Maadi is a subdivison of Cairo....it's about 20 kilometers away from Cairo proper...where all the bad stuff happens when the people here really get pissed off. Out in Maadi though there was never a problem for the four months I was there.
We referred to this area as the Road 9 ``Cluster Fuck``. This is where street 87 meets road 9....about two minutes walk from Kim's flat. All around this intersection are little shops....you can get everything you want here...groceries...hair cut...clothes cleaned things repaired...there's a "sheesha" where guys come to drink tea and smoke hookas filled with aromatic tobacco. So it's usually pretty busy with a knot of cars and trucks and busses all trying to get through this intersection that has no traffic light. So it's generally a mess.
But it's the start to road 9.
A typical street view on Road 9 in Maadi....the streets and avenues have a lot of trees and shade. This isn't very busy because the shot was taken late on a Friday afternoon...which is Sunday for the muslims....so a lot of people are at home or at the mosque. The little child in the shot was screaming because she fell off her toy...and her mother wasn't paying attention to her.
Once again....a street shot....this one however is in Hadayek....still Maadi...but a subdivision of a subdivsion. This is a good place to shop for just about everything.
More Maadi Hadayek.
Note the guy in the left middle with a tray. That's tea and coffee and he would have a little shop close by...and will deliver all day.
The Metro stop in Hadayek....they're fixing it and it's a bloody mess!
The school is in the upper class area of Maadi where a lot of westerners live.
There's one of these little convenience Kiosks on just about every corner....there are a probably a million of them in the city.
That's Kim in the middle of the frame....she's heading out to school at about seven in the morning...I took the picture from the apartment window. A little to the left is Ahkmed or "Boab" our doorman. Part of his job is to wash the dust off the apartment building owner's truck every morning. Kim takes a cab to work ...about 75 cents....but swears she walks home...it's a brisk 15 minute walk to the school.
An old abandoned building along road 9 in Maadi.
Fifty five....the number of the buidling along road 9 in Maadi...as well it's the name of the restaurant.....it's one of only two restaurants in this part of town where you can get a drink. The drinking part and the muslim part of the eatery are segregated.
These are the guys who work at the bread bakery....there's a little enclave of shops at the beginning of road 9 where you get everything you need. The bread is called "baladi" and it's very cheap...but good ...especially when you get it warm and eat it with "romi" which is the local sharp tasting cheese...that and some local olives which are also dirt cheap and bottle of "Stella" beer....and you've got it made!
This is the outside of the general store that's about a 2 minute walk from the apartment....and beside the little bread shop...obviously you can get fruit and veggies here..plus meat fish chicken cheese pots pans soap shampoo...you really don't need to go anywhere else. They all know me around here pretty well....I'm down every day getting something.
The inside of the little store...there are three long rooms like this in the shape of "U".
You can see why I say it has everything!
Amir or "Prince" in English. He runs the deli in the little store...that's a half kilo of "romi" cheese he's holding up....that would cost a little more than three dollars. I was in there so much we got to know each other pretty well.
"Lucille's"...a popular and pretty famous restaurant along road 9...alas you can't get a drink in here...and I never graced it with my presence.
Not a very good shot I know...but the place with yellow windows in called "Drinkies" it's a booze shop....they'll also deliver anything you want right to your door. A case of twenty four beers would be about 14 dollars...it's petty good beer too!
My barber shop in the little commercial enclave at the beginning of road 9.
You guessed it...my barber ..Eslam.
Another Phillipina cleaning lady
doing our neighbors apartment....I had a quick chat with her that day about nothing in general.
This is the empty lot at the side in Kim's flat.....there's an abandoned building on it. The owner is apparently in prison....but I`m not sure how good that infomation is. But it WAS home to two families of dogs....seven or eight in all. They made a hell of a racket every night as they defended their terrirtory from all comers. Someone from the apartment building complained....and all but two of the dogs disappeared....thank Christ for that.
Note the green fence at the back of the lot.
A view from to left of the vacant lot from Kim`s flat. In the middle is Mosque and it`s minaret.
You can imagine how loud that is whem the Mullah is calling the flock to prayer...about seven times every friggin``day!
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