City of God, an infamous favela of Rio de Janiero, a slum city. I watched the movie City of God last night and it was so disturbing! The movie is based on a true story that spanned the late 60's, 70's and early 80's. It was everything that you can imagine what living in hell would be like. Death, killing, drugs, poverty, fear, rape, war... The most upsetting thing about it was that it was a war of youth and children. Kids had guns and killed each other. Young men thought honour and prestige were associated with their first kill. Aaaahhhhh!! I read an article on the movie last night too and a journalist said this about the movie and real life situation:
Foreign audiences may well have found City of God’s violence stomach-churning, particularly that involving very young children, but the reality today, 30 years after the film was set, is far worse. Drug gangs are now better organised and armed, and child recruitment is more common. Nearly 3,000 people are shot dead each year in Rio, where 11,000 young men are thought to be involved in armed drug gangs. About half of these are estimated to be under 18 and handle weaponry such as assault rifles, ground-to-air rocket-launchers and grenades.
I don't even know what else to say about it, except that it made me cry out to God for a group of people in a place that seems so devoid of God. God is there, they just can't see him. Jesus reveal yourself in Cidade de Deus.
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Friday, November 26, 2004
wogging, jogging and running
Well I have started running again. It's been a while. To be absolutely realistic, you would call my "running", jogging.
I am quite proud of myself, I have ran 3 times so far this week. The first run felt sketchy, the second not too bad and the last one I joined a friend and I felt like an out of shape geek.
We arranged to meet to go for our run, and I did forwarn him that it would be more like a jog so he would not have any crazy running expectations of me. When we were chatting and stretching before we ran, he non-chalantly commented on a past marathon he'd run. Actually, it was 2 marathons he'd run in the past. Well for me, a returnee to running after a long remission, I was hesitant to run with him. What if I embarrassed myself by my lack of endurance? What if my jog is more like a waste of time to him? Aaahhhh the fun and joys of comparison. He's more fit, his legs are longer....blah, blah, blah. It was really about the company. The run was a bonus to me. Running is way more fun when you have someone to talk to and keep your mind off how painful it is to get back into shape.
My advice...if you are just getting back into running, go with someone who is more fit than you. If they still want to run with you after a lame jog, they enjoy your company. PLUS...they can talk the whole time and all you have to do is listen. Maybe ask a few questions to keep them chatting. Funny thing was that at the beginning of the run, he kept asking me questions and I was having a hard time answering in between breaths. Oh...so funny!
Give me another month of consistent running and I might just like running again. And to my running pal, I hope you enjoyed your wog!
"Marathoning is just another form of insanity"-- 1952 Boston Marathon winner John J. Kelley
I am quite proud of myself, I have ran 3 times so far this week. The first run felt sketchy, the second not too bad and the last one I joined a friend and I felt like an out of shape geek.
We arranged to meet to go for our run, and I did forwarn him that it would be more like a jog so he would not have any crazy running expectations of me. When we were chatting and stretching before we ran, he non-chalantly commented on a past marathon he'd run. Actually, it was 2 marathons he'd run in the past. Well for me, a returnee to running after a long remission, I was hesitant to run with him. What if I embarrassed myself by my lack of endurance? What if my jog is more like a waste of time to him? Aaahhhh the fun and joys of comparison. He's more fit, his legs are longer....blah, blah, blah. It was really about the company. The run was a bonus to me. Running is way more fun when you have someone to talk to and keep your mind off how painful it is to get back into shape.
My advice...if you are just getting back into running, go with someone who is more fit than you. If they still want to run with you after a lame jog, they enjoy your company. PLUS...they can talk the whole time and all you have to do is listen. Maybe ask a few questions to keep them chatting. Funny thing was that at the beginning of the run, he kept asking me questions and I was having a hard time answering in between breaths. Oh...so funny!
Give me another month of consistent running and I might just like running again. And to my running pal, I hope you enjoyed your wog!
"Marathoning is just another form of insanity"-- 1952 Boston Marathon winner John J. Kelley
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