It's Nice in Nice!

Nice-"Home, Sweat Home"
It only took 2 and a half weeks of being here but I'm finally updating about Nice. To be fair, we haven't done a lot in those 2 weeks besides enjoy the city and go to school, but it still deserves a description in the blog. Nice is a city of paradoxes, audacity, discovery and pleasure, and a LOT of sweating. Located in the heart of one of the world's most highly prized regions, at the gateway to the major European cities, it offers its rich history, wonderfully sunny climate and geographic location between the sea and the mountains. The city of Nice itself is absolutely gorgeous and divided into many different subdivisions that you can easily access by bike, bus, or foot. Our hotel is called the Citea and is kind of equivalent to an American time share. There are long term apartment rentals and short stay hotel rooms, a pool and private "kitchens." I'm rooming with Mike and Kenley in a "2 bedroom" and I managed to talk my way into getting the private bedroom with the full bed and closet. Actually unpacking was one of the highlights here and being able to stay in one spot for more than 3 days has been awesome. The boys stay in the main room where there is a trundle bed and the kitchen area. We're located on the 7th floor with the best view out of anyone on the program, looking directly towards the French Riviera and the "plage."
Our days are spent going to school at 8:30 in the morning for 4 hours and then coming home grabbing a quick lunch and hitting the beach for a couple of hours and then spending a night out somewhere. You can literally see people turning different colors as the program goes on and tanning oil is a hot commodity in this city. We all have bought multiple types of rafts, innertubes and boats to enjoy the sea and avoid the jelly fish the best we can. We are definitely hard to miss when we all launch TJSL "floatilla" and I'm sure the French people just love us.
Our classes take place at the University of Nice which is located up a HUGE hill about 10 minutes from our apartment. If you think that the walk has become easier or less of a pain in the butt at 8am, you think wrong. Everyday every student walks into class out of breath and dripping sweat and we all run to the back of the room to stand in front of the air conditioning. I can not begin to describe how hot and humid it is here. The best comparison is to Florida in summertime, but even that doesn't do it justice. Our motto is "Sweat Happens" and we've all come to learn that there is really no point in doing your hair or makeup and that sweat stains are simply a way of showing you're having a good time. My classes are interesting and we had the opportunity to visit the French Court and witness a murder trial where two identical twins were being accused of murdering another individual. It was a neat experience but one that was far too long and far too French.
The nightclubs here are small and hot, though most play American music and have decently priced drinks. Our favorites so far are Waynes, BullDog, The American Bar, and Le Ghost. The biggest difference is the fact that there is no drinking age in France so we're often out with all of the 15 year olds which has proven for many interesting nights. Many times we just end up with a couple of bottles of wine on the beach and practice skipping rocks and having a great time.
We all tend to hang out as a big group, though I've become particularly close to the students visiting from John Marshall in Chicago. Alex, Andrea and Brian are awesome and we always have an amazing time together. We have plans for them to come visit San Diego over Labor Day Weekend and I'm hopefully going to head out to Chicago to see them at some point soon as well. Needless to say, we're all pretty happy Andrea discovered this program and convinced Alex and Brian to come here instead of Australia.
We have a week and a half left here and our plan is to explore everything close by. It's Bastille Day today and we're getting ready to go out and celebrate on the beach and watch the fireworks and people dancing on the boardwalk. I'm sure I'll get some great pictures.