En Route to Nice!

Hey, everyone! I’m Addie, and I just finished my sophomore year at Davidson College. I’m a sociology major and super excited to leave for France. As I prepare to begin my journey to Nice tomorrow, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what I want to do while I’m abroad, what I’m worried about, and what I’ll miss most about being at home.

I am most excited to travel while I am abroad. Part of the reason that I picked this particular program was the two-week trip to Marseille and Morocco. I’ve always wanted to travel to both France and Morocco, so this program seemed like the perfect fit to me. As an equestrian, I was super excited to find out that there are multiple legs of the Longines Global Champions Tour coming near me while I’m abroad. I have the opportunity to go watch what I’m passionate about in Cannes, Monaco, and Paris, three cities I’ve always wanted to visit.

I’m also super excited to focus my studies on immigration and multiculturalism in the Mediterranean. I’m a sociology major, and a lot of the classes I’ve taken—and will take next semester—focus to some degree on migration. I also went on an educational trip to the U.S.-Mexico border over spring break to learn more about the history of the border, what service organizations are doing on both sides of the border for migrants, and the meaning of borders in the current U.S. context. I am so excited to be able to study migration in a completely new context on the other side of the world. I think learning about migration in the Mediterranean will offer me so many new insights and connections to what I already have focused on in my studies.

I think I’m most scared that I’m headed to France and don’t know any French. I tried using Duolingo for a while to pick up some conversational words and phrases, but I definitely have slacked on that since finals started. Hopefully I’ll be able to learn some more of the language before I arrive on Sunday. I also think that app is something easy I’ll be able to use a for a few minutes every day while I’m abroad.

Lastly, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’ll miss while I’m abroad. I’m going to have to learn to make sweet tea, because I’ve been told that’s something I won’t be able to find in Europe. Living in North Carolina my whole life, I will certainly miss that drink a lot. However, I think the thing I will miss most is spending time with my friends riding. Although I’ll miss it, I know it will all be waiting for me when I get back.