First days in Nice

Today I set a goal. Along with a picture, I’m going to try really hard to write one relatively short post per day. Starting tomorrow.

Last night I felt a little overwhelmed because there was so much I wanted to talk about. I’ll try to finish up all of that now and start doing shorter and more frequent posts.

After settling in and stuffing myself full of cheese, chocolate, and bread, I completely crashed. I think I could have slept for days, but we had an orientation meeting the following morning with our director, Dr. Eades. Sophie, my host mom, walked me to her place and then turned me loose with a map, a set of house keys, and no phone. Her advice was “If you think you’re lost, it’s ok. You’re not lost. I’ll see you later.” Despite her confidence in my nonexistent sense of direction, I was concerned about finding my way home all day.  But orientation went well. Dr. Eades is hilarious and seems really invested in the students and the program.  I left the meeting with a ton of forms, at least 5 different city maps, and probably twice as many brochures.

Following orientation, we ventured out into the city in one giant herd. I know we stood out like a sore thumb, but I don’t think anyone was brave enough to go exploring solo at that point. We ended up on the Promenade des Anglais, which is the street lined with palm trees and fancy stores and hotels that runs right along the ocean. A lot of the pictures I’ve taken so far have been on the Promenade. You can probably tell from the pictures that in Nice the beaches are rock rather than sand. The shore is mostly covered by smooth marble or golf ball sized grayish pebbles.  I think I prefer the rocks to the sand. It’s nice because you can actually hang out on the beach and then go about business as usual without leaving a trail of sand everywhere you go for the rest of the day. No sandy towels, no sand in your eyes, and no sand castles (rock castles and pyramids are an alternative). Today I had lunch on the beach with a few other students. We all got great amusement out of skipping stones and “chucking” rocks into the ocean.  Also, laying on the smooth sun-warmed rocks feels great. Hot rock massages…don’t people pay a lot of money for those?

After the Promenade (Apparently, the locals call it “Le Prom.”), someone suggested we climb to the top of the Château de Nice, which was at the end of the “Prom” and has a great overlook. We made it to the top about a zillion steps later, and it was completely worth the hike. The pictures I took from there are some of the best so far. It had been cloudy all morning and we got to the top just as the sun was coming out. So beautiful.

By the time we made it down from the Château we realized that we were back in my neighborhood. The group walked back to my house with me to see where I lived, and we didn’t even get lost! (Although someone else was actually reading the map and navigating for me.)

Class started on Monday. The 18 of us in the UMD group have been in a test prep course all week from 9:00-noon. We have a big placement exam coming up on Monday and Tuesday. That’s where they assess our level of French so we can register for the appropriate classes. The teacher is exactly what I imagine when I think of a French woman. Her name is Letitia and she’s this beautiful, young, stylish, tiny woman. The class is ok. It’s pretty informative and a great refresher on some basic vocabulary and grammar stuff. I’m learning a lot about the culture, too. It’s just that 3 hours in the same classroom every day get a little boring. I’m looking forward to real classes starting. So far my afternoons have been spent squeezing in errands between a walking tour, a bus tour, dodging dog poop, and a nap that was absolutely necessary to my survival.  Next week should be calmer.