The Neighborhood: Maadi Album, pt. 3

August 3, 2006

The big draw for Maadi is not its stores, but its green quiet streets. The houses can be hard to spot.. almost universally they are guarded from direct views by trees and shrubs. Privacy is important, and people seem to guard against any kind of view of what is going on inside. Many of the houses are well kept up, and one can imagine a diplomat or wealthy businessman living inside.. others were obviously once beautiful, but have fallen into decay (those are my favorites).

Some streets are off limits.. reminding me of nothing more than exclusive neighborhoods in Los Angeles. You can generally bet that an American diplomat or its equivalent lives in these kinds of protected areas. They are off-limits not only to cars but to pedestrians like myself.