that_taco_guy
Well-Known Member
As I sit at my desk, listening to "Me quiero enamorar" by Jesse & Joy, I ponder about the past year, thinking... wondering.
What did I do this year?
Weeeelll....
The first few months of this year were pretty much uneventful on the life changing front. I had recently joined a roleplaying group on Twitter, was getting accustomed to my new apartment, was making new friends. The third and second trimester of school was starting, which was new to me, since I had been homeschooling for the past trimester.Life was getting back into swing after the holidays, with an added twist. But I learned to adapt, I learned how to be a normal highschooler once again.
A few months passed, life moved on.
But then I met someone. I met a guy from Texas who was doing the same thing that I was doing; Roleplaying. I liked him, he liked me, and, most importantly I think, our characters liked each other. Even to the point that they were dating in the Roleplaying universe that they were in. We got to know each other, personally, as players, and became fast friends.
Back in the real world, life was zooming on happily. I got good grades, I went to church, and I started to get more accustomed to the world around me; the world that is Vilcabamba, Ecuador. My one year anniversary came, and I was happy about being in Ecuador. Regrets? Yeah, some, but the benefits and joy it brought outweighed it... somewhat.
Summer came! I learned how to do art like this:
and had a great time roleplaying with everyone I knew. I mainly stayed at home, but I did go on vacation to Puerto Lopez with the mission group that has been supporting us down here in our work as missionaries. (That's a main point as to why we're here, by the way.) It was fun! I got a cool necklace, some wristbands, had a great time at the beach... it was great.
School started! I made friends, I started doing things well, meeting all of my new teachers... I liked it! I was finally getting really accustomed to my normal life here in Ecuador. I felt like a real Ecuadorian. Probably 'cause it's in my blood.
Fast forward a few weeks and-... everything crumbled in my virtual world. The people with which my friend were roleplaying with got in a big misunderstanding, to the point that he had to leave because everyone was so mad at him. I, of course, being his good friend, was torn. I had to juggle my time with him and the other people, whom I roleplayed with with other characters I had as well. Eventually I worked it out. But him and the others were still... angry. Sad. Confused. As was I. We didn't know it at the time, but he had major problems with depression and acceptance.
Back in the real world, I had... a breakdown. I started to have deep, jagging feelings about my old friends back home, the state of the church here, my spiritual life, my physical life, the whole "why the hell am I doing this; what's the purpose anyway?!" kind of feelings. I bottled them up well, until...
Church vigil, on a fateful Saturday night.
I didn't want to go. Parents forced me to. I wanted to go home and roleplay with my friends; it was a Saturday night, I didn't want to spend it at church, which I had just gone to the entire morning. I got majorly upset, which might be an understatement. I slowly walked outside, sat on the concrete sidewalk, looked up into the full moon night sky, starry as could be... and I cried. I cried so long, apparently, that my mom came outside to see what was taking so long; I had said I was going to the bathroom. We talked on the sidewalk, and we both went home early; Dad said he wanted to stay. We talked, hugged, I sobbed my eyes out and finally gushed out my feelings like a faucet.
I have to hand it to my mom. She always knows how to make things right. By the end of the night, we had a nice meal, hugged, talked, watched a movie, and everything was better. I had hope in my life once again. Thanks, Mom. I think you saved me from depression.
Back in the world of fiction, magic and mystery, my friend was starting to get lonely. We had a system where we were roleplaying over Skype, using various characters of our own accord. While he and I were having a great time, we both started to notice things were getting bland. I was still roleplaying over Twitter somewhat, keeping in contact with the people that were... less than angry at my friend. I was still in good status with them, though, I never got them angry or got into any misunderstandings. I made sure to keep my distance with that subject, not getting myself drug into deep problems.
The remainder of the year started to slowly flow on, moving it's course through the universe. Life was rebuilding itself nicely.
You could say we have a bit of a bromance going, my friend and I; I consider him like a big brother in a way. He had started to realize he had problems, and went to a counselor. He got some meds, which have been helping him out drastically. He was getting better, and everyone started to calm down.
Then I started to work out problems that he still had with others, being the peacemaker messenger boy.
Long story short... I reunited my friend with the guy he feel he offended the most. The guy who he felt was the one who had been the tipping point, turning everyone away from him with that person's rejection. They're speaking, even roleplaying over Skype together again. While he probably won't return to the Twitter roleplaying group, we have our own little Skype group of players from that Twitter roleplaying group, and it's working out quite well. We're having our fun once again, and he couldn't thank me enough. He had made me the happiest person ever with our roleplaying, and I just wanted to return the favor.
Back in the real world, life got awesome! All of my hard work started to pay off, getting good grades in all of my classes. Most of my teachers even say that I'm their best student! My parents are proud of me. I'm proud of me too. I'm finally starting to be a good missionary boy, now that I'm accustomed to everything here, and starting Bible studies with a friend of mine, bringing him to church, etcetera.
Then Christmas came. I got no presents on that day, but we're going to Guayaquil soon, and everything's cheaper there, so I'm getting my presents then. ( Yay, stuff! )
But... I feel like I already got my present. Long ago. All year, I've had... a good present. Being here. Having my friend. Enjoying life like I've never had before. Life is good, and, to be honest, I can't thank my God enough for making this year one of the most character-building, saddening, tragic, exciting, loving, kind and happy years of my life. Life is good, and I just hope it gets better for me.
That was my year.
Happy 2013.
May your new year be just as awesome as my past one, or even better!
Much love and good wishes,
~Taco.
( Crosspost from my Website. )
What did I do this year?
Weeeelll....
The first few months of this year were pretty much uneventful on the life changing front. I had recently joined a roleplaying group on Twitter, was getting accustomed to my new apartment, was making new friends. The third and second trimester of school was starting, which was new to me, since I had been homeschooling for the past trimester.Life was getting back into swing after the holidays, with an added twist. But I learned to adapt, I learned how to be a normal highschooler once again.
A few months passed, life moved on.
But then I met someone. I met a guy from Texas who was doing the same thing that I was doing; Roleplaying. I liked him, he liked me, and, most importantly I think, our characters liked each other. Even to the point that they were dating in the Roleplaying universe that they were in. We got to know each other, personally, as players, and became fast friends.
Back in the real world, life was zooming on happily. I got good grades, I went to church, and I started to get more accustomed to the world around me; the world that is Vilcabamba, Ecuador. My one year anniversary came, and I was happy about being in Ecuador. Regrets? Yeah, some, but the benefits and joy it brought outweighed it... somewhat.
Summer came! I learned how to do art like this:
and had a great time roleplaying with everyone I knew. I mainly stayed at home, but I did go on vacation to Puerto Lopez with the mission group that has been supporting us down here in our work as missionaries. (That's a main point as to why we're here, by the way.) It was fun! I got a cool necklace, some wristbands, had a great time at the beach... it was great.
School started! I made friends, I started doing things well, meeting all of my new teachers... I liked it! I was finally getting really accustomed to my normal life here in Ecuador. I felt like a real Ecuadorian. Probably 'cause it's in my blood.
Fast forward a few weeks and-... everything crumbled in my virtual world. The people with which my friend were roleplaying with got in a big misunderstanding, to the point that he had to leave because everyone was so mad at him. I, of course, being his good friend, was torn. I had to juggle my time with him and the other people, whom I roleplayed with with other characters I had as well. Eventually I worked it out. But him and the others were still... angry. Sad. Confused. As was I. We didn't know it at the time, but he had major problems with depression and acceptance.
Back in the real world, I had... a breakdown. I started to have deep, jagging feelings about my old friends back home, the state of the church here, my spiritual life, my physical life, the whole "why the hell am I doing this; what's the purpose anyway?!" kind of feelings. I bottled them up well, until...
Church vigil, on a fateful Saturday night.
I didn't want to go. Parents forced me to. I wanted to go home and roleplay with my friends; it was a Saturday night, I didn't want to spend it at church, which I had just gone to the entire morning. I got majorly upset, which might be an understatement. I slowly walked outside, sat on the concrete sidewalk, looked up into the full moon night sky, starry as could be... and I cried. I cried so long, apparently, that my mom came outside to see what was taking so long; I had said I was going to the bathroom. We talked on the sidewalk, and we both went home early; Dad said he wanted to stay. We talked, hugged, I sobbed my eyes out and finally gushed out my feelings like a faucet.
I have to hand it to my mom. She always knows how to make things right. By the end of the night, we had a nice meal, hugged, talked, watched a movie, and everything was better. I had hope in my life once again. Thanks, Mom. I think you saved me from depression.
Back in the world of fiction, magic and mystery, my friend was starting to get lonely. We had a system where we were roleplaying over Skype, using various characters of our own accord. While he and I were having a great time, we both started to notice things were getting bland. I was still roleplaying over Twitter somewhat, keeping in contact with the people that were... less than angry at my friend. I was still in good status with them, though, I never got them angry or got into any misunderstandings. I made sure to keep my distance with that subject, not getting myself drug into deep problems.
The remainder of the year started to slowly flow on, moving it's course through the universe. Life was rebuilding itself nicely.
You could say we have a bit of a bromance going, my friend and I; I consider him like a big brother in a way. He had started to realize he had problems, and went to a counselor. He got some meds, which have been helping him out drastically. He was getting better, and everyone started to calm down.
Then I started to work out problems that he still had with others, being the peacemaker messenger boy.
Long story short... I reunited my friend with the guy he feel he offended the most. The guy who he felt was the one who had been the tipping point, turning everyone away from him with that person's rejection. They're speaking, even roleplaying over Skype together again. While he probably won't return to the Twitter roleplaying group, we have our own little Skype group of players from that Twitter roleplaying group, and it's working out quite well. We're having our fun once again, and he couldn't thank me enough. He had made me the happiest person ever with our roleplaying, and I just wanted to return the favor.
Back in the real world, life got awesome! All of my hard work started to pay off, getting good grades in all of my classes. Most of my teachers even say that I'm their best student! My parents are proud of me. I'm proud of me too. I'm finally starting to be a good missionary boy, now that I'm accustomed to everything here, and starting Bible studies with a friend of mine, bringing him to church, etcetera.
Then Christmas came. I got no presents on that day, but we're going to Guayaquil soon, and everything's cheaper there, so I'm getting my presents then. ( Yay, stuff! )
But... I feel like I already got my present. Long ago. All year, I've had... a good present. Being here. Having my friend. Enjoying life like I've never had before. Life is good, and, to be honest, I can't thank my God enough for making this year one of the most character-building, saddening, tragic, exciting, loving, kind and happy years of my life. Life is good, and I just hope it gets better for me.
That was my year.
Happy 2013.
May your new year be just as awesome as my past one, or even better!
Much love and good wishes,
~Taco.
( Crosspost from my Website. )
