Sannu!

Welcome! to my first attempt at a blog. I'll be posting here about the experiences I will be having in Niger over the coming two years of work with the Peace Corps. I'm not extremely internet friendly but I do have a myspace page ( http://www.myspace.com/jjkelley83) and a facebook page if you're so inclined, though I probably won't be checking them all that often.

Let's start off with some brief facts about Niger:

It's about 3 times the size of California, consisting of roughly 4/5 desert or semi-desert land in the North and 1/5 of arable land in the South of the Country.

Niger is a stable and mostly safe place to live, though very poor. Average yearly income is only $200 US.

They speak French in Niger among the local languages, of which Huasa and Zarma are the two most dominant (Sannu is Hello in Hausa).

Check out the wikipedia site on Niger: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niger
The CIA world fact book: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ng.html

I'm flying out of Seattle on July 23, 2007 so expect more updates once I reach the country.

Wish me luck, stay in touch.