travelling - Cusco and Sacred Valley

It's not unknown that the main attraction of Peru is the Inca city of Machu Pichu. In order to get there, one has to fly to the Cusco (less than 2 hours flight from Lima), and then from there you can walk for 4 days in the Inca Trail or take an expensive train from small towns located near Cusco.

Intro
Cusco is a small city that has many of the colonial architecture on it, including churches, buildings, and streets that are made of rocks. It is situated at an elevation of ~2900 m above see level, so some people do encounter issues acclimatizing with the thinner air and colder temperature. So it is recommended to spend at least a day taking it easy.

There are a lot of street vendors that want to sell things to tourists, so just be aware of them.

Language
Spanish. Since it is a city with many tourists, one can survive with English.

Transportation
Very small city, so there is no developed bus system, so the best way to get around is to take the taxi or walk around.

Food
No difference with Lima, actually every restaurant seem to serve the same type of food so it became boring.

Safety
Feels safe.

Things to do
Cusco itself has several Inca settlements you can visit within 1-2 days. Also, on your way to Machu Pichu, other Inca settlements can be visited while travelling through the Sacred Valley like Pisac, Ollantaytambo.

If you have time, then taking the Inca Trail for 4 days might be worthwhile, as the scenery from Sacred Valley is quite nice (just make sure to not go on the rainy season). If time is limited, you can consider taking a tour (either group or private), either arranging with agents at the airport or at the hotel or hostel you're staying at.

My friends and I went on a private tour taking us to both Pisac and Ollantaytambo, which were pretty nice Inca settlements to visit (though they do pale in comparison with Machu Pichu, but it is worth the visit).

Insights

On our private tour to the Sacred Valley, the driver was telling us about their tradition to perform a ritual of a symbolically offering to gods of harvest so that they will be blessed with fertile lands and rain, and so on. It is probably very common in small cities that traditions from old native religions are still practiced today.

I find it interesting that the concept of offering something to a god to appease them and gain its favor is kind of a common theme in many religions. You can look at the Greek mythology to look for many examples!

Our faith is similar, that God requires a sacrifice to satisfy His wrath towards sins of mankind. And there is nothing that we can do or offer to appease God. So God Himself provided the sacrifice, Jesus, to die as an act of propitiation so that God's wrath is satisfied and now we receive favor from God. It is just "scandalous" that God Himself did this, and our works are not what save us but by sheer grace from God. This is one of the major characteristics that makes Christianity so distinct and glorious.

traveling - Lima, Peru

I recently came back from a 3 weeks trip to South America. It was a great trip, and I hope to share some of the highlights, practicalities, and insights regarding the places I visited on my next blog spots. I am very thankful to God for the opportunity and ability to be able to go and explore these places.

The first place I visited is Lima.

Intro
Capital city of Peru. Probably the reason why people goes to Peru is to visit places like Machu Pichu and part of the Amazon, but Lima will be the first port of entry. So people are bound to visit Lima. Other than the nicer area (where most tourists stay) called Miraflores, the rest of the city feels like a big town with old buildings and streets.

Language
Spanish. English might be ok on places like museums or parks.

Transportation
Taxi is the main way to get around. There is no "meter" to know how much a taxi will charge you, so you have to bargain the price first before getting in. The bus schedule does not seem accessible on the internet, so not easily used by foreigners.

Food
Ceviche which is a dish with raw seafood and vegetable is pretty good. They also have lots of fried meat like chicken and seafood. Other than that, I did not find it too special.

Safety
It feels safe hanging out on the touristic area (Miraflores).

Things to do
I was there for 2 days, but I feel that 1 day will probably do for me. I would recommend:

• Taking the touristic bus for city tour for 2.5 hours that takes you to some of the government buildings, historical site, and a walk to the monastery of St Francis that has catacombs
• Visit Larco Museum which have pre-Inca civilization stuff

There are also beaches, but the weather is usually cloudy so I did not go. There are also some small Inca settlements but if you are going to Machu Pichu then there is really no need to look at the small stuff.

Insights

While visiting the monastery of St Francis, there is an old library inside with many old books (relics), but unfortunately they are all exposed to sunlight and there is no initiative to attempt to preserve them. My friend was pretty upset about the lack of effort to preserve artifacts of cultural significance. So I explained that Peru is probably more focused on addressing areas that are more important like the economy, education, and other social needs.

Living in Canada is quite comfortable, and it is easy to take for granted the things that are easily accessible to us: good education, safety, health care, good work opportunities, etc. Many people on other countries struggle with getting some of these "basic" stuff. So we have to be really thankful to God for all the "basic" stuff that we already have (like food on the table every day, a roof to stay under) and be mindful for those who don't have it.

the shrewd teams

There has been many surprising results in the World Cup. Big teams like Spain, England, and Italy are out of the competition already in the first round. How is that possible? 

It's true that some of these big teams have a great amount of talent and skills, that it is almost inconceivable that they will lose. But in futbol, there is another big factor that contribute to the outcome, which is the tactical formation (or strategy). In the end, futbol is a team sport and requires the effort of the entire team and not just the talent of a few.

For example:

Chile - Spain

I was not able to watch the entire game, so this article does a great job explaining: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2101884-spain-vs-chile-sampaolis-high-press-high-intensity-gameplan-destroys-la-roja

Basically, Spain is all about short passes and circulating the ball slowly. But Chile did a great job pressuring the midfield, cutting the flow of the Spanish game, and when Chile attack they are fast against the slow Spanish defenders.

Costa Rica - Italy

No one could have foreseen that Costa Rica would have beat Italy. Traditionally, Italy has always relied on their defense, but nowadays this team tries to play with short passes (similar to Spain), guided by its game maker Andrea Pirlo. Costa Rica did a great job by putting pressure almost on the entire field and surrounding Pirlo to disconnect him from the Italian play making. Since there is a big dependency on Pirlo, Italy was not able to generate much opportunities for scoring.

Still, Pirlo managed to generate some really exquisite passes to Balotelli, who unfortunately did not had a good day and missed a couple of key chances. Eventually, Costa Rica found a way to score, and Italy was never able to overcome Costa Rican strategy for the rest of the game.

Iran - Argentina

On a piece of paper, Argentina has tons of talent on the offense, but Iran surprised many of us by being able to hold the score 0-0 for almost the entire game. Only the best player of the world, Lionel Messi, was able to defy the tactical formation from Iran to bring victory to the Albiceleste. 

But what Iran did, deserves the applause of many, as it is a team with many limits (skills and experience). It's true that they put almost 8-9 people on the defensive box, but it is not easy to keep focused and organized throughout the entire game to maintain the lock. They really put much effort onto it, and even they were able to generate some counterattacks that could have resulted on a goal.

But yes, the point is that big teams with big players do not always guarantee a victory. A "weaker" team can achieve victory if they play smarter. So there is room for shrewd teams in futbol.

Luke 16 talks about one interesting parable about the "Shrewd Manager", and I was always confused at the passage because the manager was dishonest and somehow he was commended at the end. I am not planning to do an in-depth study of the parable, but more a concise take home message. 

The manager was not commended because he was dishonest, but that he was shrewd (Luke 16:8). Basically, the manager was in trouble because he was wasting his master's possessions, so he decides to give a discount to those people who owe money to his master. I guess his intention is to come in good terms these debtors, so that in the case that he gets fired, he can find people to help him out. 

The point is that, the manager (in his worldly ways) is thinking on smart ways to secure a better future for himself. So similarly, we as Christians should also be thinking on smart ways to be more effective on the Kingdom work. On a more practical level, this could mean be more creative in bringing the gospel in our conversations with coworkers and classmates. The value (I think) is to be constantly mindful and engaged in the Kingdom affairs and not be complacent about it. There is always more things we can do to show God's message of the gospel to others.

la Argentina

I woke up very excited on Saturday morning to watch Argentina on its match against Iran.

Most people was expecting a very one-sided match since on paper Argentina is an agglomeration of talent, and Iran is fairly limited on its futbol skills.

With the passing of the time, it was clear that Iran was planning all along on defending with all their might, while Argentina takes the ball possession and the initiative to attack. But that was pretty frustrating for an Argentine fan. Iran placed pretty much 8-9 players on the defensive box, and was very organized and focused on blocking any attack from Argentina.

Second half starts, and not much really change, other than Iran actually had a few counters that resulted on chances to score, and that instilled fear because Argentina is known for its vulnerability on defense. When there was 20 min remaining, I just could not help but to stand and watch the match with a great sense of nervousness.

Argentina kept on attacking, crossing, passing, shooting, but it was pretty futile against the well organized defense of Iran.

Iran did a magnificent job, and they were close to get this historical draw, until the couple of minutes on the match when the best player and the captain of the team, Lionel Messi takes a shot from the outside of the box that went through all the defense and was able to beat the goalie. It was extraordinary, spectacular. I did not really have the energy to shout, but I just fell to the coach on relief that Argentina was able to get the 3-points from the match.

In this match, Argentina had to rely on its best player and leader to score. This might work on the short term, but it is clearly an issue on a longer run, as a team cannot just rely on a single player to win all the matches. They definitely need to work on many things if they want to go far in the tournament.

Reminds me of a Dragon Ball Z movie, where Goku says something like "if I don't do it, who will?" Basically, only Goku can save the day, similar to what Messi did.

This reminds me of an important lesson learned in leadership, about mentoring and empowering others. In my experience, I find it easier to do everything myself instead of teaching someone else and encourage them to do it. That will require more time investment, and probably I can do a better job myself. But this will just create a dependency on me in the functionality of the organization (fellowship, small group, etc) and so on the day that I leave, maybe no one else will be equipped to take over.

A brother taught me a while ago, that once we step into a leadership role, my first task is to find a replacement for myself, someone I can mentor.

Hence, the emphasis on leadership is to really not to do everything ourselves, but to encourage, guide, challenge, and equip others to be more effective to the cause that we are fighting for.

matches to pay attention to

The final matches on the group stages are happening on the next 4 days, and there has been many surprises and a great number of goals. These final matches will be intense because it is pretty much "now or never" where teams will be playing with all they got.

In my opinion these are the matches to pay close attention to:

Chile vs. Netherlands:

Both teams already passed to the second round, so the only thing at stake is to end up first in the group, which could be pretty important if they want to avoid to face Brazil on the second round (ideally you want to avoid playing against the host). The beauty of this match is that both teams have an attractive and swift offensive play.

Croatia vs. Mexico:

Whoever wins will pass to the second round, though Mexico can go on with a draw. Croatia seems to possess more talent on the midfield, and have a good striker, but Mexico does have a great goalkeeper and they are very patriotic so they will fight until the last minute.

Italy vs. Uruguay:

Italy can pass with a draw, Uruguay needs the win. Very tight match. Italy has more technically skill, but Uruguay are warrior-like players that will give it all out. It will be intense.

Germany vs. U.S. and Ghana vs Portugal:

The reason why these 2 matches are together, it's because none of the teams are secured to pass, and there is a bunch of dependency, and these are some possible scenarios:

• Germany and US will pass: if they both draw, or if Portugal and Ghana draws
• US will be eliminated if it loses to Germany, and there is a winner in Ghana vs Portugal match, such that the winner ends up having a better goal difference than the US.
• Germany will be eliminated if it loses to US, and there is a winner in Ghana vs Portugal match, such that the winner ends up having a better goal difference than Germany

curse of the champion

It has been one week since the start of the World Cup, and I am definitely feeling its effect as my productivity at work is slightly compromised =P

There has been quite a few surprising scores, especially having the defending champion, Spain, losing its first two matches and been eliminated from the tournament.

Was this really unexpected? Well, not totally, Netherlands got second on last tournament and they have strong individual players in the offense, while Chile has a good set of players that play on important European clubs, so it was not an easy group to begin with.

Was this unprecedented? Nope, Italy was the reigning champion from 2006, and they got eliminated on the first round in 2010. Same occurred with France in 2002.

What are the reasons of the Spanish defeat? Futbolisticamente speaking, Spain have a very talented midfield but they lack the surprisingly factor on the offense, so it is not too hard to predict their game. Also, none of their forwards are on top shape (Villa is getting old, Torres barely scored this season, and Costa is too new on the team). Plus their defense has grown weaker and vulnerable to fast breaks. Another thing to add is the stubbornness to change, even when they needed two goals on the game against Chile, they never considered putting more forwards or consider other options of attack.

Outside of the "futbol aspect", there are factors why a champion has a tough time repeating a success. First, many teams want to beat the champion, so the opposing teams will have extra motivation to play well. Second, the thirst for victory might be absent, since they already experienced the climax of getting the most important title in futbol, it is hard to get that motivation to do it again. Third, it is easy to be complacent and not wanting to improve.

In a sense, this is a bit similar to our spiritual walk. When things go really well, it is easy to have the tendency of wanting to be complacent, and a tendency on relying on God less. As well, the enemy is waiting for opportunities to put us down with lies and deception. Hence it is really important to not lose sight of the precious things of God even when we are doing quite fine.

world cup

So this week, specifically on Thursday, the World Cup 2014 will begin, and it will be a one-month party of the most important futbol tournament of the world. I honestly have not caught up to the excitement due to the busy-ness of life, but yeah, this is one of the most favorite events to watch. So I foresee a lot of "coffee breaks" at work.

This post is just a random "dump" of thoughts about the different teams participating.

Top teams

Germany - well rounded

If there is a team that is reliably good on all its lines (goalkeeper, defense, midfield, offense), it will be Germany. They have the base of one of the best club at the moment (Bayern Munich) that won the UEFA Champion League last year. Plus they have a team hungry for victory, since this generation of German players have not won any international cups with the national team, and now they have acquired a great deal of experience and maturity.

Brazil - double edge

Home team advantage can be a great factor. Being accustomed to the climate and food, and having the support of the fans can potentially make a difference. But the pressure is also great, as there is a extremely high expectations for them to win, so a key point will be whether they can master this pressure and use it to their advantage. They have the young start Neymar who is not in his best shape with his season in Barcelona, but if he focuses well, he can make defenders go crazy.

Spain - defending champion

It's not unknown to people that does not follow futbol that Spain is a beast. They have won the last 3 international tournaments they participated (1 World Cup, 2 Euro Cups). They are still good but many of their key players are getting older and are not on their prime (Xavi, Villa). They do play very beautiful with nice passes since their midfield is still all-star, but I think they will have trouble scoring since none of their forwards are in their best (maybe Costa is ok). Another factor is that they already won a lot, so they might not have the same hunger for victory as before. I doubt they can make it pass the Quarterfinals.

Argentina - the dream

I might slightly biased, since Argentina is my all-time favorite team. I have been disappointed at their performance on the last couple of world cups since they do have a team that looks fantastic on paper, but they were not able to play as one team. Now, I think their current coach is good that he is down-to-earth, and he has been working hard in making this team as one, and maximizing the game of the best player at the moment, Lionel Messi. They have an arsenal in their offensive (Messi, Aguero, Di Maria, Higuain), but there are concerns on the defense and the goalkeeper, so a key point will be maintaining a balance in their midfield to ensure their defense do not get exposed. If they can achieve this balance, they can fulfill the dreams of a nation that has not lifted the world cup since 1986.

Surprise teams

Usually there is a surprise team will exceed people's expectations, especially because they are not well-known. Bulgaria (1994), Croatia (1998), Turkey (2002), Uruguay (2010) were teams that went to the top 4 without anyone expecting it.

I think special attention will be placed towards the South American team as they are playing close to home, and I specially like Chile (since they have one of the most complete players, Vidal) and Colombia (plays very well, but their best player is injured).

African teams can always give good surprises, and a team to be careful is Ivory Coast, as they have very good players like Gervihno and Yaya Toure (definitely a big factor on why Man City got the Premier League), and they do have a veteran striker who can make a difference (Drogba).

I could go on, but I think this is enough for now.

In the end it is really hard to predict what will happen, so I will have to sit back and relax.