over-nerdy

Recently in a conservation in small group, we were talking about how nerdy the conversations are within our Waterloo friends. As a graduate of Electrical Engineering, these conversations can be quite enjoyable, sometimes a bit too funny (4 dimension pie, hyper-cube, black holes, white holds, rail-gun harpoon). It's always cool to pull a nerdy analogy to explain a concept.

But then one member of my small group mentioned that sometimes he thinks that our conversations can be "over-nerdy". At that moment, everyone's eyes fixed on this member and we asked him if he could explain what is this threshold for "over-nerdiness" and if he could give some real life examples. Like, is this some sort of a subjective thing? Of course, my friend was a bit reserved and probably did not want offend anymore so he tried to change the topic of the conversation. 

In many group conversations in my small group or during church, often there will be some individuals that are left out... either they are not interested in the topic or have little to no knowledge about it. So the conversation will carry one with a sub-group of people very engaged and attentive, while other individuals start swiping (either seriously or just feinting) their smart phones. It a way it creates some sort of a fissure in the act of socializing. 

We can attribute part of this "issue" that some people have a narrow variety of topics that they are interested in. So when they hear people engaging on other topic, they will just evaporate from the socializing act. I think each of us can make more effort in increasing our interest in other topics and in being curious about it. Perhaps it is not about the topic itself that matter, but about getting to know people more and enjoy a good conversation.

At the same time, for those who are very engaged in conversation, it is good that there are topics that we have a fast heartbeat toward them. But it is also important to be mindful and sensitive to the people around us, and if I get to carried on and lose half of the group's interest when I talk about the art of futbol, I should consider changing topic or steering the conversation to get others engaged.

I feel this is important because nowadays there is a lot of socializing that occurs online, and it is easy to forget how to talk and deal with people in a real way. And that is not easy of course because we will have different interest, different opinions, and there could be arguments, but that's ok. Loving is a hard thing :), but it is the debt that we owe to one another. 

So let's not be over-nerdy all the time.

travelling - Maracana Stadium

Photos Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro for the Quarterfinals game between Germany and France:

 

Watching a live futbol game on a World Cup is one of my life goals. And it was an unforgettable experience. The only way to arrive to the stadium was taking the subway. So my friends and I decided to arrive there a couple of hours early. As we entered the subway train, we could sense the festive ambient as several groups of fans were present wearing their respective team jerseys (more Germans than French).

As we arrived to the Maracana Stadium, there was a huge police force presence, so I felt safe haha.

As we talk around the stadium, we saw people from many countries (especially Colombians whose team was playing later on the day) and it was great to see different cultural groups joining for the same passion towards futbol.

Since we arrived like 3 hours before the game, the stadium was almost empty. So we took our time taking pictures, appreciating the newly renovated stadium, and just enjoying the moment.

The seats we got were pretty good and we could watch the game without any problem. Also, there is a huge screen available to see replays.

There were a group of rowdy and young German fans who were sitting on the next row and were standing, so they were blocking the view for some of the people on my row. So there was some confrontation, and finally the German group just moved to another place.

The game itself was slightly boring. Most people would expect a great game between two historical nations. But the game was won by Germany 1-0 by an early goal, and from there on the game was very slow. Regardless, the overall experience was excellent.

It was very nice to see people cheering unceasingly for their team, and to see a variety of people united by same love towards futbol. And after the game ended, there was no confrontation between German and French fans, which is cool.

Futbol is one of the most influential sports in the world. It leads to many good things, like uniting people with differences together. For example, I read once that during a civil war in an African country, a truce will be held when its national team is playing a game. In many poor countries, there are futbol "clubs" that invest on the poor kids to teach them how to play so that they don't have to become delinquents to earn a living.

Since there is such love for futbol, there is power to influence people to do good. But it is also true, that there is power to influence people to do evil. There is a particular war that was triggered after a futbol game. There has been riots (some resulting in unfortunate tragedy) incited due to game outcomes.

Someone told me once that Christians are one of the greatest venues at which the gospel is preached because God uses Christian servants as vessels for His work. As well, Christians are one of the greatest obstacles for the gospel because if our behavior shows obvious sinful patterns, people will be deterred from believing in the gospel.

Christians have a very big influence as we represent one of the major religions of the world, so our behavior will be closely examined so we ought to walk with wisdom and self-discipline for the advancement of the gospel. As well, there is a realization that we as humans are quite weak, and we will sin. So we are not necessarily morally better than non-believers, but the difference is that when we fall in sin, we get picked up by God's grace, and it is our hope that we fall less into sin. That is a bit of the beauty of the gospel we believe in.

travelling - Rio de Janeiro

After visiting Peru, the next place I visited is Brazil, mainly to the city of Rio de Janeiro. Brazil is actually a very big country so it is really hard to travel the entire country on a single trip (limiting factor on time and money). There are many cool things to do like the Amazon forest, natural parks, and beaches. But on my trip, I only visited Rio, since it has several famous touristic attractions and a very famous soccer stadium.

Intro
Rio de Janeiro has very nice beaches, nice mountains and scenery, and warm weather. But the city was dirty. Actually, I felt part of the city was like Hong Kong, not very clean, smelly, sketch alleys, but with less people density. There were a lot of tourists during the World Cup, so most touristic attractions have long lineups but the ambient is great and it is neat to see people from different parts of the world.

Language
Portuguese (Brazil was a colony of Portugal). Felt that English was not too helpful. Brazilians might understand a good portion of Spanish if you speak slowly.

Transportation
Public bus and subway are pretty good. Google map has its schedule integrated so it was easy to figure out the way around.

Food
In general very good. The food on the plane was very good, we ate Portuguese chicken. There are many restaurants that are buffet style, and charge by weight. Food includes grilled meat, stews, bean, rice, salad.

Safety
There was one police patrol car with 4 policemen on every major street intersection and subway station (because of the World Cup), so it felt safe. But I guess it is usually not that safe, hence they need such force to be put in place.

Things to do

There are kilometers and kilometers of beaches in Rio, Copacabana is a very famous beach but it is usually very packed with people. It is on that place where FIFA set up the Fan-fest where they put a couple of large screens for people to watch the game. But I enjoyed more the Ipanema beach which is less crowded. It's a great place to get together with people to play beach volleyball or beach soccer.

There is beautiful scenery on the Sugar Loaf Mountain:

As well the famous Christ Redeemer statue:

Insights

There are many influence from the World Cup into the city. Brazil is one of the countries that expresses a real passion for futbol, and so this event seems to bring a great joy to the country. McDonald's even have burgers with "country theme" from the World Cup:

There is also a macaroon store that also have country theme. Merchandises like the Havaiana flip flops also have country theme designs from the World Cup.

Though the city has many nice places, it is known that there are many slums (called favelas). Actually, the hostel I was staying is in a slum. People with financial limitation live there, and drug lords tend to control these places. But recently many of the favelas were cleaned up so it is a lot safer now.

But speaking to the hostel's owner, I learned that the government did a lot of cleaning and make things look nice for the World Cup, but there are many deeper issues that they are not addressing; so the changes they made were mainly for appearance's sake. Actually, there is a great discontent from sectors of the population because large amount of money were spent for the event, but more important needs were neglected. (Hence when Brazil lost the semifinal game, many feared riots).

As part of my Christian small group, we have regular sharing and prayer time in same-gendered groups. The goal is to share about how God has been working in each of our lives, and about the struggles we face. It is usually not too easy to go into sharing the deeper struggles that we face.

It is much easier to just show that everything is going alright from the outside, and kind of not care of the deeper things that is affecting our lives. So it is important to emphasize the aspect of authenticity (or genuineness) within these sharing and prayer groups, and realize that this is a safe environment to share and entrust these deeper things into fellow brothers or sisters. This is not just for accountability but as well to gain conviction to "deal" with a sinful pattern of our lives and to walk towards holiness as God commanded us to do so.

travelling - Machu Pichu

So Machu Pichu is the best place I visited during my trip. Mainly because I really enjoy visiting archaeological sites and learning from old civilization and history.

Intro
Machu Pichu is like a city from the Inca civilization. Nobody really knows the purpose of its existence, but some historians say that this is likely a city for the Inca elites. This city built around 1500 A.D., and abandoned very shortly after. And it was discovered on the early 1900s by an American explorer.

To get there, you can either walk for 4 days via the Inca trail or take the train from one of the small towns near the city of Cusco. People will have to stay at the town of "Agua Calientes" which is the town closest to Machu Pichu site. That town offers restaurants, hotels and hostels, bars, places for massage, etc.

Language
Spanish. Since it is a touristic spot, English is more than enough.

Transportation
The town of Aguas Calientes is very small, and everything is within walking distance. To get to Machu Pichu site, there is a daily bus that go every 15-20 min to the site.

Food
Same as Lima, I think it's kind of boring.

Safety
Safe.

Things to do
The town of Aguas Calientes have places for massage and also thermal baths, and I was not interested in either haha, but I did play football (soccer) for a bit.

On the actual site of Machu Pichu, you can spend 1-2 days walking around. There is also the option to hike a mountain in the site called "Huayna Pichu", which my group of friends and I did, this allowed us to get to see a great view of Machu Pichu from high up. I would personally recommend hiking the mountain (you have to pay more on the entrance fee, but it is worth it). The hike is a bit demanding (~1.5 hour of walking on steep "staircases"), so ensure you are used to the elevation and enough water. My group just spent one day at the site, but I recommend 2 days so that you can take your time and appreciate its beauty.

There will be many tourist guides that will offer you a guide (I don't remember the cost), but since there is so much mystery around the history of Machu Pichu that I think most of the guides will probably just bluff about stuff, so I chose not to get a guide and just do a self-guide by looking at the map. I can always wikipedia stuff later to learn!

Insights

When entering and walking in the Machu Pichu site, one cannot help to be feel amazement and being in awe of it. The surrounding landscape is gorgeous with beautiful mountains "covered" with clouds on the top, and the mystery that sounds the stone-made city. Many questions come out of it: How did the Inca managed to build all the stone structures on the mountain? What was the purpose of this "city"? Why did the Inca abandoned it?

Such a mystery.

Sometimes I ponder about the word "mystery" itself, and ask myself about the "mystery" of our faith. Like for example:

"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." - Colossians 1:24 - 2:3

I find it hard to fathom why there is mystery in God's plan of salvation, perhaps because the plan of salvation through the death and resurrection of Christ is clearly made known to us. But for those in the early church and with a deep knowledge on the Old Testament, this was a very new "concept". How will the prophecies from the Old Testament be fulfilled? How will the Messiah rule the people of Israel? How will God bring salvation to His people?

God sent His son Jesus to be the Savior of His people, dying for our sins on the cross and conquering death so that through faith in Him we can live with God in eternity. This salvation is not just limited to Israel, but as well to the Gentiles. It is a glorious mystery, because it is full of God's grace, that He chooses to save sinful people like us, by providing the payment for the transgressions that we have committed. Though I don't really fathom the sense of mystery, I cannot help but to be in awe and in wonder of the grace that God has bestowed upon a sinful man like me.

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.