Pondering

These are some of my initial thoughts on Ouarzazate. I was wondering, when I got here, if I might be disappointed in that my memories might be coloured with the magic of my first visit in 2001. No, I love this city. The architecture is so unique. The name Ouarzazate means without noise and it sure is true. The people do not drive and honk their horns as in other places. I don't think I have even heard a horn. The people even seem to speak quietly, seriously. The city is spotlessly clean and has won the award for cleanest city in Morocco for three years. There are NO plastic bags littering the area and no aroma of burning garbage. All houses are painted the same colour. It is not boring, but instead lends a sense of continuity to the whole city. There is a calm aura here. Even Sunday night in the main square there were quite a few people, but a sense of calm and peace prevailed. It is true that there is not much to entertain oneself with here. If you need a lot of activity, this is not the place for you. As an aside, Bill Clinton has a home here. Wonder what he does to entertain himself??? There isn't even a cinema which is kind of odd since this is the second Hollywood. The Atlas Studios are located here and many big box office films have been made here. I think this may be an ideal spot for a writer. There is very little distracting stimuli I know that exploring my personal self comes easily here. There is just something special in Ozte, at least for me. I have only been here five days and my feelings and opinions are bound to develop/change over the next weeks and will post.