After three weeks, some local residents have started to have enough with Islamist supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi who camped out near a Cairo mosque in their neighbourhood to demand he be restored to office.
Residents are complaining that the sit-in camp is blocking the roads leading to their homes, garbage has piled up on side streets and parks have been trashed.
At the same time, the complaints have been sucked into Egypt's bitter polarization over the military's removal of Morsi on July 3.
Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, in turn, has sought to show it has the backing of its neighbours, announcing that residents have been bringing the camping protesters sweets and food.
Now they have settled in for a seemingly permanent presence on the edge of the eastern Cairo district of Nasr City. At least a thousand people camp there in tents overnight and crowds swell at times to tens of thousands for evening rallies.
Constant noise from fireworks and the speeches is one big issue for the residents. Another is the tone of some of the speeches, with hard-liners denouncing their opponents.
"On their stage, Christians are constantly being threatened and insulted; this is scaring us," said Ashraf, who is Christian.
Protesting residents issued a statement with a list of demands and gave Morsi supporters until Saturday night to carry them out. Among the demands, move the stage, clear side streets, stop using fireworks, turn speakers off, clean the area regularly and make sure no one has weapons in their crowds.
"We've been trapped here for three weeks; my parents don't allow me out except to the supermarket under my house," Ebtihal Hazem, a 21-year-old business student, said over the telephone from her nearby home.
Residents also complain that other nearby mosques are being used by protesters for shelter, sleeping and showering. It's a usual scene to see them in pajamas with towels on their shoulders," said Karim Hazem, a 21-year-old resident.
Looming over the situation is the fear of violence. More than 50 Morsi supporters were killed by troops last week amid clashes at another sit-in not far away. Other sites have seen violence between protesters and police or local residents.
