Days 10-14: Quebec, Espanola, and a very long drive.

Hoo-boy. These kids are an exhausting bunch to monitor. I love them dearly, but as anyone who works with children can confirm, it is sometimes a bit munch. Updating the blog has become even more difficult (which I didn't think was possible) as it feels like constant supervision is always necessary. It does make for a lot of bonding moments, but it also means that I am struggling to stop and keep a record of what is happening.

What is great is that I am now more familiar with the personalities and interests of the various children. For instance, the photo above shows one of the more heartwarming discoveries of the tour: Theera wants to be a bus-driver when he grows up, which has led to him shadowing Rob, our bus-driver for the current part of the tour. When it came time to fill the bus up with diesel, Rob made sure his little apprentice was there to see how it worked.

When we last left off, we had finished our performance at Ottawa and were heading into Quebec. It was quite humorous watching the kids trying to say 'merci beaucoup', since we told them that French was the dominant language of where we were going next. As someone who speaks only English, I fared no better, as I had a humorous exchange with a Quebec City gas station cashier who called me a cowboy when I told him I was from Alberta.

Our initial stop in Quebec would be Montreal, where we found a playground for the kids to frolic. Several of the photos were action shots that I took in the middle of play, while Haley provided me with more structured pictures she took.

Our performance at Westside Gathering in Pointe-Claire was similar to our visit to Acton, in that we had a rather small turnout. Those who attended were very invested in the performance, with several people standing close to the stage to take photos throughout the evening. What was most memorable was the sleeping arrangement for the night, where the entire team crashed at the house of Helena, a former Rescue English teacher, and her family. We enjoyed our time there and left our laundry there, as we would be returning two days later.

On our trip to Quebec City, we stopped in the Old City portion and explored for a bit. As a history graduate, I found it fascinating, but I couldn't spend as much time there as I would have liked as I had to keep watch over the kids. One of the treats was that Helena came with us, so she acted as a guide, helping us navigate through the streets. The highlight for me was us watching a gymnast street-performer who was quite athletic and charismatic. The kids were extremely entertained by his actions.

We then arrived at Eglise ACM de Levis/Levis Alliance Church, a Francophone church where we would be performing the next morning for their Sunday service. Helena and my parents, who speak French as their second language, stepped up to act as interpreters for the group, which was greatly appreciated. We would be spending the night at the church, although a complication arose in which the bathrooms were without water (not the church's fault), which we had to work around. Despite the bathroom issue, the kids really liked spending the night at the church, as it no doubt felt like a fun sleepover.

The performance at the church service was great, as everyone was fully invested in the dances and the testimonies. The unique problem I had was that there was no way I could get satisfying footage, because the auditorium was so full that I couldn't get up close, and zooming in from afar resulted in extremely grainy footage. I instead snapped some photos of the boys behind the scenes. I really liked their interactions with Haley, who has really become the group caregiver due to her nursing background.

The trip back to Montreal saw us stop at a bowling alley, which the children were greatly excited about, having heard stories from last year's team about how fun it was. This was a unique experience for the westerners as well, as we played a unique variant that I later discovered is known as 'Duckpin bowling', which is quite popular in Quebec. The pins in this format are easier to knock down, which worked out well as it meant that the kids got more strikes and spares than they would have on another format. The night's big winner was Sany, who got four consecutive strikes to close her second game.

We then returned back to Helena's family home, where several large pizzas awaited us. The kids proved to be mostly carnivorous, as the veggie-oriented pizzas were not as popular as the meat-centric ones. We then celebrated Tong's birthday, which I was nervous would be forgotten in all of the day's business. We then turned in for an early night, as we would be leaving very early in the morning so that we could make to Espanola in time for our performance the next day.

The Cavalry Baptist Church of Espanola was the smallest church on our tour, but they were extremely welcoming and hospitable to us. We would be spending the night at the church after our performance was done, and the church made sure that the entire basement was set up for us to sleep. In a bizarre occurrence, the water for the bathrooms was used up, leading to us making jokes that if we stay overnight at a church, it is guaranteed the bathrooms won't work.

The performance at Cavalry Baptist was a lot of fun, as it felt good visiting a church that likely gets overlooked. A humorous moment was caught on video during the 'Praying Mantis dance', as Theera nearly somersaulted directly into a railing. The video doesn't catch his face, but I can assure you that he was quite alarmed by nearly having an embarrassing injury on stage. After the performance was over, we slept downstairs, but not before the boys got to play Mario Kart.

The next day saw us undertake the most arduous drive of the entire tour, as Rob drove for 10+ hours to Thunder Bay. We watched multiple movies: Tarzan, Robin Hood, Shrek 2, and Ice Age: Continental Drift were all seen, as well as a short collection of classic Bugs Bunny cartoons. The kids were incredibly stir crazy by the end, with Moses in particular causing lots of issues, especially for Sarah. Thankfully, no major drama occurred and we eventually arrived at the hotel we were staying at in Thunder Bay.

I would like to say that I am going to stay more on top of the blog, but this tour has made me realize that I cannot predict when I will get enough downtime. I will try to do better when it comes to getting photos, as I am annoyed at myself for missing some major moments.

The next entry will cover a big sleepover and our visits to Arborg and Winkler. Thanks for reading!

Moses and Gabriel trying to tempt me with a joyride