The world is a - what?

The world is a tissue, ‘el mundo es un pañuelo’, is a direct translation of a Spanish saying meaning ‘it’s a small world’. 

This turn phrase was first introduced to me by a larger than life Italian woman on a pub crawl through Madrid. Having forgotten this, I became aware of the phrase months later during my year of Spanish study in León. Only now was I reminded by my good friend, who was also there that night in Madrid, of how a memorable stranger compared the planet to a handkerchief. The mainlanders clearly see the world as a tissue, so why shouldn't I. 

How did I get to this point?

A considerably dramatic, life evaluating, question that I would not be alone in asking: I have graduated from a good University with an honours Arts degree, in Spanish and French; and very little money. Not wanting to immediately commit to scaling the ‘career ladder’, presumably in an office and with notions of cabin fever, meant a 7 month stint of soul crushing hospitality work.

This was shortly followed by a CELT course (Certificate in English Language Teaching) which at that point I was more than ready for. A project that challenged, motivated, and helped me to develop new skills was just what I needed to get the ball back rolling. Despite asking myself why I hadn't just done the course a year previous, the somewhat painful transition from modern language graduate, to minimum wage worker, to TEFL Teacher, gave me time to evaluate exactly why I wanted to do it and where I wanted it to take me. 

This period for reflection/self-evaluation/occasional despair has resulted in a far greater personal gain than if I had done the same course a year ago – when stressed by finals and unsure of where I would end up. Now, a job with which I can further develop language skills, travel, and teach has me feeling like I'm back on track and that the world is, perhaps, not so bad.