September 17

I REALLY love having a 3 day weekend! Friday and Saturday were, unfortunately, not good beach days, but the girls and I found other ways to entertain ourselves. Friday we ran some errands and got school supplies and other things we needed, and didn't need. We walked to my house from the city on the Promenade des Anglais, which is the main road that runs through Nice. It is along the sea and has a great side walk for running or biking on the sea-side, and the other side is filled with fancy hotels, casinos, and restaurants.
We went out Thursday and were too tired to stay up late again so we went grocery shopping and made ourselves dinner. And drank a 4 euro bottle of wine, ew.
Saturday we took a tour of my home and (kind of) learned about the archives. It was cool to see original documents from the past couple of centuries, but it was hard to understand everything that was being said in French. Amel, my host-mom, brought us to 3 churches around the city and they were absolutely beautiful. All of them were so different but very gorgeous, and well worth the visits! We went out Saturday night and I ran into my American friends from Le Moyne/Utica at a bar in Old Nice. It is nice to actually speak English to other people our age.... and other people in general.
Today was 75 and sunny. We went to our program director's house this afternoon to do tie-dye with her daughter. After, of course, we slept on the beach all day. My skin has seen more sun in the past three weeks than it has in 20 years in New York. I probably lacked some Vitamin D anyways...


Tomorrow starts another week of classes. I feel like everyone studying abroad shouldn't be forced to actually go to classes. It's hard enough translating everything everyone says at dinner, let alone what the professor says in regards to how foreign countries influenced the change in style of poetry from the 19th to 20th century. I will not be on the dean's list this semester. I'm going on a trip to Montpellier this weekend with Anna and Jacqueline! We don't really know anyone who lives there but there's a college, and bars, and a hostel SO I think we'll be fine. Have a good Monday!

September 16

I LOVE that my weekends start on Thursday! Classes stink, but it's well worth suffering in them for a three day weekend. Classes in France only meet once a week for 2 hours, but in the U.S. they are required to meet for 3 hours a week so everyone had to pick up an extra class in order to get enough transfer credits. My schedule, fortunately for me, will now include 4 hours of bible study (in French) rather than 2. The Jesuits at Le Moyne will be so happy about this.
I went to the beach after class today and it was a perfect day, as usual. I think it's 80 degrees and sunny EVERYDAY. I don't know how people actually go to their jobs instead of the beach! Theres a chance of rain this weekend, but there will be activities in the city (other than the beach) because satuday is Le Patrimoine. This is kind of like Heritage Day in the U.S., but everyone here celebrates being French by visiting ancient buildings (museums, chapels, castles, etc.). A lot of these buildings are private, or closed most of the year, so it gives everyone an opportunity to take a tour of someplace that is rarely open to the public. There will actually be tours of my house all day Saturday! We live upstairs, but the downstairs is thousands of books with all of Nice's archives. The palace and garden are GORGEOUS so apparently a lot of people like to come check it out.

Other than Sunday, we didn't take any really special trips this week. We had our first French classes, and have been spending a lot of time trying to figure out our schedules. Even though I don't have anything TOO exciting to say today it is still exciting to walk to the beach every single day after class, and then walk to the mall/stores when my sunburn starts to get too bad ;)

September 14

Yesterday was my FIRST real life French class, and I don't think it was the funnest class I've ever had. I would never really sign myself up for History of  English Litterature of the 20th Century, so the same class in French isn't appealing. The good news is I can understand people finally! My host family probably thought I was an idiot for the first week because I just stared at them everytime they spoke. They are SO nice and help me all the time with words, books, etc. All of the kids are super nice too and they explain everything little thing to me. They watch American shows on TV everynight that have been translated in to French and then during every commercial they fight over who is going to explain what is going on. I enjoy the arguing at dinner/bed time; it makes me feel at home :).
This weekend we visited Cannes and L'ile St. Honorat. We took a train to Cannes and then a boat to the island. Both were SO gorgeous. We got to lay out all day, since there are rarely any clouds here. It was an easier trip than last weekend which involved a 5 hour hike in mountains that were 2 hours away by bus. We also saw the village of Sigal, which has about 200 people living in it, and it was very  pretty. I could've slept for a week after it, but it was well worth it!!! The intense workout also made me feel better about how frequently I eat gelato..
Jacqueline and Anna and I wore dresses to the hike on accident because we didn't realize it would be so involved....but it was involved alright. We also go to the beach everyday together, which is very easy to do considering our classes meet once a week for 2 hours! This schedule thing is much better than it is in America.
Oh, and I miss my mom. Thank God skype exists, because if it didn't, I'm not sure how my dad would give me "tours" of my OWN HOME with his computer when he runs out of things to talk about.
The beach awaits me!!!