October 18

We stayed in Nice this past weekend after our Florence adventure the weekend before. France, for some reason, is obsessed with having strikes and demonstration days, and they tend to get rowdy early in the morning as to wake us up on Fridays when we can sleep in. A lot of high school kids skipped classes on Fridays to parade around town complaining about the retirement age and screaming lots. After we woke up we went to the beach on Friday and then booked our flights to Paris for the 1st weekend of December! That will be my final European trip because the weekend after that is my last weekend in Nice, and the weekend after that I will be at my sister's wedding! WOO!
We are lucky that we can still go to the beach because the sun is so strong, but the weather is starting to get cooler and it is starting to rain a little more often. I hate when it's cold, but it's still warmer than Syracuse! Jacqueline's friend from college, Isabel, came to visit for the weekend and she arrived Saturday morning. I met up with them Saturday during the day to do some walking around Nice, and then we went out to dinner and went out.
Sunday I woke up early and walked home without an umbrella in the pouring rain. That was so fun. My host mom, Amel, had invited a friend over for lunch and everything was super perfect. She was wearing a dress and high heels, and my host dad was dressed all nicey nice as well. Meanwhile, I was soaked with the same make up on from the day before, and my hair in a wet rat's nest. She set the table with fancy plates and silverwear, and wrapped the napkins up with flower-ish holders. For an "aperitif" we had some white wine with cherry flavored syrup, and cheese and crackers. Then we had two different salads, beef, potatoes, some vegetables, and a cake that was nicer than wedding cakes in the U.S. I had to take a nap after lunch because I was so tired from eating for so long. I have SO much homework do this week so I stayed up late trying to accomplish some, but unfortunately I didn't get very far. I am going to be one busy girl until Thursday is over!
Friday I leave for Barcelona for 5 and a half days! I am SO excited and cannot wait!