October 25, 2016 - 21:42
When I think of a garden, I think of an enclosed area, with various plants and/or fruits and vegetables. Never had I imagined the garden(s) that I saw today. Together, with my E-Sem class, and our neighboring class I was able to take a trip into North Philadelphia and explore different gardens run by a non profit organization dedicated to promoting the history and culture of the African Diaspera. I have never been one with nature, in fact I am the type of person who simply enjoys looking at nature and admiring it from a distance, but today stnading in the gardens and being surrounded by what I call, "alive culture" changed me. I gave it this name becuase I felt something as i was in each garden. The feelings of what the gardens represented engulfed me. I noticed that in each of the gardens that we visitied there were things present that you would not think would be in a garden, and I was shocked to have not found any scarecrows, as seen on television, but I learned that these gardens were more than a figment of what is represented on T.V. Actually I have never seem a garden on televison captured the way we captured the gardens today. These gardens were more than just there leaves, they are safehavens. They are symbols. In each garden there were unique things that separated them, for example, the First garden called, el Pate, had a hut, with carved drawings in the roof. The second garden named, La Paz had poles that and brid houses with writing on them to symbolize the garden as being a center of peace. We also visited a garden called, La Parsellas, which had a house with antiques inside, but this garden was also open to the community and we were able to see the other things people in the community had planted and grown; Last the final garden we visited was called Villa Africana Colobo. This to me was the most beautiful, because in the garden there were tipis, or homes that had been furnished to model the homes that people live in, in their home towns and countries. The gardens, though different, shared common traits amongst one another, like beautiful murals, and stones that all shared meaning, t the Puerto Rican, and Afrian commuity. It was also interesting to learn that, while the Gardens were made to bind the members of the African Diaspera, the gardens, also serve a dual role in trying to combat racial disputes, drugs trafficking, and theft in the surrounding neighborhoods. I will never look at a garden the same, because you never knwo what type of impact some like a garden could do, not just for you, but for the community. I was very grateful to have gone on this trip and being able to take part in learning about a place that represents cultural identity.