popularity among young people and visitors, and many of its beautiful old homes are now coffee shops and art spaces. What may be unnoticed by visitors and by entrepreneurial locals is the rich artistic and literary heritage of the Jabal. Some stories say that Elweibdeh gets its name from a wildflower that grew only on this hill before it was urbanized.
In my lifetime, Elweibdeh is known for its jasmine, the vines spilling over garden walls and perfuming the streets named after Arab poets. Very few Jordanian poets are translated. Among those whose books are available in English, I admire the work of poet Amjad Nasser. I love Darat Al Funun the House of Arts , a gallery and art space comprised of six old homes and warehouses originally built by Jordanian, Syrian, Lebanese, and Palestinian families.
Each of the structures has a story, and they are braided into the consistently compelling exhibits that are curated in these reclaimed spaces. The garden, with its spare courtyard and fountain and beautiful trees, where you can sip coffee or mint lemonade, is my favorite place to write in the city. There is a bookseller, Hassan Abu Ali, who owns a little kiosk in the heart of the old city.
