Musings

Catching up last week on my dear friend Anna’s blog, I ran across this quote: “It never made sense to me why sunsets are considered the acme of romantic scenery.” For some reason this caught my attention, and on the way home from Aleg that evening, teeth jangling in my head and hot wind whipping though my head scarf, I watched a fairly standard sunset and ruminated on this question.

So what is “romantic”, anyway? My first inclination is to dismiss sunsets as just another run-of-mill trapping of harliquinesque mushiness. Why? Because, like roses, chocolates, and manly yet tender guys with extremely white teeth, they’re pretty in a very obvious sort of way, and entirely lacking in subtlety. Like other ingredients of modern romance, I’m afraid sunsets strike me as rather bourgeoisie.

To put it a bit more kindly, sunsets have a kind of universal appeal. I think one sort of romance comes from a moment of shared beauty. These moments aren’t always easy to find: the bit of Mozart that thrills my soul may very well put my potential partner in romance to sleep, and the philosophic work of genius that inspires him may look to me like so much jibber-jabber. Even the landscape isn’t universal- perhaps one of us longs for the sight of water while the other feels more keenly the beauty of an empty desert. But everybody likes a sunset, right? Nobody’s going to deny that the shining orange-gold clouds and the pink sky are pretty nifty. Sunsets go nicely with the ocean, the desert, and everything in between, are easily set to any sort of music you like, and are spectacular whether you’re a materialist or a mystic. Maybe that’s why they’ve come into use as a standard romantic set piece.

Of course, the word romantic has another, very different meaning – the Romantic period in literature and art. Are sunsets Romantic? The Romantics were certainly big on beauty in nature and the sublime, and sunsets are definitely both. However, the romantics were a bit on the darker side. They praised beauty “like the night,” were “half in love with easeful death,” and tended more towards deep chasms, ruins, forest shadows, and “faerie-lands forlorn.” The spirit they saw in nature was a rather melancholy one. To be a Romantic is halfway Gothic. Sunsets don’t really fit the picture. There’s nothing subtle and gloomy about that blaze of light in some of nature’s most vivid colors. Though sunsets inspire thoughts of the spiritual, it’s not the haunted, achingly mystic spirit the Romantics saw – it’s a glory and a transcendence. Romantics might find it a bit gaudy.

I think a third definition of “romantic” is in order – not conventional sappiness nor melancholy nature-worship, but a deeper appreciation of the beauty of God’s handiwork combined with a love of the great truths it hints at. Though I’ve called them gaudy, bourgeoisie, and obvious, don’t get the idea I’m anti-sunset. I love watching the sunset every evening; the golden clouds always put me in mind of heaven, which is a good way to end the day. After all, “the heavens are telling the glory of God.”

So, in final summary: Are sunrises...

a. romantic? Yes, but it’s not their fault.
b. Romantic? No, maybe more Baroque
c. Romantic by Beth’s personal definition? Indeed, the very essence.

News from Remote Areas

Aleg is in an uproar! The president of Mauritania is visiting tomorrow, and this place is crawling. There are flags the entire length of the city on the gidron, pennants hanging from buildings, and snazzy cars (at least by Mauritanian standards) arriving by the dozens. It's kind of fun.

I'm in town for a joint birthday party for Julien, one of the Aleg volunteers, and our refugees from Tchad, Greger and Kate. All three have birthdays this month and we're celebrating with fish and mashed potatoes. The new volunteers are really great (for example, Kate's music pick for the evening is Revolver) and they're going to be fun region mates next year after Julien and Nina finish up.

The title of this post comes from my friend Cheikh Ahmed, who says that Maal is no fun because it is a "remote area." He has such an amusing English vocabulary.

Listening to Gretchaninov's Vespers

Why does classical choral music have such an effect on the soul? No matter how much I love other music, it never gives me that particular feeling of expansion in the chest, the straining as if the sublime is waiting just around some corner; as if, when they hit some particular note, heaven will open. Beautiful.


Public service announcement:


New pictures available at the link to your left. Some are from a while ago and I just never had the time to upload them, most are from my most recent vacation. Enjoy!

I'll travel if I succeed!

I have in my possession a single copy of the Mauritanian third year English textbook. As a textbook it’s horrid, frankly, but it makes rather amusing light reading. For full impact, remember that this is for third year students. Even the fifth years are no farther along than “I go to school.” Let’s take a look at what these eerily formal children have to say about a couple of important subjects:


ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION

“Colour T.V is more expensive than blackboard and whiteT.V.”

boy 1: “The programme tonight is rich! It’s up to us to decide what to watch.”
boy 2: “With Biography films one can spend a good time and learn a lot.”

boy 1: “A friend of mine wants to come with me if you don’t mind. I told him you have good music.”
boy 2: “ It will be a pleasure to meet him and listen to my best and favorite hits.”

girl 1: “I could bring some fruit and drinks.”
girl 2: “Well, since you’re insisting, you could, but the purpose is just to meet other people and have fun.”


ACADEMIC SUCCESS

boy: “What will you do Dad, if I pass my final examination?”
man: “If you pass, I’ll take you on a nice holiday.”
boy: “Where are you going to take me?”
man: “Once more, it depends on your results at the end of the school year. If you succeed, you will spend the holidays where you want.”
boy: “You can count on me, Dad. I’ll do my best.”
man: “I’ll be very happy if you succeed.”
boy: “I’ll travel if I succeed. Don’t forget Dad, it’s a promise.”
man: “Don’t worry, son! If you succeed I’ll keep my promise. And you, son, don’t break your promise, that is: you will succeed.”