I took this picture about a week ago, didn’t know what to do with it. It did not fit with my collections of Beirut doors and windows, but it was too nice to throw away.
It’s very typical of the culture here though, I though, as I parked under this ‘filled-up hole’ again this morning. This is Lebanon. We never really fix things permanently in this place. We rather patch up, fill up holes.
From a distance it looks like a uniform wall, but a closer look reveals holes. Holes from the civil war, patched up, painted over. Holes from remainders of former constructions, now long gone. Bits and pieces of projects that were started but never finished. And that’s us. We are a society full of holes. And instead of breaking down the wall and rebuilding it all new, we prefer to plug the holes. Patch it up, paint it over.
And now I can post the pictures. And this is as philosophical as I will ever get. Enough of it already.
It’s very typical of the culture here though, I though, as I parked under this ‘filled-up hole’ again this morning. This is Lebanon. We never really fix things permanently in this place. We rather patch up, fill up holes.From a distance it looks like a uniform wall, but a closer look reveals holes. Holes from the civil war, patched up, painted over. Holes from remainders of former constructions, now long gone. Bits and pieces of projects that were started but never finished. And that’s us. We are a society full of holes. And instead of breaking down the wall and rebuilding it all new, we prefer to plug the holes. Patch it up, paint it over.
And now I can post the pictures. And this is as philosophical as I will ever get. Enough of it already.
4 comments:
yes..
true.
but also,
when ulysses comes back home in the odyssey,
his bag is full of holes.
Good observation, it's always amazing to see the ugliness of the outside of houses in Lebanon while inside the homes are usually very well maintained. Tourists who come here for only a 1-day trip from the usual Syria/Jordan combo, must think that the Lebanese are dirty people, yet the opposite is true.
A bit like Belgium, everything temporary, nothing looks like it was built to last.
nice post. thanks.
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