Five years ago, life happened and somehow I ended up living in Maadi. When outsiders from all over Cairo think about the isolated Cairene paradise, they imagine nothing but their dream villas surrounded by majestic and gigantic trees, waking up to birds chirping, an encapsulated fantasy land detached from the ugliness of Cairo and the best nurseries and schools that Egypt has to offer.
As beautiful and tranquil as Maadi can be, it is extremely difficult for outsiders to find peace for all the following reasons — of course, unless you are an expat, Maadi was made for you.
Shopping
There are almost no stores in Maadi other than the small cute boutiques. If you need to buy anything for an emergency wedding or party, you have to go all the way to City Stars in Masr El Gedida or Cairo Festival City Mall in Tagamoa. The vile traffic is enough to ruin the peaceful mood Maadi left you in for days.
Cinemas
Maadi only has Family Cinema and Bandar Mall, which never show big featured movies. So again, you need to face the traffic and leave Maadi.
Road 9
My favorite place in Maadi is none other than the renowned Road 9. But again, it’s anything but a calm experience unless I am there before 11 AM on weekends. It is always crowded, you are always on a waiting list and when a new restaurant opens, we all head there like piranhas and wait in even longer waiting lists, but I have to admit that is the case everywhere in Egypt.
All the streets look the same
It’s a freaking maze. You need to get to Road 221 but you find yourself lost at Road 15 and when you ask for directions, you are told to go to Degla then ask for Road 363. This is the biggest issue with Maadi. I am always lost. For five years, I avoided any street that starts with the number two because I knew I’d never get home. Maadi is endless roundabouts, flower markets and koshks.
None of your outsider friends come visit
If you ask outsiders to meet you anywhere other than Road 9, they’ll find an excuse and not show up. They all fear getting lost in the maze.
Autostrad and the Corniche
There’s no leaving or returning to the safe haven without coming face to face with two of Cairo’s most crowded streets. It makes sense that people hardly ever leave Maadi unless they have to.
Everyone knows each other
There’s always this friend who you ask where he met that person and he says Maadi. What does that even mean? Maadi is huge, how come they’re all friends? Why don’t I know people from Masr ElGedida or Mohandessin? You need the Maadi crowd in your life to walk the walk and talk the talk.
Sugar Spell park no longer exists
I can only imagine how difficult it was for people living around this kids area with the noise and the shisha pollution filling their houses. Yet I have to admit that I was devastated by the news when it was shut down. Hands down one of the best kids areas I’ve been to lately.
However, out of all the places I’ve lived in Cairo, Maadi is the one place that has maintained its identity, spirit and exquisiteness and it will forever be my first choice because you can’t help but fall in love with its imperfections.
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