On thermos flasks, notepads and goals

I've had a terrible cold since last weekend (yes, I've missed the big sailing competition I meant to go to. Gutted!). Last week was also a terribly stressful week, a week when I just could take it anymore.

And then came the weekend. I woke up on the Saturday with a terrible headache, a runny nose and a sore throat (nothing unusual these days), but knowing I had to do my job. Knowing I'd be awesome (thanks J. for teaching us to talk ourselves up before interpreting. It is probably the most useful and efficient piece of advice I have ever been given!).

I started interpreting at 11am and finished at 7pm. I interpreted in front of journalists, MPs, senators (ok, only a few of them). For the first time ever, I felt no fear (if we exclude the fear of a snot dropping on my notepad in the middle of a sentence). Everything was just so...natural. I knew I hadn't prepared enough, and yet I was where I was supposed to be, doing what I wanted to be doing. Using my voice and knowledge for a good cause.

Yes, I made mistakes and yes, I was corrected in public. Yes, I sometimes hesitated and almost broke into tears once (but managed to hold them back eventually. Describing torture techniques is not an easy thing, I'm sure you all agree). Yes, I could have chosen better words and yes, I could have taken fewer notes. But all this doesn't matter, not now at least. What matters now is that after all the doubts I had in the past and after all the times I felt bad at work because I wasn't feeling useful or competent enough for the work I was doing, I finally understood. I now know what I am good at and what I truly enjoy doing.

Now, while sipping the Italian equivalent of Lemsip from my forever faithful thermos flask which got me through so many sleepless nights, I know I still have about 30 pages to translate for tomorrow and another week in the office ahead of me, but all I can think of is yesterday's speaker, an Irish guy who married a Palestinian girl and lives in Palestine. At the end of the conference he hugged me and said: "Thank you, I think we made a good team!"

I think we have.