Application For A Change

Almost a year (to the day!) after complaining about my job, I applied for a change today: I applied for acceptance into the CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) program at VGH.

It's been an interesting journey the past few months, actually. After returning from my World Tour earlier this year (see articles from late May to mid-July), I felt that a vocational change was in the works.

I looked at moving to the Okanagan and starting a Christian retreat centre there, but that didn't pan out, I just didn't have peace about it. The all-important factor that ultimately hindered a move in that direction was the lack of a partner. Not (necessarily) a marriage partner, but a partner to help see the thing through. For whatever reason, I seem to be unable to put an idea into action on my own, above all if the idea requires creativity and risk.

Anyways, starting today, I may be onto a new trajectory, yet again.

A Quiet Christmas

Since Ted and Melanie and families are in Paraguay, my parents and I spent Christmas Eve together in the comforts of my small apartment. Truth be told, although I missed the rest of our family, I much prefer a quiet Christmas with a small group of people in a candle-lit apartment over a loud affair in a big, impersonal house.

I made my usual dinner-dish, roasted vegetables, and mom brought milanesa and lemon pie (for dessert).

Here is our picture together:

Later on this afternoon I plan to attend Evening Prayer at St. James Anglican Church, and after that I will drive to New Westminster and hook up with friends to watch a movie or two.

This Night

Two reasons why this night is different than all others:

1- tonight, God (finally!) made himself known: "...these days he has spoken to us by his Son . . . He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature..." (Hebrews 1:1-3)

2- tonight, God invited us into his family: "[Jesus] came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:11-13)

-----

Silent Night, Holy Night: all is calm,
all is bright round the virgin mother and child,
holy infant so tender and mild,
sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent Night, Holy Night: shepherds quake
at the sight; glories stream from heaven afar
heavenly hosts sing, 'Alleluia;
Christ the Saviour is born, Christ the Saviour is born.'

Silent Night, Holy Night: wondrous star,
lend your light; with the angels let us sing
Alleluiah to our King;
Christ our Saviour is born, Christ our SAviour is born.

I Await (J'Attends)

I await.
I await the wind that brings tomorrow.
I await the Messiah once foretold.
I await His comfort in our sorrow.

I await the dawn that lifts our flock,
The morning star that shines upon our way,
The promised child, who moves inside me now,
And the angel who will return to me my beloved.
I await.

In the twilight of our history,
I await the dawning of His reign.
I await the first plowshare forged from swords
And the marriage of peace and justice once again.

I await, in the coldness of the dawn,
The end of crisis and the spring of hope
In this new century.
I await.

And I, says the Lord, I await...
That you will wait no more!

I await the untangling of injustice's thorns
And the dispersion of the fog of despair.
These I await by your hands of work and prayer.

You will hear my footsteps on this narrow path
And you will see that which, by faith, you await.
My peace be with you.

-----

This poem was composed by Michel Wagner from the Reformed Church of France, and translated into English by Leah Long.

Birthday Dinner @ Al Watan

After a horrible birth-day yesterday, I met up with friends today over dinner at Al Watan. I took the day off work actually, as I'd slept very little last night and was super tired. During the day I called my bank and verifierd accounts, cancelled cheques, changed PIN numbers, and all the other time-consuming stuff that goes along with minimizing risk after a break in.

But the highlight of the day was meeting up with my best friends over a fantastic dinner at Al Watan. Jennifer, Sanjit, Vero, Ervin, Juanjo, Patri, Connie, Alfonso, Benja, and Eric dropped by for dinner. As usual, Khalid cooked up a storm: mixed tandoori, dal, chicken biryani, lamb sag, chicken karahi, rice, naan, and of course my favourite, lamb curry. Most of us also had a mango lassi to go along with the spicy food, and for dessert, Khalid served us khir (rice pudding with cardamom, cinnamon, and nuts), and the best tea this side of heaven.





























Afterwards, we went to my place, where Amy and Sonia joined us for - of all things - more food: 2 cakes (one of which baked by Sonia), cookies, and some drinks.

Considering the previous 24 hours, I was quite happy to replace my sour and angry mood with some fun, friends, and smiles. The evening with friends reminded me that in the grand scheme of things, I'm a blessed man who has little reason to complain.

Break-In On A Birthday

I had bigger-than-usual expectations for today for no other reason than that it was my birthday.

In that light, it was a tad disappointing when no one at work gave me birthday wishes. I don't go around advertising my birthday, that seems cheesy to me, but given that my coworkers are quite intentional in honouring birthdays, it was hard not to feel a bit slighted as a result of this oversight.

Dinner made everything better though. I went out with Jennifer to the Afghan Horseman, a great Afghani restaurant near Granville Island. I was there about a month ago with Steven and quite liked it: the atmosphere is quiet, the food very tasty, and the tea is good .. not as good as Khalid's tea at Al Watan, but still, it's good.

Had the day ended there I'd have been satisfied. But it didn't. Upon my return home I immediately noticed something was awry. While still in my car, I noticed that all the lights in my apartment were on, and I knew that when I left, I'd only left 1 or 2 lights on. Once at the front door, I was able to walk right in, the door wasn't locked, another sign that something was wrong: I'm positive I'd locked it when I left my apartment earlier that night.

Once inside, all was revealed: my desk drawers taken out and turned upside down, its contents spread out on the floor; my bedroom window wide open, the cold air from outside having settled inside my apartment; my wardrobe doors were flung open, there were dirty footprints on my bedroom chair, and dirt tracked throughout my apartment. My heart sunk.

I immediately noticed that my laptop was missing. Damnit! Later on I noticed that my cellphone was also missing (thank God .. I'm finally rid of it!), as was my ipod. My laptop bag and my backpack were also missing, as well as some cheques and cash. But the worst was by far my laptop: it's amazing how much we depend on technology nowadays! It had all the important information that I use to live: addresses, phone numbers, schedules, information (banking, passwords, usernames), and of course, my music, my pictures, my book library, and most importantly, all my schoolwork from Regent. So, much of that is lost now...

In a significant way, it's appropriate to say that I feel violated: my sacred space was trespassed, and nothing can undo the trust bond that was violated.

The policeman came over at around 2:15am, and basically told me that my stuff would not be recovered (they're too busy solving "urgent" crimes). And actually I'm ok with that, there are certainly more urgent matters than my laptop. Perhaps there are a few lessons in this event: more reliance upon God, and less on myself and technology; wisdom (damnit, why didn't I back up my stuff more often?), and savvy (how can make my place safer, less attractive to break into?).

I'm not planning to go to work tomorrow. So much for a Happy Birthday...

De Noche

De noche iremos, de noche,
que para encontrar la fuente.
Solo la sed nos alumbra,
solo la sed nos alumbra.

By night we hasten in darkness,
to seek for the living water.
Only our thirst lights us onward,
only our thirst lights us onward.

_____

Text: Adapted from St. John of the Cross.

Praying The Psalms

Here are 5 helpful observations regarding the use of the Psalms in our daily prayers:

1- All of life is gathered up in the Psalms. It's truly comprehensive, nothing's left out: joys sorrows, praise, complaints, victory and defeat. The Psalms were written by people from all walks of life: priests, kings, musicians, and shepherds. Implication: when we pray (the Psalms), we bring all of life to the Lord.

2- The Psalms are not arranged in a nice, neat order. This is because life cannot be ordered neatly. The Psalms are not polite because life is not polite. Psalm 22 and 23 are side by side, even though their mood is completely opposite; likewise with Psalm 102 and 103.

3- The Psalms give us permission for a full range of human thought and emotion. Psalm 119, for example, is brilliantly and beautifully crafted. It's like a work of embroidery, stitched piece by piece (CS Lewis). The aim of prayer is for the real "I" to meet the real "You", and the Psalms allow for this kind of encounter.

4- The Psalms go together in 5 books. Introduction to the books is Psalm 1 and 2 (Psalm 1 begins with "Blessed", and Psalm 2 ends with "Blessed"). Book 1, is Psalm 3-41, ending in "Blessed be YHWH! Amen! Amen!" Book 2, 42-72, ending with "Blessed be YHWH! Blessed be his Glorious Name! Amen! Amen!" Book 3: 73-89, ending "Blessed be YHWH! Amen! Amen! " Book 4 is 90-106, and it ends with "Blessed be YHWH! Let the people say 'Amen! Amen!'" Book 5 encompasses Psalm 107-145, ending in "All flesh will bless his Holy Name." Psalm 146-150 are conclusion Psalms, 5 "Hallelujah" songs, one song for each of the 5 books.

5- Psalm 1 and 2 are introductions that prepare our hearts for the "real" Psalms. Psalm 1 functions as a 'settle down' Psalm: it centres us, gets us on track, brings us back, to the word of God. Psalm 2 puts everything in perspective: kings and rulers wrestling for power: God 'laughs' at such a project, because his Messiah will rule all of creation. The message: 'get with it', get 'in line' with God's reign.

Pictures From Europe-Africa Trip

To view pictures from my trip to Europe and Africa, please click on this link: http://cubscorner.shutterfly.com/

I hope you enjoy them!

Johannesburg -> Cairo: Cairo From Above

I arrived in Cairo early this morning, 6:40. By 9 o'clock I was at the guesthouse, and by 11 I'd checked into my room (my room wasn't ready when I arrived, check-in's at noon), and being tired from the 7.5 flight northward accross the African continent, I immediately went for a long nap.

By 3pm I'd regathered my energy, and decided to step out into the blistering sun to experience some more of Cairo. I decided to visit the Cairo Tower, a 30 minute walk from the guesthouse.

Here is Cairo from top, at around 5pm. The river flowing right through the city is none other than the Nile:

In view here is Zamalek, the district in which the guesthouse is situated. In fact, the cathedral (across from which is situated the guesthouse) is barely visible in this next picture: right above the rounidsh wall on the left side of the picture.

Note the desert dust, whirled into the air by the wind. Cairo is a really dusty place:

In this next picture, the pyramids are visible ever-so-faintly, way in the distance, on the top right of the picture:

The above shots were taken with a 50mm lens. After about 45 minutes of playing with this lens, I decided to put on my 17-85mm lens, giving us a broader perspective:

A local convinced me that I really should have a picture taken with me in it. I let him take my camera and he took this picture:

Then, I went inside and in the following order, drank an iced tea, ate vanilla ice cream, and a club sandwich. I think the reason I messed up the proper eating sequence was because I was so hot and sweaty when I got inside that I just wanted something to soothe my dry throat. Only later, when I realized that I was going to hang around inside until sundown, did I order the sandwich.

I went back outside at sundown, close to 8pm:

Little by little, the city transformed itself from a dry dustbowl to a colourful light show:

One final picture, this time, the tower, from below:

Johannesburg: Paraguay 0 - Spain 1

We left Blyde River Canyon earlier than planned actually, in order to get to Johannesburg in time for settling in at the guesthouse and getting a quick breather before heading to the big quarter final game at Ellis Park. On the way to Johannesburg, we stopped for a pancake breakfast at Graskop, a small little town 51 km south of the Blyde River Canyon.

But the highlight - and lowlight, too, I suppose - was the game between la albirroja and la roja.

I'd mentioned to Christian prior to the game that this would be Paraguay's best game, and I was right. The usual intensity displayed by Paraguay was supplemented with intelligence and calm of mind that the team did not display since the second game of the tournament, against Slovakia.

The favourites were Spain, of course, ranked number 2 in the world, but Paraguay did not back down, and played a smart game. The style - long airballs - was not to my liking, but given the opponent it made sense. The game had everything: excitement (2 saved penalty kicks within 5 minutes, 1 by each team), intensity, great skill, and even controversy. In fact, Paraguay scored a goal in the first half that was unjustifiably called offside. That goal should have counted, and had that been the case, who knows how the game could have turned out.

In the end, we lost 0-1, Spain dominating the possession of the ball, and controlling the midfield with marvelous one-touch futbol.

Our team was disappointed, Cardozo above all was devastated, unconsolable over his missed penalty kick. Now the World Cup is over for us, having achieved a best-ever, very respectable quarter finals, among the world's top 8 nations.

Here are some pictures of the game, beginning with our view of the field, before the game:

Christian anticipating the excitement:














National anthems:














Cardozo, fouled in the penalty box in the second half:














Cardozo's penalty shot, saved by Casillas:














Now it's Spain's turn. Great save by Villar:

All in all, it was a very good tournament not only in terms of following Paraguay, but overall. In fact, it was probably the best World Cup trip I've had yet.

Now I'll begin turning my attention to my trip home. Tomorrow is Sunday, my last full day in South Africa. I plan to use it as a day of reflection. On Monday I return to Cairo, where I will spend 3 days before returning home to Vancouver.

Significantly, I am not looking forward to my return to Cairo. At one point I thought my vocation may lead me there, but I do not think that is the case any longer.

Blyde River Canyon: Braai And Hiking

One of the frustrations of this trip has been the lack of accessibility to internet. Almost all the guesthouses we've stayed out have WiFi, but they require you to have your own laptop to access the internet. I should've known, I suppose, but I expected to have more access to computers. Next time I go on a trip like this I'll have to bring my laptop along.

The place I'm at now is a resort, but even this place only has one public computer, which does not allow the use of any USB application, so, I can't download my pictures to a memory stick, much less uploading pictures onto my website.

But needless to say, I will catch up on daily entries as soon as I have access.

In the meantime, a brief update on the past few days:

* June 29: this was a great day. Paraguay beat Japan 5-3 on penalties, after what I think was a rather boring 120 minutes of play. I am happy that we beat Japan, but I'm very disappointed in the way the team played. The team is supposed to play a more attacking futbol than in the past, but the past two games have been anything but attacking. They have been slow, indecisive, with a shocking lack of creativity in the middle and up front. Still, I am happy that we won, and made history in doing so. Next up is Spain, and while on paper the Spanish are the better team, I have a feeling this will be a good game. Spain's natural mode of operandi is attack, and Paraguay's style has always been to counterattack, and so the Spanish style actually bodes well for us.

* June 30: early in the morning we got on the road, destination Blyde River Canyon. After a couple of stops along the way, we arrived here at 4pm. We are staying in a one bedroom chalet that does not really have a spectacular view, but is a short hike away from the spectacular canyon (the 3rd biggest canyon in the world)

* July 1 (happy Canada Day!): after sleeping in yesterday, I had breakfast around 9am. Then I checked emails, did some reading, and by noon I went on a 4 hour hike. All in all, I hiked close to 7km, and soaked in the wonderful views. I have close to 60 pictures to show for it, but as said above, unfortunately I cannot share them (yet). We ended the evening with a braai, the South African version of a bbq (although in their view, there is a significant difference between a braai and a bbq). Christian had picked up some t-bone steaks, and since our chalet was equiped with an outdoor braai (bbq grill), we grilled ourselves some steaks, as well as some vegetables. The meat here tastes like the meat in Paraguay, tender and tasty.


* July 2 (today): it's 10am, I've had breakfast, and I'm currently looking for a guesthouse to stay at for the final 2 days in South Africa. We'll be leaving Blyde River tomorrow morning, heading for Johannesburg.

Phalaborwa -> Pretoria: On The Road

After a 6 hour drive we arrived safely in Pretoria at around 4pm, after a 5.5. hour drive. Here we will be for the next 3 nights. On the 30th in the morning, we are traveling back east to the magnificent Blyde River Canyon, where we will stay for be until the 1st of July.

There's not much to say about today, except sharing a couple photos of the trip:

Phalaborwa: A Lion In The Jungle

At 5:15 in the morning today, before the sun had even announced her presence, Christian and I went outside the comfortable guesthouse we're staying at, in order to go to an all-day safari. Not long after that we were inside the Toyota safari truck, inside Kruger National Park.















By 6:30, the sun was coming up, and as Lawrence our guide was explaining to us how hyenas protect their cubs by placing them in small dens so that predators cannot attack them, we heard a loud loud roar. It was a lion, and he roared from about a kilometre away, but we could hear him clearly, very clearly.

He was announcing the beginning of a new day, and that he was king of this day, in this habitat, the jungle. Lawrence looked at us with great excitment, started the truck, and drove right towards where the roaring came from. Here's what we saw:

More pictures to come...

Polokwane: A Day To Relax

I'm at an internet cafe which has a super super slow connection, but that's Africa. Until now I've been in "modern" Africa - Cape Town, Bloemfontein - where the amenities we have at home are also available. Here in Polokwane, however, I get the sense that I'm in another world, the Africa I thought I'd see:
* more poverty
* more dirt: for example, dirt sidewalks
* people selling goods along the streets: anything from designer watches to cigarette matches
* significantly higher percentage of black population

What still surprises me is the weather, especially at night. It's cold, especially since houses don't have heating, and the floor is almost always tiled. The guesthouses we're staying at are well prepared for this however - many have electric blankets - but if I lived here that would be an adjustment, to be sure.

I don't have any pictures of the city yet, but have a few from our journey here.

The plains of South Africa. At the beginning of our trip terrain was semi-desert: hot, dry, but not too dry so that no vegetation could thrive. Note that there are people walking alongside the highway, that happens relatively frequently:

Driving through Johannesburg:

Towards the end of our journey the terrain changed: from light greens to rich, dark greens and from desert browns to dark, almost reddish, earthy browns:

Tomorrow I plan to go an a hiking tour of the area. Later today there are four games. Here they are, with my score predictions.
* Argentina - Greece (2-0)
* South Korea - Nigeria (1-2)
* France - South Africa (1-2)
* Mexico - Uruguay (2-0)

Bloemfontein: Paraguay 2 - Slovakia 0

It is a great day today, a day of celebration.

This is, of course, because of the great win over Slovakia today, by Paraguay, but more importantly, today is Father's Day. I am very blessed to have a Father who deeply loves and cares for his family, and for that I am very grateful. I imagine that at home, there was a great celebration of this special day today, with a wonderful meal prepared by mom. Happy Father´s Day, dad!

After a hearty breakfast at the guesthouse today, Christian and I made our way towards the stadium on foot. The game began at 1:30pm, but we didn't go to the stadium directly, because we first wanted to see the birthplace of the great writer J. R. R. Tolkien, seen in the picture below:

Afterwards, we went through the waterfront area, straight to the stadium. Here are some pictures of the great win tonight. Before the game, the lineups and national anthems:














A free kick for the good guys:














Celebrating the first goal:

Except for a 20 minute spell in the second half, Paraguay played a very good game: strategically and tactically right on. Noteworthy were the presence of Roque Santa Cruz up front - he won virtually every head ball, he makes such a difference when he plays in the seleccion - the sturdy and reliable defense - Antolin Alcaraz is such a solid rock back there - and finally, that goals came not from forwards, but from the midfield, Enrique Vera and Cristian Riveros.

After the game, it was the locals who showed us how to celebrate! They danced and sang, as if their own team had won. I guess it's true that Africans use whatever they can - absolutely anything - as an excuse to celebrate. It was loud, boisterous, and very very African.

I believe Paraguay will win group F, beating New Zealand in the last group game. This will be good because we can then avoid playing Holland in the 2nd round, playing instead either Denmark or Japan. It doesn't really matter which of the two we play - we'll beat them both - but Japan will be more difficult, so I hope we play Denmark.

Graaff-Reinet: Valley of Desolation

One of the frustrating things about South Africa so far has been the lack of access to public transport. Graaff-Reinet is a tourist hotbed, yet, it´s difficult to get there, unless one has a car: to get here, I had to take a bus that arrives here at 2am, and had the kind woman from the guesthouse not offered to pick me up then, I´d probably have cancelled my trip here.

My point to this opening thought is that my intention was to see the Valley of Desolation on my own - a day´s hike - but that was impossible. The only way to access the national park is by vehicle, and there are neither car rental places nor taxis in town, and so therefore, the only way for me to see the great sights this lovely town has to offer was to hire a tour guide, and that, is precisely what I did.

A very kind woman from the Drotsdy Hotel connected me with Anna, a very good tour guide who in the span of 3 hours drove all around the mountain and valley with me. Here are a few of the glorious sights that I saw. This really is a beautiful beautiful country.

Graaff-Reinet from the air:













 

Snow-capped mountains in the background:













 

Spandau Kop:













 

From top of the mountain (1,500km above sea level), the Valley of Desolation:




















































 

Tomorrow is my last day here, before I move on to Bloemfontein (I´m taking a night bus again). On my last day here I plan to do a hike - without a guide, this time - called Erstenfontein.