Gather Round the Stone

Dearly Beloved,

We are gathered here, today, in this email, to celebrate a momentous
occasion. What that occasion may be, I have yet to discern, other
than to congratulate myself on not spending another four months
without writing you all. I hope this correspondence finds you all
healthy, happy, and with a sense of twitterpation in the on-coming
Spring (well, for most of you).

As for events that have happened in my life over the past months, you
can read the break down of the stories.

For the Love of Basketball
I've been coaching girls at the high school in basketball for the past
year. There are several things wrong with me being a high school
basketball coach here. First, I've pretty much hated playing the game
since I quit the team almost 10 years ago. Secondly, I take sports
very--very seriously. Thirdly, I like to win. What this adds up to
is that in a place where everything is compromised by what one wants
to do in the moment rather than a long term dedication, and the basics
of working with teenage girls, I become very angry.

It turns out that I have no idea how to coach girls, especially here,
because I go too easy and they do whatever they want and no one shows
up, or I get tough and they get scared and no one shows up. So for
the past month before our first real game, no one has showed up.
Finally, the city sports authority gets its act together and on
Wednesday they tell me that we have a game on Saturday which leaves 2
days for practice. No one showed up.

We went to the game and half the girls didn't even know the rules. My
assistant coach who was supposed to translate my directions decided
that she knew more about basketball than I did and would tell them
something completely different. We lost---horribly. I was angry
enough not to say a word to any of them.

And then the boys played. The boys have been pretty much coaching
themselves because I told them that I had to help the girls. The boys
put themselves together in a team, worked out how to substitute
themselves, and led themselves to an awesome victory.

So all of this brought to my mind what everyone says here: girls are
just silly. Which makes me more mad. So I spent a few days thinking
about it and decided that I had to be mad at the girls or else I would
agree with what everyone else chooses to believe implicitly.
Thankfully, I have a very thoughtful student who is able to explain
the complexities of Ethiopian social dynamics and teaches me not to
give up hope. Then that very same student bombed her oral
presentation in my class. Grrrr

And the Fight
After the girls got bumped out of the citywide tournament, I started
to help the boys at their games. Their championship game for the
sub-city was a very tough loss going into double overtime and losing
by 2 points. There were many other students who came to the game to
support them, and as always in these kinds of games, emotions run very
high. So while I was at the scoring table clearing up the end-of-game
paperwork, I see one of my male students shouting his head off in a
rage at a student from another school. Mind you, he's not a player.
Then I see him pick up a random 2 by 4 that happens to be laying
around. Then I step in. I yell at him to put down the wood. He
does. Still angry. He picks up a large rock. This time I grab his
hand. He yells "get off." I pull his around so its crossed over his
neck and I'm now at his back. He, standing several centimeters taller
than me, leans over so my feet are off the ground. Some how I get
them back on the ground and the coach from the other team shouts to me
"Miss, let me handle it." I burst back "He's my student." I put the
kid in a headlock and drag him out of the school compound. After 10
minutes of cooling off, my student comes back to me and apologizes.

Fortunately or unfortunately, there were several other students who
were witnesses to this. As if I didn't have a reputation in the
school before, now its certainly gone around that I know how to fight.
I think the rumours that I'm ex-military or CIA have sprung back up.

It Ain't Easy Being Vegan
For almost two months now, I have adhered to the Ethiopian Orthodox
Lenten fast. Now, those of you educated in the practices of Lent may
question: 2 months? Yes, for some reason the Orthodox church has
decided that a measly 40 days is not good enough to satisfy the Lord
and his stint in the desert, and so they command that all good
Christians must pay penance since some time in early February. This
fasting is no weak Western-ideology fasting in which we only give up
meat on Fridays and think about some other vice or indulgence that we
take on too much at other times of the year. No, no. Here, this is
God's country and here we do God's fasting. As the rules go:
1) No eating before 3 PM. (the hour Jesus died) Monday- Friday
2) No drinking before 3 PM. Monday- Friday
3) Saturday and Sunday no eating or drinking before 10 am. (Don't know why)
4) No alcohol.
5) No cursing.
6) No sex ( I don't think there are so many children born between the
months of November and January and yet the population growth is still
soaring)
7) And absolutely no eating of products of animals.

The last one seems to be the hard one for me. As it goes, we get
pretty much a monthly donation of cheese. Like nice cheese. Good
cheddar, Havarti, Smoked Gouda, and various others, so our fridge
pretty much looks like a cheese box. We don't eat meat very often,
but we do have several volunteers who like to bake as well as make
nice creamy soups and other items delicious in nature.

Now I've fought my way through all of this, but currently there is a
sugar shortage. As in, I cant find any d*** sugar. Anywhere. Even
off-market stuff is really hard to find. I spent 2 freakin hours last
week to get 2 kilos. So, at the end of the day, when I'm exhausted, I
can barely keep my eyes open and I still have to grade papers, I can't
even put honey in my tea or coffee. And so it is bitter. And so am
I.

But these are frustrations I'm letting out in an email so you get the
picture. I've tried to give up complaining as well and not talk about
the fasting too much because that's not the point and I realise its my
own choice. But to give you a further idea, I now understand why no
one does anything here. It is really hard to move, to think, or to
feel proper in any sense when you don't eat for most of the day, for
weeks on end. And these are just the standard rules. For the "real
Christians" they eat almost nothing. And so they do almost nothing.
I would not include this fast in any country that wants to be
productive in any way. Good thing that's not a concern here.

Madame Van
And for the final story, I get to tell of a little indiscretion on the
part of some of my favorite female students. The other volunteers
joke that I have a "Van Club." There are some number of students who
hang around a lot, have come to the house, and I've taken out to
places around the city. The majority are girls. I am very proud that
these girls are the more assertive, self-confident, and determined
girls in the school. What this also means is they stand out a bit
more. And perhaps to some in authority, have a bit too much
confidence, especially when it comes to the male students.

Last week I was called down to talk with the coordinator of the
school. He had a list of students in front of him. A list of couples
to be exact, that were supposedly dating. Mind you, dating is
strictly not allowed in the school. Very strictly. Of the six
couples listed, 5 of the girls he knew were particularly close to me.
And so, I was told to "straighten them out." This list came about
because a teacher supposedly caught one of the girls and a boy kissing
in the hallway. *Shocking*

So I went on my fact finding mission. One by one, I pulled the girls
aside to talk to them about their alleged relationship. Of course, I
had already talked to a few of them before. Being American, I don't
care about dating in high school. I just care that they don't get in
trouble shortly before the Grade 12 National Exams. The conversation
ended up going something like this:
Me: So, you're on a list.
Student: What list?
Me: The bad list.
Student: I didn't do it.
Me: What didn't you do?
Student: Whatever that list says I did.
Me: Are you dating?
Student: *laughs* No.
Me: Are you sure?
Student: Why would I not be sure?
Me: Are you interested in dating?
Student: No.
Me: What about kissing?
Student: Van, stop it.
Me: So you havent been kissing, touching, talking, or doing anything
else inappropriately with a boy?
Student: That's a bad list.

So this was probably the most PG relationship conversation I'll ever
have with an 18 year old. They all said they just are friends, find
better friends in the guys, or sit next to a guy in class and for some
reason have been found guilty. No relationships. Even the girl
supposedly kissing said the guy leaned down to kiss her on the cheek
(acceptable greeting) and because he is very tall and she is very
short it could have looked otherwise. The guy said this as well and
got very upset at the accusation.

My talk with these girls ended up being enlightening in another way.
I might have expressed this before, but there are no female teachers
at the high school. In fact, for the older students who have been at
Don Bosco their entire school career, they have never had a female
teacher, save one foreigner who showed up last year. Apparently, the
all male administration doesn't find a problem with this, but it comes
to light that there is a problem when a situation like this occurs,
and the female students have been overtly blamed for inappropriate
relationships and the male students are just pawns to their games. I'm
still very proud of these girls, maybe even moreso now.

Conclusion
I hope in some way this has been entertaining and not just clutter in
your inbox. As my dad says, "I'm short," which means I'm on a
countable number of days now in Ethiopia. I'll try to press out a few
more emails in that time to round of the experience for you as well as
myself.

Best,
Virginia/Van/Va

Nardos's Don't Cry

Dear People I Love, Admire, and Owe Money

Sorry its been so long since I've written you all together. Since
there are quite a few stories, once again, I've divided them into
sections, so you can pick and choose which ones you'd like to read
instead of going through all of them at once. I've attached the
stories as a document if that's easier for some, and I've attached a
news article from a local newspaper about the current situation here
in Ethiopia.

Also, I'm trying to do a little fundraising to help support me here.
The idea is to send boxes of goods that the children make here back to
various people in the States who can sell the items in church, at
work, to friends, etc. I've contacted a few people, but if this
sounds like something interesting you would like to help me with,
please get in touch with me. Also, you can just be on the lookout for
someone in your area who'll be handling the goods. A small brochure
is attached that briefly explains my projects (I work in three
associated with the Salesians) and also includes some pictures.

The Wedding
Along with many other Ethiopian traditions I've had the pleasure of
participating in, I recently was invited to the wedding of our driver
here at the project. Thinking that a driver doesn't exactly earn much
here, I thought this was a modest affair. What I should learn by now
is that any time you have an event here, there is nothing but
over-indulgence.

Over 500 guests were in attendance, and a full feast to make us all
drunk on food, let alone the actual drunkeness on the honey wine
(tella) and barley home-brew beer (tej). Im not actually sure what
happened as a part of the wedding ceremony as only the few close
family and friends could fit themselves into the house where I assume
the groom and his bride were married. The one part of the ceremony I
could see was when Teriku along with his party of men came bounding
and dancing through the tent, then all of a sudden, a fight broke out,
and just as quickly stopped. It was later explained to me that as a
part of the tradition the groom has to fight the males of the brides
family in order to prove that he's strong enough and dedicated enough
to marry. But the fight stops so quickly because the groom sprays
perfume in their eyes.

After eating, we danced traditional dances like eskista (shoulder
dancing) and had a generally good time. Definitely one of the more
exciting ceremonies I've participated in.

The Funeral
I also had the experience of one of the sadder ceremonies here when
one of my students' mother died leaving him and his brother as
orphans. Accompanying his classmates to his house after Saturday
class, I spent time on our walk talking with them about these sad
moments in our lives. My students are rather lucky, but still half
only have one living parent. There is no proper funeral service as in
the States, rather there is a continuous flow of people in and out of
the house to mourn with the family. People sit under a tent, and
women wail, moan, and beat their chests in a dramatic display of
sorrow that could bring the coldest soul to tears. I watched my
students sit rather meekly reflecting on what if they were the one
sitting in white with more of the burden of an adult life and less of
a future in front of them. Food is brought to comfort, but, as I've
been told, it is not in the tradition to be distracted from the death
of a loved one. Unlike in the States where it is acceptable to watch
television and busy ourselves with something else, in Ethiopia, for
months, you are to remind yourself of what's been lost.

Meskal
One of the biggest celebrations here in Ethiopia is Meskal, the
finding of the True Cross of Jesus. The story goes that Queen Saba of
Abyssinia (Ethiopia in ancient times) had a dream that she must find
the True Cross of Jesus. God told her where to find it, and she found
a fire burning on the place where she should dig. Meskal celebrates
the start of her digging. After 3-6 months (depending on the version
of the story), she found the Cross. It is now divided in four parts
and resides in 4 different Orthodox churches in Ethiopia. Just like
the Ark of the Covenant, ordinary people are not allowed to see the
True Cross and it is only protected by priests and monks who are
allowed to enter the Holy of Holies in the church. (You can believe
what you will about this story)

The celebration nowadays consists of having large bonfires, singing,
praying and eating. Going to Meskal Square in Addis, you'll find
thousands of people gathered to watch the main bonfire for the city.
I've got to say, its definitely the biggest fire I've seen. As the
sunlight faded, people slowly lit their t'waff (candles) to illuminate
the square. Too bad you need a really nice camera to catch this
spectacle on film.

Adventures in Teaching
As for the everyday part of my life, I've been going strong as a
veteran English teacher of 1 year. Thankfully, I learned quite a lot
in that first year. For some reason, this year they assigned to me
grades 9, 11, and 12 (not 10). As Grade 9 students are small and
annoying, I wasn't thrilled. I'm still not, but at least they fear
me, so they keep pretty well behaved. There was a nice rumour that
I'm a former American soldier.

This year I've learned how to adapt my material better for the kids to
be encouraged to use English as well as try to force them to work on
time schedules and be responsible for work. Its still a hit-and-miss
operation sometimes. For Grade 11, we're doing a unit on cultures,
and as a part of that we played an adapted version of BaFa BaFa. (A
game where two groups with completely different cultural rules are
asked to complete a task together.) This resulted in one of the
groups enslaving another to build a “Tower of Peace”, the slaves
revolting, and an all-out-war ensued with plenty of throwing of paper
balls, pens and the like. I'm sorry I didnt catch this on video.
Inevitably, the teams got the best scores in the class.

Simien Mountains
I realise that this is rather old now, so the stories aren't as good,
but I did go trekking with my friends Chris and Mitchell who were
volunteers in Rwanda for the past year. This was my first time
traveling north, and the Simien Mountains are known for hosting the
highest peak in Ethiopia (Ras Dashen) and troupes of baboons for which
the mountains are named. If you're a fan of the “Planet Earth”
series, then you'll recognize these mountains from the opening of the
“Mountains” episode. And they look even more awesome in real life.

It was a regular backpacking trip filled with animals (domestic and
wild), cold nights of camping, long hours by the fire, and the like.
But the most memorable part of the trip had to be our scout, Mahabo.
He was more than a scout, he was darn near our servant. He never let
us cross a river without holding our hands, he always ran to get water
for us, tend our fire all evening, and even sang us songs to entertain
us. This cleraly wasn't the normal behavior of scouts, as most of the
others at the campsites would just chew chat and sleep and basically
ignore their tourists until they had to make them move to the next
site.

I don't think I've done Mahabo justice here. He was so dedicated,
that even before we started trekking, we had to spend one night in
this small town. He saw us walking the streets and made sure no one
bothered us. He walked us back to our hotel to protect us from
thieves and told us to stay in our hotel (and told the hotel clerk
this too) until the morning because it was dangerous. This was 4
o'clock in the afternoon. We didn't listen, but it was a nice effort.
Sometimes it got to be a bit much, but we understood the sentiment,
and gave him a tip that was probably twice what he was actually hired
for.

Medical Mysteries
This story is a little gross, in case you want to skip it. So, for
months I've had a small lump on my shoulder. I thought nothing of it
because it didn't hurt, wasn't changing colours, and generally I
didn't notice it. Well, apparently it got irritated after carrying a
backpack for a week. It started to get bigger (as in big enough to
notice it through two shirts) and really red and irritated. I kept
thinking I needed to do something about it, but it was at a bad angle
for me to lance it myself, and the volunteer who I'm sure would have
done it for me had already went back home to Austria.

Fortunately, after only a few weeks of this, I had another reason to
visit the hospital with another person. Since I'm getting to know the
doctor at this particular hospital quite well through my visits with
other patients, I asked him to just take a look at it. He looked a
bit concern and asked me to come back the next morning so his director
could take care of it. The director saw me, and said he could take
care of it right away with minor surgery. The abscess was so swollen
that even when he shot me with local anaesthetic, a large amount of
fluid surged out. But while he was draining it and cutting away my
insides, we were discussing all the people we knew in common, which
was definitely helpful, because local anaesthetic doesnt actually take
away much pain. Also, since he knew my project and that I was a
volunteer, after he sewed me back up, he said I could just walk out of
the hospital without paying. I just couldn't lift my arm to shake his
hand.

Conclusion
Thanks for sticking with me thus far. I'm looking forward to my next
several months here, but I'm also happily pondering the days when I go
forth to other countries. I have tentative plans so far, but I should
be attending World Youth Day in Madrid in August, and then I'll
probably return to the East Coast of the US at the end of next August.
Keep me up to date with your own stories, and I'll try to create more
entertaining moments here to recount to you.

Rules to the Game

A few months ago, a friend and I were talking about all the wonderful stories of tragic comedy that keep us going. They make us laugh in that uncomfortable way of knowing that we too could be screwed just that much. These are stories we all have. These are stories that we share to share our misery, and hopefully find the brighter side. Though, lets face it, sometimes there just is no brighter side accept to know we have friends to share such tragedy with. Since the marathon is over, I'm turning this blog over to true life stories of comedy and tragedy. Some rules will be set up, and these will be posted in due time. I would love to collect stories from anyone who fits into the category, and as I get more and more contributions, it will be more like a contest for who has the best tragic/comedic before the next posting. If you have one of these stories at any time, please pass it on, share it with world so we can laugh and be slightly mortified with you.

Race til the End

The crowds rejoice and so do my tired limbs, I finally finished the Boston Marathon in a respectable time of 4:25. All weekend the runners worried about snow, sleet, rain, and wind, and the day actually turned out to be rather fair for running (for those of us who are not running 2 hour marathons).
The athletes village was a mud pit and soaked, but once the running began, we were only chasing the rain. Crowds still turned out. And so did the water trucks, which meant quite a lot of roadside relieving.
I was very glad to have someone to run with the first half, and I'm sorry that I missed my other friend as I was "blowing by her." Thanks to everyone who turned out to watch or tracked me online. The support was needed and is very much appreciated. And I'm glad that I can do something for the MS Society while being a part of such a great event.
For those of you who have the resources, I am still in need of donations. Please visit my MS donations page.

Thanks for everything.

Just read it

Published in Daily Press, Hampton Roads VA Thursday April 12th, 2007.

SMITHFIELD GRAD TESTS LIMITS

A Race for a Friend's Health

A 21-year-old woman will run the Boston Marathon, with a goal of raising $3,000 for multiple sclerosis.

By Susan Smigielski Acker
Special to the Daily Press

April 12, 2007

Smithfield High School graduate, Virginia "Van" Credle, hopes to help raise money and awareness of a crippling disease that has affected a friend by running the long race.

Credle will run as a member of Strides Against MS team in the 111th Boston Marathon to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis – a neurological disease. The legendary marathon is 26 miles and is set for April 16.

Long-time family friend, Deana Owens of Smithfield, has the disease but manages to show much strength, said Credle. "You would never know she has it. She is there for anyone who needs her. She continues to have faith and love for everyone," she said with admiration in her voice.

The pair grew close when Owens served as Credle's sponsor when she confirmed her religious beliefs at Good Shepard Catholic Church in Smithfield several years ago.

"I am honored that is doing this for me. It means so much to me," Owens said.

The 44-year-old bank teller at Old Point National Bank said it has been two years since she had an attack which can be temporary paralysis and even blindness. She was diagnosed 15 years ago when her four children were young.

"My youngest son about three years old when I had an attack and he has pretty much grown up with seeing me with an IV in my arm," she said.

"I pray everyday about it. My doctor said that my positive attitude keeps me well. I am determined not to be crippled," Owens said.

Part of Owens treatment is a weekly shot that must penetrate the muscle. Her husband of 28 years, Joe, administers the shot.

While Owens treats the disease and maintains a positive attitude, Credle, 21, is under a fast track to train for the team of 50 people. She joined the team just six weeks prior to the marathon although she applied in September. She was initially put on the wait list. However several weeks ago, she received an email that an opening had become available.

"I had to quickly change my routine to include several miles of running a day and petitioning for donations in the evening," Credle said.

Currently living in Princeton, N.J., Credle is a software marketing representative. She runs about six miles a day with one long run a week of 10 to 20 miles.

"I average about 50 miles a week. The marathon is getting close, so I am beginning to taper off," Credle said.

"The weather has not been so nice here (in New Jersey) so it has been a little hard when it is cold. I've even run through two blizzards," Credle said.

Credle has been an athlete most of her life. She was captain of Smithfield High School's varsity soccer team and a member of the cross country team. Currently she is also participating in rowing events.

The training lifestyle also includes a balanced diet of the three P's - protein, produce and pasta and one C.

"I eat a lot of carbs such as pasta and I also take a lot of vitamin C to ward off any colds. I also include a lot of fiber," she said.

In order to be on the team, each member must commit to raising $2,500 for the MS society. Credle has set a goal of $3,000 and the team's goal is $300,000 said Steven Sookikian, director of communications for the MS Society.

Presented by the Boston Athletic Association, the race has teams representing other charities to raise money and awareness for their cause, he said.

Her fund raising efforts include asking artist friends to donate art work to create shirts, greeting cards and calendars to sell.

Multiple sclerosis is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. It interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and stops people from moving, Sookikian said.

MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S., and 2.5 million worldwide. Someone is newly diagnosed with MS every hour in the United States. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis, he said.

"There is everything from mobility issues to temporary paralysis, limping, to even in some cases being blind for a few weeks at a time," he said.

Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men contracting the disease, Sookikian said.

The MS Society serves people with the disease and their families with education, advocacy and research for treatment and a cure.

"We are a place to turn to learn on how to cope with MS. If someone needs information, we provide it. If they need special services such as a wheelchair we help them to maneuver the public and private health systems to get what they need," he said.

"We also have people researching a cure," Sookikian added.

"People running in the race will help raise money for all of our causes," he said.

In the Blizzard we go Running

Based on the National Weather Service's most recent report and in cooperation with the Executive Office of Public Safety (Commonwealth of Massachusetts) and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, together with the eight cities and towns along the 26.2-mile marathon route, we are planning for likely heavy rain and windy conditions on race day.

Monday...Rain likely. Rain May be heavy at Times in the morning. Windy with highs in the mid 40s. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Exactly what I want to hear mere days before running the Boston Marathon. These reports seem much more pleasant than what my friend Adam described as "the worst Noreaster in 5 years." We'll see. Despite bad weather, lack of proper training, and even less proper clothing, I will continue. I feel like the postman, but I suppose there are worst things to be compared to. Let's just hope that through all this I won't end up going postal.

Black and White and Read all over

What you see beside this lovely type, is some more lovely type, and a picture, with a byline, which means I didn't write it. Yes indeed, I did make it into the newspaper. This article proudly ran in the Smifthfield Times last week, and I've been lucky enough to have wonderful responses from people who also have been affected by MS in their lives. Its great to have so many people that I dont know also react to this story. Actually, I was lucky it ran at all, and I'm so glad to be spreading awareness about the fight against MS.

In addition to this article, there will also be an article to run in the Daily Press in Virginia on April12th. I'm sure I will also have copies of this article posted. Because who doesn't want to read more about me. Cheers.