For those of you who were worried, I made it through my first overnight airport flight alive. I stepped foot on Nicoise ground on Sunday evening. As I wearily limped out of customs, straddled by heavy lumps of luggage, I was greeted by a face that I had seen a couple of times over Facebook. Kelly was smiling and waving me over toward her direction. A smaller white-haired woman with calm eyes and a knowing grin stood next to her. They welcomed me and shuffled me over to meet the others, who were collapsed in chairs behind a tall heap of bags. The woman with Kelly was our professor Barbara, and I soon found out that she was having some kind of issue pertaining to a lost credit card or forgotten license (or both?) that made it so she couldn't rent the van to drive the class home to Aups. The rest of the class had been trying to solve the problem for hours before my arrival at the Nice airport, so I didn't catch the whole story. However, the issue left us a few hours to explore downtown Nice and get to know one another.
The shore was rocky and stunning, particularly as the sun began to set. I walked everywhere with my head pointed upward towards the tall stone buildings with their charming architectural details. I tried to let the city just wash over me.

By the time it was dark, Barbara had solved the van problem, and we hit the road for Aups.

Apparently, the other students of the course were shown pictures of our living situation during the trip orientation in Portland. I had not received the same bits of information, but I am grateful for the lack of expectations. When I first stepped foot into the house, I was so pleasantly surprised that I felt the impulse to tear doors open, run through the hallways, and discover it all at once. But my better judgment reminded me that I am a guest here. I patiently filed through room by room with the others. Every time I thought the tour was over, a new door would open and another room was revealed. This house is open and endless, beautiful, creaky, and full of stories.

I have a good feeling about this trip.