Certified

So, guess who is a certified TEFL teacher? Me!!!!!!!

It's officially over. The test has been taken, the projects completed, the lessons taught, the certificate received. Next step: land in Cuenca and do this thing! But before that, I still have some time here in Barcelona. And, I feel very content just chilling out in this city; no need for anything lavish or over-the-top. I'm here, I'm happy, I'm good. I have this sensation about me right now that's telling me everything is how it should be. I do not need to worry, because really, what does worrying ever accomplish? Nothing, except giving you a massive headache, maybe. This feeling of being at peace began around mid-afternoon yesterday. Yes, I think that's about accurate.

I was heading to the school to give my housemate some support, since she was teaching her final lesson. (She was given an A in the TEFL course, by the way, go her!) She was also expecting me, I think, because she knew I would want to say goodbye to the attractive guy who works at the school. So I went into the school to do just that, when I saw him with a girl, presumably his girlfriend. And yeah, that hurt and I got all woe-is-me, I knew this wasn't going to go anywhere, but just seeing the girl is very suckish, and even if I do find something special, it'll never work because I want to travel all over and blah blah blah. But that only lasted about an hour. It's my life, so I'm getting used to it. Anyway, I got over myself and congratulated my housemate for her job well done, and we headed for the Magic Fountain, which is just what it sounds like. Sort of.

We had lots of time to spare before the water show at the fountain, so we just sat on the steps of the art museum in front of the fountain and chatted. And it was wonderful. A little fitting as well, considering we did this after our first experience teaching in Barcelona. So here we were after our last experience teaching in Barcelona. And we were closer friends this time and we were accomplished and we were happy. And we were happy and we were happy and we were happy. A trio of street musicians began to play. Later, some film recording was going on, and this elderly lady had to repeat her one line for about an hour and adjust the crinkles in her scarf 80 times before the film people finally got the shot they wanted. The musical trio resumed playing, and I sat there, watching the sunset behind them, feeling the Barcelona heat on my shoulders, feeling completely at peace and wondering what I had done to deserve such a life. I must've been super-awesome in my past lives to be living this life right now.

My housemate and I got to talking about how we imagined our lives would be by the time we were 22, and I just had this to say: "I'm absolutely okay with where my life is right now...I have nothing to complain about." I have a thousand lifetimes of thanking that I have to live now, but I have nothing to complain about. In this moment, life is being extremely kind to me.

As with all feelings (the good and the bad), this one too shall pass. It can't stay forever, it's only nature's way. But that doesn't mean it won't return, and it also doesn't mean that this present feeling will be replaced with something horrible and ugly. So, for the moment, I'm going to enjoy where I am right now, and I'm going to be thankful for it. I'm not going to expect it to last, because it won't. And that's okay. When it leaves, I can think, oh, there it goes, but that's not so bad. I'm glad it was here.

One thing that won't be going anywhere anytime soon is my certificate. I am a certified TEFL teacher, what? For real? Before you raise doubts that someone becoming a teacher in a month, I must point out that this course is internationally-recognized and certified. I have completed all of the requirements for certification, including learning grammar, phonemics (among other aspects), and how to teach them. I have completed x amount of hours learning in class and y amount of hours teaching students. I have completed the projects required for this certification and I have passed the TEFL exam. I did it!

And I congratulate all of those people who did it with me.