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"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."  - Virginia Woolf

I had a theory before I started my challenge that silence would get easier and the lack of food would get harder. I was right. 

Halfway is always going to be the hardest point because you're so acutely aware that you've got an equal amount of time to go.Today was not the most appropriate time to have difficult database training, in the basement, sadly out of the sunshine. It was tiring. 

Today I noticed that little things were a lot harder. It took me a longer time to process new information than usual and the three flights of stairs back to my desk were a lot harder to climbl! It seems my diet is taking its toll. Monotony has kicked in, and today was the first day in I ate for sustenance and not enjoyment.

Yet despite this exhaustion I'm bursting with gratitude for my amazing housemates who are speaking for me at every awkward opportunity and providing love in many forms. And not forgetting my teammates who have managed to make me laugh so many times despite my strange sense of humour. Smiling and thumbs up signals can't express just how thankful I am for these bursts of enjoyment in a silent day! 

Wednesday's Eureka moment: Finally making porridge that tasted good. I mashed up the banana, if you're wondering, which released much more sugary goodness. 

Wednesday's most awkward situation: Trying to communicate to my database training leader that I was doing a sponsored silence. The look on his face was not one that was impressed.

Wednesday's "YOU'RE AMAZING" silent exclamation: Receiving British Daffodils from a lovely housemate who'd really thought about a gift that wasn't food orientated. Genuinely brightened up a sleepy afternoon. 

Wednesday's reflective moment: Realising how exhausted I was after concentrating on a computer screen. In Zimbabwe, communities eat less than me and spend full days in serious heat constructing a dam; ridiculously hard physical work.