From the Roman street, to the Life street and the Intersections in Between

If you could take a a photo from a birds' eye view of Maharah Bey, it would be the closest thing to an actual representation of Egypt. And let me be more specific; Maharam Bey is the district in which my grandparents' home is located. And like I've mentioned before, it is one of the oldest and continually inhabited areas of Alexandria. It's a very cultural place and even the people in it are extremely fond and glad to be from there. The Roman street is the street perpendicular to Othman Jalal, and on that street alone is two mosques, a mechanic, and several useless stores shops that the average Egyptian uses to make a living; even if it means that the standards of his life is poor, it's still better than nothing. Now, the intersection at which the Roman street and Othman Jalal cross is probably one of the most hyped up places in the district; and that's only because of the youth that inhabit it. Soccer games are held until two in the morning, fights during or after the game, and several car accidents that occur because of the terrible city planning; with a particular focus on that district alone.

Now, if walk along Othman Jalal, in the opposite direction of the Roman street, you'll run into a very rundown street called Al-Hayati (Life). And I honestly have to admit that I try to avoid this street as much as possible only because of the stories that I heard about it. Some stories say that it's a possessed street, some say that the greasiest people live there, and some take both of that and combine them together to produce one bizarre story. I only pass through that street if I have to use it as a shortcut to get to another place. Even the youth that hang out around there are all much more dangerous and bad. Just flat out bad. The intersection of Life Street and Othman Jalal is inhabited by a completely different crowd of kids (by now you know that Life street and Roman street are parallel and are connected by Othman Jalal which is perpendicular to both). The kids there are very corrupt and their daily lives is just filled with juvenile activities. Many of the young adults over there have been in numerous fights and there's not one of them that doesn't carry some sort of weapon. And I have to admit that some of the fights that I've heard about that occur over there are truly frightening.

This year made me think a lot about how I have so many friends that live on Othman Jalal and Roman Street, and how I have none on Life street. Even the kids who actually live on Othman Jalal claim that they don't even know anything about the kids over there other than that they love making problems. It's very hard to believe how two streets so very close are inhabited by people that are so different.