Days 1-2: So very tired

Pretty much how everyone was feeling

The tour has officially begun!

Blaine, Shelly, Haley and I waited at the Toronto Pearson International Airport for the arrival of the Cambodian team. It took just over an hour after landing for the team to come through the doors, resulting in some fun people-watching moments (an older Turkish couple had a very cute reaction upon seeing their family).

Once the team arrived, several hugs were exchanged. Shelly was immediately thrust into the team-mom role as the kids swarmed around her, all eager to show her their affection. We then waited outside for Rob to arrive with the bus, where the children showed that they were still on Cambodia time, as they all seemed wide-awake despite it being midnight.

We spent the night at a hotel in Milton where the chaperones were assigned kids to room with. I had three boys who insisted on all sleeping in the same bed, despite there being a pull-out couch. After about ten minutes of them arguing in the dark over positioning, I told them that somebody had to hop out. Kapriel decided to sleep on the floor. I woke up throughout the night due to them constantly getting up and wandering around the room.

The hotel pool opened at 7:30, and since we did not have to leave until noon, the children wolfed down the complimentary breakfast and spent the morning swimming. From what I've been told, they were rather energetic; I was not present, as I was catching up on sleep. When it was time to check out, the kids hung around the lobby watching cartoons. At one point a television remote became the object of desire for a few kids, resulting in some shenanigans that I probably should not have encouraged.

Once we got on the bus it happened: jetlag hit all the Cambodians, and it hit them hard. The kids went from being energetic and wild to withdrawn and sleepy. I dozed off myself, but was wide awake when we pulled up to a picnic area for a late lunch. Trakuan and Shelly had visited a grocery store earlier, where they picked up the ingredients to make turkey sandwiches.

Once outside at the picnic area, I thought the kids would wake up a little. I picked up one of the boys and flipped him over my arm, expecting giggles and laughs. I was instead given a scowl once I put him down, as he was still groggy. All of the kids were clearly exhausted, as they began lying down across the grass instead of playing. Only Moses and Kapriel, the two returning boys from last year, seemed to have any energy.

The kids ate the sandwiches prepared for them, and played some light non-strenuous games with Haley. I got some laughs from the kids by showing them the (un)wonderous world of A.I. photo editing, inserting monkeys into photos I took of them. Once we got back on the bus, I let the boys play on my Nintendo Switch 2, which was quite humorous.

While everyone else was falling back asleep on the bus, I had four boys split between my seat and the one behind me all holding the game controllers while I held the Switch 2 screen in my hand. Despite not knowing exactly what they were doing, they were constantly giggling and clearly having fun. Apparently driving off of a cliff in Mario Kart is hilarious and never gets old.

When we arrived at Fellowship Church in St. Thomas, the task of unloading the bus began. It is truly staggering how much is needed for the performances, as the baggage removed into the church was excessive. Once everything was unloaded, the children began to play in and outside of the church. For a while I had an audience of a few kids while I worked on the blog, as they seemed convinced that I was secretly playing a game.

The sleeping situation for the night was unique. Two Cambodian families that live in St. Thomas volunteered to house all of the boys in one house and all of the girls in the other. Us non-Cambodians stayed at the home of an old friend of my parents'. As we move forward on this great journey, my primary goal is to learn all of the kids' names, as I frequently want to call them the names of last year's kids. Hopefully I can do this soon, so I won't have to constantly refer to them as 'some boys' or 'some girls'.

Also, I assume that most of you reading this are doing so through a facebook link. For those who are not, I highly recommend going on https://www.facebook.com/rescuecambodia, as there are photos and videos from the tour that get posted by Tong and SreyTop. Their photos/videos will occasionally be posted here as well.

God bless.

Moses is about to drop the biggest rap album of 2025