Life on Canterbury Road, Plus 32

The students are here! The students are here!

They arrived yesterday around 11 a.m., jet-lagged and bleary-eyed but excited. We have 29 students, plus Dan and Brenda McVey and their daughter, Tessa. Quite a mix among the students - we have some backpacker/adventure-type guys, some sweet quiet girls, some louder, funnier types of both genders, seven guitar players, and a wide range of majors. This crowd is going to be a lot of fun.

Today we hosted them for tea (scones and jam and clotted cream...yummm) in the House 9 back garden. We (by "we" I mean Jacque and the Morgans and I) have been bombarding them with information about life in Oxford, life in these houses, laundry, traveling, classes, living in community, etc. I think they're a bit overloaded. But they've also started to go out in groups and see the city for themselves, which is, of course, the point. We want to be here for them as resources, but we also want them to get out and explore and discover.

One of my very favourite things to do in Oxford is ramble, and I've done plenty of that this week. I never get tired of Broad Street, with its stately colleges and the huge Blackwells bookshop, and I love the charming Covered Market and even the busy High Street. The energy of the city centre is quite fun and stimulating, but when I want some peace and still have restless feet, I seek the relative quiet of University Parks and the lower end of the Broad, which leads to Radcliffe Square.

Rambled tonight to the neighbourhood called Jericho, not far from our ACU houses, for a lovely Lebanese dinner with Jacque and the Morgans and the McVeys. Fresh salad, hummus and pita bread for starter; lamb cutlets with grilled peppers and tomatoes for main course; and a little pistachio baklava, with fresh mint tea, for dessert. Exotic and spicy and absolutely delicious. The best part? It was on ACU - a celebration dinner for getting through our organizing and orienting with success and flair. :)

Moving into my own house soon, down in Cowley, a part of Oxford I don't know very well yet. I am ready to be out of a suitcase and into my own space, but I will miss living in these houses I love so much. But I'll be over to stay often. They can't get rid of me that easily. :)

Happy, happy weekend to all. Pictures to come soon!