Losing My Voice: Or, How We Saved Ducklings From Death

So, as I predicted, I lost my voice. I could talk a little if I strained and whispered, but for all intents and purposes, I was mute.

Today, however, was no ordinary class day. Today, we had a visitor. You see, because the room Trinity assigned Dr. Snyder was too small (and the day was actually nice), we went outside and sat in a circle of chairs. A cat that looked surprisingly like my cat Polly decided to follow us. And sat in the chair between Ben and me. (Maddy and Ben later switched because Maddy understands the majesty of cats, whereas Ben does not.)

As you can see, I made a friend. Photo by Melissa Atchley.

Armed with my notebook and pen, I did my best to participate in class by feverishly writing down my theories and observations and passing it to Maddy to read out loud. A couple of people, amused by my desire to maintain a part of the conversation with no voice, began to ask me questions like, "Are you writing a novel?" and "Hannah, you've been going on for four pages ... seriously?" 

Suddenly, my friend the cat was no longer interested in class and became more interested in something in the bushes. We heard rustling and then a family of ducks appeared. And the cat continued to stalk the ducklings. Needless to say, with the distractions going on around us, Dr. Snyder decided it was time for a class break.

In the break, Ben tried to save the ducklings from the cat. The cat got a hair ball. The cat continued to stalk the ducks as they ran toward the road. Ben went to go kick the cat. I went to save the cat from Ben. The ducks continued to run. I picked up the cat and carried it back to the circled. Miffed, the cat went to sit by Dr. Snyder ... who accidentally kicked the cat. The ducks escaped.

Class just wasn't as interesting after that.

After class, the Christ Church group took Dr. Snyder and his family (and Will) to lunch. (For the record, it's very hard to order your lunch with no voice. It is also very hard to pay for someone else's lunch with no voice.) After eating, I decided to have conversations by notebook.

To have fun, Bailey and Josh decided to misinterpret everything I wrote. Not cool, guys.

After lunch, we took them on a tour of Christ Church. I helped by stealing everyone's fun facts and writing them down via notebook. Once the tour ended, Josh and I headed to the library to finish our tutorial papers — I was secretly hoping that my voice would come back before my tutorial, since much of it is spent in discussion.

We worked on our papers for a good bit, until Josh went to dinner at Christ Church. I continued to work on stuff for my tutorial until he returned. He then accompanied me to Nando's where I realized I could now talk softly without pain.

Nando's, for the record, is a South African chain that is common around England (there's a few in the US). 

Image obtained from Nando's

After drinking some tea and eating my peri peri chicken and fries (I will really miss the peri peri fries when I leave.), we headed back to the flat. Maddy, being the awesome roommate that she is, bought me throat lozenges. I appreciated the gesture. 

Sappy ending of the day: If there's one good thing that comes from being sick, it's being shown just how many people are willing to help you out.