So it's about that time. I'm leaving Niger in 6 days, officially flying out on Sunday, June 28th. It's crazy. I've had a hell of a time and have learned a lot about myself and another culture. I don't have much to say but that it has been an emotional week, what with saying goodbye to the villagers to having our end of service conference and saying goodbye to peace corps friends. I have had some good times here. Niger will always be a part of my life. However, I am happy to be returning home and starting grad school in Denver, Colorado. It's all going to happen really fast so wish me luck in my adjustment. Thanks to all who have supported me throughout the two years I have been here. I could NOT have done this without you all, no way. Okay, well I'll let the pics talk now. See you next week in the States!

Sommer

All the health volunteers from my stage at our COS dinner. We are clean here, but most of the time we are the rawest, dirtiest volunteers because we live so remotely.

Some boys hanging outside of the mosque in Niamey. There were tons of people playing soccer out in the distance behind them.

The mosque in Niamey, Niger. Beautiful.

My last day in my village. These villagers were waiting for the car with me. It was nice having company.

Giraffe safari! Down in the Dosso region there are some wild giraffes so we took the some four-runners and scoped them out. No fences here! We were right next to them.

Moutari, a kid in my village, with his brand new Obama t-shirt on. He spent a pretty penny on this thing. Thought ya'll would appreciate this.

I started a Moringa tree nursery with my nurse in the village. These babies will grow up to provide leaves that are packed with vitamins and nutrients.

Me and my mayor of my village. He is a really nice guy and kept telling me I couldn't leave. I told him my friends and family wouldn't agree to me staying any longer. Right??

It's been forever! Sorry about that but just wanted to give everyone a run through of what I've been up to the past months. After vacation I chilled in the village a while, no big projects or anything. Just going to the clinic daily and helping her out with consultations... which actually she does most of the work and I just kind of sit back and watch, and occasionally hold a baby or two that end up peeing on me.

So, after Christmas, some of you know I did some work with the Fistula campaign down in Niamey. Fistula is a condition women get after prolonged child birth. When the baby is in the birth canal too long it ruins the vaginal tissue and leads to holes in the bladder, urethra, or anal tract... which makes women leak urine and sometimes feces all the time. Obviously out in the bush they can't get treatment so 3 times a year these american doctors will come here to niamey and do a roughly two week campaign of free surgeries for them. Peace Corps volunteers translate from local language to english and work with the doctors. It's a lot of work and a lot of fun. I found it really rewarding to work with the women. One of the best things I've done here by far. So anyway that was in January.

February I chilled in my village and did some polio vaccinations with the clinic. Again, nothign to huge around this time. I'm still coordinator of radio in Zinder so I work on that all the time...so don't think I'm not doing anything, jeesh. :)

March we put on a girls fair which is really fun. I don't have any pictures of that unfortunately but other volunteers do so maybe i can post those later. This girls fair was in zinder and included young girls from the bush. I took four from my village. It was a combination of creativity fair and importance of education fair. Lots of fun. We taught them everything from income generating projects, like making tofu and making henna, to what space exploration is and roles of different kinds of women around the world. This was also a really rewardign project and when the girls went back to the village after this they were so thankful and the fair is all they could talk about. They really loved it and I can only hope that it inspires them to continue on with their education so that they can one day go back to the big city life of zinder.

This month I did fistula work again. And that brings us back to speed. I'm going to go down to a village called Gaya in the next couple of days which is down south towards benin, and supposedly really beautiful and green. I'll visit some other PCV's down there. Then I'll head back to the village and wait for some packages from home. I'm doing a health carnival in my village and thanks to dad and mom for their donations and donations from other friends and family it should be a hit. The volunteer before me did a carnival as well to I'm continuing the tradition and they really seemed to like it since they talk about it to this day. I'll have different health stations or games that teach them about healthy living. The prizes are everythign from toys to toothbrushes and they can reimburse tickets at the end for these prizes. I'm really excited about it and hope it goes well.

I'm also in the process of winding down my service here. For those of you who dont know I applied to grad school for my masters in social work and got into all my schools! Right now it's between University of Denver and Columbia University in New York. Denver made me a great offer, and I'm in the process of negotiating with Columbia. It's getting down to the wire to make a decision so I hope it all works out. I should know very soon and will try to let you all know when I find out. If I go to Denver I will be coming home as soon as the end of June, and if I go to Columbia it will be either mid or late july that I'll come home. Either way it's really soon, and I can't believe it! I'm getting kind of nervous at the thought but am also super excited.

Ok enough talking, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure

Me on a camel at my friend's going away party in he village.

I was in Niamey for the Fistula Campaign any my friend's band was playing so me and another PCV sang backup for her, so fun!

This was at the hospital in Niamey, and I'm here doing translations, you can't see the doctor but thy are standing up behind me, and we are explaining to them how to take their pain medications.

All of us who did the Fistula campaign in January; Carrie, Andrea, Elizabeth, Peter, Katie, Me

I forgot to mention I did a bike ride tournament in December promoting AIDS awareness. We traveled over a 100K on bikes and spent the night at villages. In this village we were doing a skit. It was tiring but it was so much fun!

Here are a bunch of us on our bikes ready to hit the road again!

I also forgot to mention that I did a malnutrition prevention campaign in my village where I worked with an NGO and we taught the women how to improve their porridges and foods so as to provide more vitamins and protein that would help prevent malnutrition. I did this for a couple of months time and it went pretty well.

Hey everyone! Just wanted to drop a quick note to let you all know what I've been up to this past week and what I'll be up to in the next month or so. This past week was swear-in for my sister stage so I partook in all the festivities. Here are some pictures:

All of Team Zinder...even a couple who are leaving soon....

Some of us ladies got black dresses made especially for the event so here we are showing them off...

All the newbies rockin the "Z" symbol

As of now I'm scrambling to get my stuff together because (drum roll please) I leave the country for vacation to none other than Spain, Portugal, and Morocco! I'm super excited and am meeting up some good friends of mine there as well: Sulan, Becky, and Meera. We are going to paint the countries red along with Noah (a fellow PCV I've mentioned a couple of times). The trip will last three glorious weeks and we will be taking all forms of transportation (planes, trains, boats, automobiles) to get to our multiple destinations of Casablanca, southern Spain, Lisbon, Madrid, Morocco (various cities). I'm super excited and will be sure to take plenty of pictures. Special thanks to Dad and Monica for helping me out so much for the trip and Mom for all of her advice. I love you all! Oh and also to all of my Houston people, I give you my full support in recovering from the hurricane. I know it was pretty bad for a lot of ya'll so you are all in my thoughts. Okay, well I'll be back in three weeks!

Noah (a fellow PCV who is at the end of his service) recently came out to my village and we took a few pictures. So enjoy!

This is a main square of my village. The place where I wait to get bush taxis is straight ahead and my house is situated directly to the left of this picture in the neighborhood a couple of doors down.

This is Hawa. She is probably one of my best friends in the village and the nicest woman I have ever met. She has sat with me along with her family and chatted for hours helping me with my Hausa.

This is the family of another woman who I go visit and talk with often. Her name is Miriama, and she is by far the best cook in the village. Here is a pic of Noah with her (on his left) and her family.

One of my friends in the village named Dan Musa is a big jokester. He is sitting in the middle to the left of me with a kid in his lap. When I first came to the village he told me I needed to gain 100 kilos! He said I was way too skinny. Thanks to him and all of my villagers actually I did gain weight.... :)

The best part of my day is around 5PM when I have tea with these guys. They are so incredibly nice to me and very patient. I feel like I can really be myself around them. My two closest friends are N'fu (on the mat in the light blue) and Ma'azu (to his left in the white).

The famous Telatu. A handful a lot of times, she helps me tremendously with things. She is constantly updating me on village events and making sure I am clued in on village activities. Her along with a bunch of other girls her age come over every night after she and I eat dinner and we play cards. They are a riot.

Telatu and Noah sitting in my newly built "shade hangar" which actually turned into just an extension of my house.

The entrance to my hut and my laundry line. I wash it by hand in my village and you can see it drying here.

The first room of my hut. I keep all the cards and pictures everyone sends me and have hung some up on my walls. It keeps me remembering that I am still loved in America, haha.

A map that I hung up, my favorite chair, and my bookshelf.

The second, and final, room to my hut. Also my kitchen. Home sweet home! Well that's all folks! Hope all is well with everybody.

I just got back today from training the new Education, Health, and Municipal Development Volunteers. It was surreal as this time last year I was in their shoes. It really showed me how far I've come in this service, but also how far I have to go. I guess I thought I would have accomplished more by now (as far as projects go), but instead what I found I have accomplished the most is the ability to communicate and form relationships with the people here. Not half bad if I say so myself, but I want to focus on doing more concrete work in the village I think now. Anyway, training went great. Good group of people. We are getting maybe 12 people added to our team in Zinder which will change the dynamic drastically. We are doubling our numbers with just this stage. Also, a good friend of mine from my stage, Stephanie, has decided to end her service here and go back to America to pursue other things. Pretty sad, and it leaves the number of people from my stage in Zinder at just 3. I will also be the only oldest reigning Health volunteer in Zinder. Our supervisor, Gaston, pulled me aside with a worried look on his face and was like... "you aren't leaving are you?" I was like, "No, no ofcourse not." And I'm not. The year mark hit July 25th and I feel it is downhill from here (in a good way!). I look forward to this year to come and hoping the benefits of my hard work this past year will pay off, and I can really start to do some good work.

What else has been going on...well, I've been non-stop sick lately, which is kind of annoying. My village nurse was doing polio rounds in surrounding villages, and I accompanied her on the three day voyage. We spent the night in different villages for these nights, and I ended up drinking unfiltered water, which always spells trouble. Ofcourse I end up getting amoebas, but it was so worth it to see different areas of my region. I helped administer the Polio vaccine and I must say, Niger is coming close to erradicating Polio. Was glad to be a part of it. Anyhow, so I end up getting Amoebas and then during training I get this awful cold (thank you new stagieres with your American diseases, haha). I'm starting to get over that now though so hopefully I can just relax these next couple of days. Been working on radio quite a bit. Turns out we have to start going to the studio to do our segment (before we just used a digital recorder and just turned in tapes to them, but the quality they said was too bad). I did a live show with another girl from the Agricultural stage before me and it was tons of fun actually. I was really nervous but it turned out really well. I also busted out some scripts before training, all in Hausa, which was exhausting, but pretty awesome that I could pull it off. Now, I think I'm going to try to conjure up some old scripts people have already done as doing four shows a month, all new shows, is pretty much impossible if I want to keep my sanity. The two I recently wrote were about malaria and importance of using mosquito nets and the other was on the recent polio vaccination campaign. I'll be taking on more and more responsiblity as coordinator of radio in Zinder, especially with Noah leaving pretty soon (the other radio coordinator). Hopefully I can handle the workload, and some of the new people will want to help out.

Well I go back to Zinder on tuesday, hopefully get some radio shows recorded, and then get back to the village on the 16th, I think thats friday? I've been out of the village for a while now, which I feel guilty about, but I am working so can't feel too bad. Hopefully they haven't forgotten about me, haha. Maybe I'll get another update in before then, but if not, take care everyone and I'll write again soon!

Here are some pics from some of my happenings...

Some pics of the training site that we decorated right before the trainees came.

Pic of the Volunteer trainers and the Training Staff

Trainers waiting for trainees at the airport and next pic is trainees just arriving!

Us showing the new trainees the prenatal consultation process at the local clinic at the training site

Laura and I doing our live radio show!

So rainy season fast approaches which I'm VERY thankful about. For the past month and a half I have been beyond hot, insanely hot. I thought coming from houston that I would get through the season easy but no no no. So after that suffering, the coming of rainy season is awesome. Even though we have to deal with the bugs and storm-interrupted sleeps, its fine.

So biggest news: I got picked to be a trainer for the next new group of Peace Corps Volunteers! I will be one of four health volunteers training on my sector. It will be quite a trip to see and get to know the volunteers that are going through what I went through a year ago. In some ways I feel I've come so far but in other ways I don't. It was so overwhelming at first, and I finally feel like I'm getting to a place where I'm comfortable. Oh it only took a year....jeez!

Right now I am in Niamey because we had our mid-service training. Learned a little about collaborative work with other organizations here which is helpful. I feel I have a good grasp of this because I work closely with the NGO in my village and it's proved to be really beneficial. We are supposed to be doing a malnutrition project soon where we teach families in the red on how to make better weaning porridges. All very interesting huh? Haha, well I also want to have a big party at the end of the week and hire drummers or something.

Well mostly I wanted to share some pics with you. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my memory card with the health mural photos on it, so I will get those on here another time. Rather, I'll go ahead and put some pics up from Pangea, a cross-cultural sharing musical/arts event that I participated in. It was really amazing as I helped with the girls' weekend (where young Nigerien girls get to take classes on dance, drumming, spoken word, songwriting, etc) and it was really rewarding at the end when they got to perform all they had learned. It was amazing to see these girls come out of their shell. We don't get to see that much here in Niger. Most girls are really quiet and shy because their participation in pretty much anything is suppressed. Okay, well I'll let the pictures talk for themselves.

Miss everybody! Thanks to all who are continuing to write and call. You have no idea how nice it is to be kept up to date.

Till next time!

Sommer

The Pangea set. This was one of the bands that played during the week. There was one band called "Chibia" which means bellybutton in Hausa. I thought that was pretty funny.So these are some of the young girls performing spoken word. It was really great because they got incredibly into it. I recorded some of the performances and put together a radio show on it in Zinder so their voices were heard over the airwaves! Too bad they couldn't hear the show though because they are in Niamey...This is the massive crowd that showed up. There was a lot of support for this event. Here we are giving the girls certificates for completing the intensive weekend and for giving such stellar performances. *** to see full album of Pangea pictures go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2206906&l=e85d5&id=23908191

Hello everyone. It's been a long time since my last post. I guess I should pick up where I left off... in Ghana. Well, it was amazing. Got to see the Nigeria vs. Ghana game, which Ghana won. I was literally picked up and twirled around by a complete stranger when Ghana scored their last goal. It was all very exciting. Also, I ate a LOT of good food including sushi, indian cuisine, and I even had a smoothie! Considering you can't get any o fthat in Niger, that is huge. I also found time to go to the artesan center and picked up some souveneirs for my villagers and myself... it's funny, the bracelettes I got some of the women in my village are said to have healing powers by my villagers. They put some of the stones around the ankles of their children to help them heal from cuts/scrapes or sickness. I didn't have the heart to tell them that the stones weren't going to help their child get better but instead tried to give them alternative methods as well...like washing the cut with soap and water, haha, seems simple enough right? Well you'd be surprised. So Ghana was very refreshing, but the long trip back to Niger snapped me back into reality. Since I've been back a number of things have happened:

1. I attended a health training with a counterpart from my village (a woman who is in charge of some village affairs named Hawahu) who is also my good friend in the village. Although some of the training was frustrating (ie we did it in abou tthree different languages so had to sit through three different translations, exhausting) we did get some good techniques on preventing malnutrition, such as enhancing food recipes in villages, organizing monthly baby weighings, etc.

2. Participated in a girls' conference in Zinder put on by some older PCV's. Girls chosen from the "bush" or rural areas of Zinder region were transported out to Zinder city for a fair on education to try to encourage them to go onto higher education. They got to shadow successful career women in the city, hear a career forum, and do fun things like yoga classes and bobbing for apples. At the end we made them school gift bags and had a danceand photo slideshow of all they had accomplished over the few days of the fair. It was amazing to see how excited the girls were about it all. This had to be the best thing I've helped out with thus far in Niger.

3. Helped paint a health mural in my friend's village in the Maradi region.

4. Started working on radio shows and will be co-coordinating radio in Zinder with another PCV. We have a 30 minute slot every friday morning that all of Zinder region has access to listen to. The first time my villagers heard me on air, they were very excited. Come to think of it, I was too! Radio is pretty big here since that is their biggest means of finding out news...none of this TV set in every house nonsense, haha.

So now I have a few things I'm working on. I just bought paint supplies to do my own health mural project in my village. I plan on having three different ones...one on the outside of my clinic that will be big enough for cars passing by to see. One on the inside (as per request of my nurse) that includes food groups, and one painted by a girl in my village after a drawing contest in the school. This should be happening in about three weeks. Also, there is an event called Pangea in Niamey which is a weeklong event that consistst of teaching young nigerien girls about the arts... I'll be helping out with a voice class. This will be at the end of may.

That's all the exciting news I have so far. On a personal level, I'm doing alright. I think I'm getting a little burnt out and the newness is starting to wear off. I'm beginning to realize that this is going to be a constant uphill battle, especially where language is concerned. Not to mention that I miss home a LOT. A lot more than I thought I would too. Also, the pace here is a lot different than what we are used to in the States. No one meets at the ttime they say they will and not very many villagers have a lot of effort in general. It's just a different mentality. Anyhow, I hope with a few projects under my belt I'll have a little more sense of accomplishment. Until then, I'm trying to maintain a good sense of humor about things. But know I miss everyone and love hearing from you all. Hope all is well! Oh and I'll try to update more.... :)

So it's my last day in Ghana and I must say it is going to be very hard to leave this place. So far this has been the little america of west africa. It is so developed here and I didn't realize how much I missed that. Things are good, and I have met some locals who have been incredibly nice...not to mention people speak english here rather than french and that has been so much easier. I don't actually have to translate in my head what i want to say before i say it. Ghana won their match against Nigeria so the streets were crazy that night. Think mardis gras but without girls flashing. Anyhow, I leave tomorrow and have a long bus ride ahead of me, but I feel refreshed and definitely miss things about village life. Will write when I get back to Niger...

Hey everyone! Well just came from Benin where we lived it up high balling Benin style going to the classiest clubs and resorts there...no joke, we got taken around by some extremely nice locals and some Lebanese car dealers (yeah I know that sounds shady, but what are you gonna do?). Now I am in Lome, Togo and its absolutely breathtaking. We've met up with some PCV's here and they are going to give us a proper tour of the place. This trip has been amazing so far and I couldn't have picked a better group to go with. There has been non-stop laughing the whole time. Well, I will try to keep everyone updated throughout the trip and maybe download some pics if I can find a decent internet cafe. Until then...I'm gonna hit the beach!

Soms

Holy crap! I leave for Ghana tonight, and just in the nick of time. Finished writing my quarterly report and grant proposal for the project in my village. Feels so good to get that done and now I get to go on vacation! First we will be going through Benin and Togo, and in Togo we must wait for a Visa for Ghana. So I'll be getting in Ghana around the 2nd or 3rd or February. All very exciting. I will try to keep the blog updated on my travels. African Cup here I come!

Soms

Hey everyone, sorry for the long delay between posts. With the holidays and everything I've been keeping pretty busy. First of all, for those who have been reading up on Niger or stay in tune to the BBC, there have recently been some landmines throughout the southern part of Niger, where PCV's are posted. We were put on something called "standfast" for a while....right before Christmas and for about a week, but now we are off of it. Don't be alarmed, things have calmed down a bit, but we are all trying to stay alert and be cautious. I feel safe and Peace Corps has done a decent job of keeping us informed. Just wanted to let people know and clear the air that things are good. Another bizarre things happened yesterday. A couple of NGO volunteers were at a restaraunt near the Zinder hostel when their car got hijacked. The mom and one of her kids were thrown out their car and the carjackers drove off. However, a four month year old baby was still inside. So a bunch of NGO's and some PCV's (me included) did a massive search last night and this morning. Luckily the baby was found and is safe and sound. In fact, we were told he was smiling when they picked him up! It ended well, but it's been a bit crazy what with landmine scares and this bizarre carjacking. Not to worry though, I still feel safer walking down the street here than I did in downtown dallas!

On other news....I go to my village tomorrow and will be happy to get back. I've worked on a few proposals and just wrote a grant for a well/garden project that will happen (if funds get granted) at the end of this year. I held my first meeting with the heads of my village to talk abou the proposal. It was interesting trying to get everyone to meet at a certain time and place...they really have no concern with punctuality here :). Regardless they sounded excited about it.

I leave for Ghana very soon and am super pumped. It will be good to see some pretty beachscape and get a vacation. Hopefully I will be able to see one of the African Nations Cup Games live. Very exciting.

Hope all is well in teh states. I love hearing from all of you. Till next time!

Soms

Back to Niamey for In-Service training. Thanksgiving went well. We had to kill our own turkey, but I would expect nothing less here :) Enjoy the pics!

My crazy village kids. The little girl in the middle has dinner with me every night.

A PCV known as "Cewbaca" (yes, that's right) in Niger had a wedding ceremony in his village which is near mine... his gf from the states came up for it. This is me and steph and some other PCV's at the wedding.

Um... how do I explain this one? After my month live-in (which I got through without getting sick thank you very much), Team Z threw all of us newbies an 80's party. The tackiness ensued! So much fun!

Me and Steph at one of our language instructor's wedding in the Zinder region. Like my outfit? You know you do.

This little boy kept coming up to me at the wedding. He was so cute! But it's funny, he was wearing more American looking clothes than me!

Another PCV's girls' soccer team. Go team and coach Danel! Me and Kellie went to watch the girls' soccer tournament which is held every year. Playing soccer seems to really give the girls a lot of empowerment.

A visit to G-side and Jen's Village which is an Oasis tucked away in Zinder. They have palm trees! Here we are wading through the "Hanya Ruwa."

Thanksgiving feasting and cooking! We had SO MUCH food, I think I gained about 20 pounds that day. Oh and I got suckered into helping someone (ahem, Danel and Noah) make empanadas...it took forever!!Me and Steph on the 17 hour bus ride to IST. We go a little crazy after so many hours, but can you blame us?

Well I'm back in Zinder after one month in my village, and I have been here for about a week. I go back tomorrow, and I am actually more excited than nervous which I take as a good sign. My village was wonderful. The first two weeks were pretty challenging, but after many rounds of greeting everyone and finding a friend or two, everyone warmed up. Much of my time was spent trying to establish some sort of routine. It's a chore just to put away my bed in the mornings, get dressed, cook breakfast, go for a run, visit people, etc. It's great though because it all fills up my day nicely and gives me something to do while I'm struggling to learn the language. Everyone I've talked to in the states has asked me what kind of work I've been doing, so I'm just going to say to all of you that the first 6 months are pretty much dedicated to getting to know my community and learning the language. I can't really get anything done until I can communicate and know what it is they need help with. But let me tell you, the learning the language part is definitely work! Anyhow, I will keep everyone updated on work stuff when I actually start a project. Also, people have also been asking what my village is like and what the culture is like. It's kind of hard to explain but I will try my best. Islam plays a really big role in the country so it kind of mandates that people (mostly just the men as the women are constantly working at home) pray five times a day (which is announced by a town caller) and that they dress modestly...so sleeves and long skirts for the women, as well as covering their heads, and then pants and sleeves for the men as well. The men keep there hair short too. I am really luck in that, as a foreigner, I can get away with not covering my head adn wearing pants as a woman. However, I do try to dress modestly out of respect. Also, I do not cover my head which is okay with them as well. With that said, the people are incredibly nice and always smiling. It's actually quite suprising seeing as how they are constantly struggling for food and health. But virtually no one complains about the work. One thing I was really surprised about was that I got asked for gifts constantly. This is actually a part of the culture and people ask eachother for gifts all the time (but they especially ask me because they think since I am from America, I am automatically rich). However, I've gotten used to it, and now I simply turn the tables and ask them for gifts..which they usually get a good laugh out of. Also, I have a family that cooks me dinner every night which is nice...and I'll usually bring them back something from market. Anyhow, it has been good to have a break, but I'm ready to go back. I will be coming back to Zinder for Thanksgiving and will have cell service then. If anyone wants to call around that time, I would love to hear from you. Hope all is well in the states and shoot me an email if you have questions or if you simply want to tell me what's going on in the states adn with you. Take care all!

Hey everybody,

So the previous address that Sommer listed for her in Zinder is incorrect as some of you might of found out when you tried to send her letters and packages. The second to last line where it says

Zinder, Africa is incorrect it acutally should be Zinder, Niger.

So in the future please address it to all the same address except Ziner, Niger instead of Zinder, Africa.

Sulan

Hey everyone! So yesterday was "swear-in" where I officially transitioned from trainee to volunteer. I am super excited to get to my village and will be leaving for Zinder for good this Saturday. I feel a little nervous but very excited at the same time. This week I will be able to get online a few more times and my phone is available for calls. After this week though it will be harder to get a hold of me so just be advised. I miss you all and hope all is well in the States.

Sommer

[September 13, 2007]

Well I JUST got back from "live-in" which means that I got an introduction to my village here in Zinder, and let me tell you it is amazing. Scary as hell being the only volunteer there but pretty amazing nonetheless. First of all it's beautiful...the village sits in a vallley with big rolling hills all around. Its breathtaking. Everyone is really nice and the people aren't too conservative so they understand if i wear pants and dont cover my head. its kinda cool. Also, I can exercise and go running and feel completely safe doing it (at training they told us it wasnt okay for a girl to go running by herself or not wear skirts, bla bla bla, which in some villages it isn't, but with mine, I got pretty lucky). There is defintely work to be done as well...nutrition projects, water issues, etc. However, I'm still learning the language so that is the goal for the next couple of months...can't really get much done if I can't communicate ya know? haha. Also, someone in my village speaks English! It was awesome at the time I found out because I got stuck at a market abotu 5K away and was freaking out about how I was goign to get back with the little water I had left adn low and behold this guy comes up to me and starts speaking english! I about hugged him..so needless to say he got me a ride back and I arrived safe and sound. He is going to help me a lot with the local language for sure. Anyway, I go back to training for two more weeks and then come back here to Zinder for the next two years (assuming i pass my language exam, crossing fingers)! Pretty exciting. Also, it might be comforting for you to know that there is another volunteer, kelly, pretty close to my village and we are going to meet at market atleast once a week..and she'll be staying the night probably once a week at my village as well. This is great because we can keep eachother sane adn also do projects and such together. Oh and in other good news I'm putting my name down on the waiting list for a bike because the road to the market is good enough terrain for a nice bike ride...yayyy exercise! Okay, I'm gonna wrap this up, hope all is well with everyone. Keep in touch and let me know how you all are doing as well!!!!

Peace and Love Sommer

Okay everyone here is my new cell phone number:

o11 227 96544907

The best time to call me is after 6PM here....which since I'm 6 hours behind, means around lunch time for you. If you call me, its free for me! So unlimited talking...or atleast limited to how much you want to pay. :) We can also text apparently, and that is cheaper for me.

Also, once I get to post in October, the only internet I will be able to use will be internet cafe BUT more often than not I will be using the Outlook at our hostel and there is an email address for that computer. However, you MUST put my name in the subject line for emails to get to me. Here is the email address:

zinderpcvs@intnet.ne

Dont' forget! My name needs to be in the subject line.

Hope all is well!

Sommer

Hello all!

Well I am adjusting well here and besided bug bites and other questionable things that I guess you could call bites, I am in health... or "Lahiya Lau" in Hausa. SO I have the BIGGEST news that affects the rest of the next two years of my life, where I will be posted! Drumroll please.... Zinder! Yes! I will be in the far east of the country which many of you may think is crazy, BUT I asked for this region because I've heard so many great things about it. First of all, Zinder used to be the capital back in the day so it is a big city (second to niamey) and I am only 35K away from it which is great. The people of Niger are supposed to be very laid back too and the city is supposedly cleaner. My village is right off of a main road so its easy to catch taxis to the city. A little about my village: has about 800 people, has a market 5K away, and there are some established NGOs there apparently--World Vision and GOAL. The girl who was stationed there before me said she made great friends and did good work with the clinic and actually built a school while she was there. There are a lot of women's projects going on like reading/writing classes in Hausa, sewing/knitting, and the girl before me taught them how to make tofu. how awesome is that? So, anyway, it sounds very exciting, and a soem of the PCV's in Niger have horses...so who knows? Maybe I'll get one! Anyway I'm VERY excited and do my "live-in" not this week but next week which means we go and stay there for abotu five days to do a trial run per say. Another good thing is that I will be next to another PCV...only about 7K and she is in training with me and is really nice. Okay, thats all about my village. Other good news, I'm getting a cell phone! Actually, I already got one, but I don't have teh Sim card yet with my phone number, but when I do I will let you know. So get your calling cards ready and call me up! Here is my new address starting October 1, 2007: Sommer Neff PCVCorps de la PaixBP 641 Zinder, AfricaWest Africa Remember write "air mail" on whatever you send me. I also want to let everyone know that I am doing really great! I feel like I am getting into a routine now which helps me relax a little and enjoy myself. Language is getting a little easier and I'm just trying not to put to much pressure on myself. I am in high spirits after learning about my future post. Also, I've made a couple of good friends, Natasha, Katie, and James to name a few who have been great ears for me to vent and gab to. However, with that said, I miss you all SOOO much and just wish that I could have you all here with me. Okay, so Im goign to quickly explain these pictures and they are in no particular order as I am tyring to hurry because there is a line behind me. 1. The group going to Niger out of our Stage. There is only a lucky five of us and we are all girls. woo hoo! However we are joining a pretty big team so it's all good. They gave us awesome tshirts and made cookies for us when announcing our posts. So nice! 2. The "Shake"-- a prominent religious leader we met at at village south of Niamey. Very nice...he treated us all to dinner and cokes. 3. Me playing frisbee with the neighborhood hoodlums. gotta love em. 4. One of the first meals we all ate together. I eat liek this with my host family every night. On a mat with my hands. FUN! haha Anyway, those are all the pics I could download right now, but i will try to do more later. Thanks for teh awesome camera by the way, it's come in handy. Okay, well I have to end this, I wish I could write more, but will defintely do so when I have more time. Missing you all! Sommer

[taken upon the PC trainees safe arrival to Niger at the end of July]

okay, so this is the biggest they will make the picture without distorting the image. if you want the actual picture file (which is huge), then just email djscrewlan@gmail.com and it will be sent to you. It's like a "Where's Waldo" scenerio because in my opinion, Sommer is hard to spot in this picture, but she looks happy. Hint: She is sitting on the right.

[blogged by Sulan]

[tidbits from a phone conversation with Sommer in Niger, August 19, 2007]

-When she gets her own hut to live it, it will be made out of mud and clay with a thatched roof, which leaks when it rains.

-During the rain season, which is right now, the rain comes quick and sudden without warning.

-Her host family does not speak English, only Hausa.

-Mainly she eats rice and beans, so she would really appreciate a care package, the best things to include would be things that keep such as granola bars, jerky, peanut m&ms, etc [sidenote: packages to Niger are ridiculously expensive as this blogger soon discovered so I, or really it was Jonathan's idea, would suggest cramming things into those $11 global priorty flat rate envelopes]

-she was able to visit a veteran PC member in another village; the villagers all new the veteran PC, who spoke Hausa fluently

-The average Niger girl/woman? gets married at 13, and pregnant by 15 [that's so crazazy young]

-It's shameful to be pregnant; and its shame on the family if the girl shows any pain during her pregnancy.

-Sommer has to wear long skirts,and cover her head with a scarf, which she finds hard for her to conform, but in order for the Nigeriens to take her seriously and to gain respect, she has to follow their traditions.

-She gets made fun of for saying the word "y'all".

-She will be getting a cell phone eventually, but for her to make a call its 1000 francs = $2 a minute so she is encouraging everyone to call her through Skype because its free for her, but will cost some money from our side, but at least not $2 a minute. There will be updates about her phone information.

-And of course, she misses everyone like crazy!

[blogged by Sulan, if there is not this label then Sommer is the one who blogged]

[originally written by Sommer August 2, 2007]

Hello everyone! I arrived safely here in Niger; Right now I am training... which means that I'm learning Hausa (a local language, the 2nd most popular in Africa.) annd staying with a host family. It is extrememly intense, and I'm constantly feeling as if I'm keeping my head above water. However, I know it will come with time. "Sai haukuri" or have patience as they say. Still no internet access so letters are the best way to communicate still. Write! I want to know what's going on. Also enjoy the running water and electricity as I don't have any.

Sending my love, Sommer

[blogged by Sulan]

Hello all!

Well in case you don't know yet, I arrived in Niger safe and sound. We have been training for about 3 weeks which entails pretty much language and culture classes. I am learning Hausa and it is pretty challenging but nothing i can't handle. There is so much to get adjusted to but the sky and land are so vast....it seems like they both go on forever...it's like nothing I've seen in the States.

This past weekend we got to go into Niamey and now we can start trekking here on our own which is nice. Sometimes it feels like they are a little overprotective of us at the training site so it's nice to gain a little independence.

Hope all is well, and keep the letters coming. Internet is really touch and go here. Thank you to everyone who has written so far and had me in their thoughts, it means so much. I love and miss you all!! Peace!!!

Sommer

Hey everyone! I depart tomorrow for Niger but will not be able to contact anyone until September 25th and maybe even later than that. In the meantime, I will write letters and get a friend to post them to this site. Wish me luck!

I was up until the wee hours of the morning packing my bags. Thanks to my mom for helping me stuff everything into my pack. Needless to say, some things had to be sacrifced and mom will be sending them to me. How the hell do they expect me to fit a set of tubberware anyway??

Wishing all my friends were here to laugh at how ridiculous I look with the pack on about to tip over...

I have to leave for the airport in an hour and a half. Philly cheesesteaks here I come!

Hello all!

I leave tomorrow for Philadelphia, PA to start Orientation for the Peace Corps. I will be there from July 24, 2007 through July 26, 2007 and depart for Africa on the 26th. I will also be turning my cellphone off on the 24th, so the only way to communicate will be email, blog, letters, or hotel room number before I go. Here is my information on all of the above:

Email:

somsomneff@gmail.com

Blog:

www.sommerneff.blogspot.com

Address:

Sommer Neff, PCV

Corps de la Paix

B.P. 10537

Niamey, Niger

Hotel Information: (They will not give me a room number until I check in, so either ask for my name, or I will probably send another email once I know)

Holiday Inn- Philadelphia Historic District

Front Desk. 215.923.8660

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hotel/phlim?rpb=hotel&crUrl=/h/d/hi/1/en/hotelsearchresults

Keep me in your thoughts, you are all in mine! Please keep in touch!

Bon Voyage,

Sommer

18 days till i leave dallas for houston

26 days till i leave for orientation

28 days till i leave for niger

The countdown ensues! I'm trying to wrap up all of my loose ends over here. I think I am finally going to be legally cleared since I got the IRS off my back (nothing like a little italian mob backing to help me out when in political strife....I kid).

My solar charger came in the mail today! Solio is my new favorite thing now. If anyone wants it go to solio.com--- I actually bought mine off of ebay though for about 15 dollars cheaper. I'm charging it right now....so we'll see if it works as well as they advertise.

On the packing list they said to bring a belt because you are sure to lose weight. I am going to blow away in the desert wind...