As I arrived to the airport in New York and approached the Abbey Road group, I had no idea what was in store… Thankfully, I slept the entire 7-hour flight and awoke just as we landed in Nice, so I was rested for the busy days that lay ahead.
My first few days in Nice, France have been absolutely incredible! The first day we arrived, we were excitedly greeted by our awesome teachers, who were eager to show us around and make us feel comfortable. We were each directed to our single rooms, which are conveniently equipped with a kitchenette, private bathroom, and comfortable sleeping space.
On July 4th, we celebrated our home country by having a picnic on the gorgeous beach a few steps away from our apartment complex. We made our own sandwiches and attempted to skip rocks on the water, but it turns out that rock-skipping really isn’t the sport for me… Neither is beach volleyball. We decided to grab some gelato and walk around Old Nice for a few hours afterward.
This morning we had our first French classes. My class spent one hour in the classroom learning important grammatical technicalities and practiced our skills out in town for two hours. After some exciting, leisurely free time (which most of us spent at the beach!), we had a cook-off that consisted of crepe making. We were all split into five groups that had to compete against one another. Though my group’s crepes were obviously the finest and most delicious, we only wrangled second place. After our crepe-making, some people went to play beach volleyball in the sunset while I went with some others to shop in Old Nice. I bought a beautiful vintage bracelet at the adorable street market and made friends with some locals.
It’s very interesting how quickly the strangers I encountered in the JFK airport became my friends. We have been exploring Nice together, and spending our days shopping, eating, beach-going, and socializing.
-Cynnie