May 11

It has been a day. The flight out of Charlotte was delayed an hour, which made us miss the connection in London. I didnt sleep much, or at least I dont think I did, its hard to tell when you listen to music on repeat. A lady was watching Nebraska on the flight and I tried using that as a referemve for how much i had slept. Though we probably would have missed it regardless, its frustrating and seems an omen for the rest of what's to come.  Attendants tell us where to go and what to expect, but I still feel powerless to the whole experience. Arrive late, go to the United Airways desk, take the bus to Terminal 5, go through security, wait 20 minutes for a woman to get us new boarding passes, go through more security.

Heathrow is the equivalent of an American mall, just more diversity. There is a constant stream of bodies moving through each other in a blur of languages, each person seems to know exactly where theyre going — except for Aliza and me. It's disorienting making our way to one of the several large "departure" boards then trying to interpret where we need to go. Good thing people speak English here. Gucci, Prada, Mont Blanc, and free shots of Absolut are everywhere. Designer handbags, suits, and iPhones. I thought we were in an airport. I'm exhausted and can't wait to get to the American Pavilion housing to sleep.

Upon arriving in Nice we saw beautiful snow tipped mountains (I'm not sure of their names) and houses stacked on hills. Standing at baggage claim, the rotation of luggage starts to dwindle and the rest of the passengers leave happily with their bags, ready to move on to their next destinations, I stand with a sinking heart. It's clear that it isn't coming. They say it'll be here by the evening, but I don't know. We'll see...

I met my roommates, Vish and Ralph (culinary and hospitality interns respectively). They seem like really cool guys and I'm actually excited about sharing the room with them. But our 4th has yet to show his face even though his stuff is on the bed. At this point we are wondering if he even exists. The rooms aren't terrible, although we don't get pillows and only one set of towels for the week. The view is beautiful and the hotel is surrounded by enough stores and restaraunts that I dont think I'll have much trouble surviving. The actual site of the festival is about a 40 minute walk along the beach and 10 by bus.

The first day was just checking in and then the Pavilion turned us loose for the evening until tomorrow where we'll go on a walking tour of Cannes and learn about the stuff that we'll be doing. While we were sitting outside a small cafe/restaraunt a van pulled up with my luggage. That was a load off my mind, and my tux was only a little wrinkled. Later Vish, Ralph, and I hung out and had a beer on the balcony and talked about this that. I'm excited to see what's in store, but I'm too tired to think right now.