Closed curtains, veiled balconies

When I am looking outside the window, I see a lot of balconies hiding behind curtains.
It looks a bit as if the house has been covered, veiled, like in a safe cover, that nothing of its private life can reach outside. But it also seems like the house and its inhabitants can’t breathe, as no sunshine and no fresh air can’t get into the rooms behind the curtains.
The balconies here are (no longer ?) a semi-public space, where you are on you own and at the same time reachable for the gaze of the others, the neighbours and those woh are passing by. It is transformed to a closed private space. This allows privacy on the balcony, especiall in Beirut where the buildings are very close to each other.
When I am sitting on my balcony I feel a bit alone, as they are nearly no other balconies with open curtains like mine – I need the light to come in! – or when they are open, nobody is using them.

ps: picture follows, uploading doesn't work today...