breakfast inspired by mom

This morning we enjoyed a yummy breakfast inspired by a conversation with my mom last night. It took all of 5 minutes, and was healthy and delicious.

1 pear per person
some granola or dried crunchy cereal
plain yogurt (or yoghurt if you're on this side of the pond)

Cut the pears in half lengthwise, removing the core. Place on a baking sheet and sprinkle with cinnamon. Cook on 350 F for 15 minutes. When you remove the pear they should not look super cooked. We cut off the skin, but I suppose you don't have to. Chop into bite-sized pieces. Put in a bowl with a few scoops of plain yogurt and dried cereal/granola.

Enjoy!

The Selwyn College Cut Through

Yesterday I had a little extra time to capture images of my walk from Tyndale to the Divinity Faculty building, where I attend German class and other seminars throughout the week. The fastest and most pleasant route is to cut through Selwyn College. 

Through the front entrance

Left view inside the college

Right view inside the college

Walk along the left-hand side, and through the small gate

Around the corner

And down the garden path 

Out the back gate

Turn left, along the side of the building

Arrive at the DivFac building, with a warm greeting from the automatic door

Tea Time @ Tyndale

As is the custom at Tyndale, the gong is sounded at 11am and 4pm each day, signaling the mass exodus of the library into the parlor for tea and conversation. The double gong, however, is where my heart lies; it is the secret signal that there are treats to accompany tea. Ruth Norris, Sarah Dixon and I half-heartedly decided we would form a double-gong club, in protest of all teas void of treats.
In this gathering of the Tyndale community, where many might be wearing an ensemble constructed in the dark or the same clothes as the day before (which is actually rather refreshing to eliminate the pressure to put oneself together each day - very similar to the Harvard community which contributed at one point to Boston being designated 'worst-dressed city in America'), the one defining quality to take notice of is the mug which one carries. In order to eliminate paper cups many of the readers at Tyndale keep a mug at their desks especially for tea time, embellished with the Hebrew alphabet, their favorite football (soccer) team, or the like. As my apartment only rendered 4 flowered black and white mugs that look like they belong to a 13 year old girl, my Saturday morning was spent endeavoring to find a mug which would define me to the tea time world. I settled finally on a British-Oklahoma hybrid made by Cath Kidston (essentially the British Vera Bradley). This mug epitomizes the English concept of a cowboy, and by proxy Oklahoma, since the only things known over here about Oklahoma are the musical and Twister. Thus, I resigned myself to sport with pride my British cowboy mug each day at 11 and 4.

Oklahoma in Cambridge

Drew & Brit w/ Asher, Candice and Collin Bullard @ The Orchard

Tonight our Australian friend Simon said, "If the American people that I know are representative of the population of America, then a fifth of Americans are from Oklahoma." This is due in part to the fact that out of the 10 flats here at Tyndale House, 3 are occupied by Oklahomans. The Oklahoma Crew here at Tyndale includes us, the Bullards (pictured above) and Sarah and Joel Dixon. We feel so blessed by our safe haven of southern twang and Mexican food.

Flat 10: Part 1 - the kitchen/living -ish space

our front door, at the tippy top of the Main House at Tyndale

the breakfast/every meal nook

the living space; note the kitting basket and radiator, very British

the kitchen

this may seem small to the American mind, but in fact it's massive compared with our kitchen in Wheaton

the view of the courtyard from our living room window

Spoiler alert: Our apartment was furnished.
So, while it took a few days to get over the hodge podge of quaint low ceilings and old charm mixed with modern furniture and leather lamps, I am so thankful to have started with something. In this phase of life I pray that I would be truly refined to see what's essential as far less than before. I also hope that this sense of simplicity will follow me here onward, wherever we end up next.

Studying @ Tyndale

I assume most of your wouldn't know or care about the name Walter Brueggemann (one of the leading Old Testament scholars in the world). However, for the select few of you actually reading this blog who do... consider the daunting daily experience of pulling books off the shelves at Tyndale in which the last borrower listed was "11/2006 Brueggemann, 9." 

Most recently, this morning the man next to me kindly asked, "Will you be a permanent fixture here?" which is British for "Do I have any reason to spend my time getting to know you, or are you just here for a short stent." Once we had introduced ourselves I went back to work on my bibliography, and realized that the man sitting next to me was in fact the last entry on the page: Ian Wilson. NBD.. maybe I'll just skip reading that one and ask him what he wrote about. Needless to say, it has been an inspiring first few weeks interacting with the book logs and people at Tyndale House. Maybe in my wildest dreams someday someone will be excited when the see the last entry on the book log as "Melton, 47." 

Views of Life at Tyndale

The Main House

Tyndale House Library is the Building on the Left

Through this doorway to my desk in the library 

The parlor where everyone meets for tea at 11am and 4pm

The back porch of the main house

The courtyard behind the main house