I am greatly enjoying my time in France, but with minimal access to a computer, I have not been able to post on the blog before now. The first week started out with exhaustion; after many hours of plane rides, we made introductions and met our peers. Many close friendships formed within these first few days, and I am glad to say that I In the first week, I have already progressed significantly in my study of the French language. Conversing in French is much easier now than before the program, and I find myself understanding conversations between native french speakers. I have also had a lot of fun over the past week. Despite a bad sunburn a few days ago, our time at the beach in Nice and Saint Jean Cap Ferrat has been very fun. We have been cooking a lot. We have participated in cooking groups in the residence 3 times, and have cooked at a hotel in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat twice. Although my groups have never been the most successful at cooking, I have learned some interesting French recipes, and become adept at making vinagrette. Everybody seems to be enjoying the cooking groups, but we have also had some other nice meals. The staff cooked dinner for us two nights ago, and last night they ordered food for us from a local restaurant. We have had some other fun experiences in Nice, including latin dancing on one of the first nights and biking along the beach. Perhaps the best of these experiences was snorkeling in Villefranche. Yesterday was Bastille day, and the celebrations were a lot of fun. We spent the night before in Cagnes, where we watched great fireworks and listened to some live music. The night of Bastille day, we went to the beach in Nice. Once again we watched fireworks and joined in a dance party. Tonight, we will finally be going to see the new Harry Potter movie. Hopefully I will continue to have a wonderful experience, and I will be able to write here more often.
-Zander Guzy-Sprague
