Days 29 & 30: Performances at Rosetown & Rosthern

Oct 13, 20244 min read

I am shocked and appalled that Thavin would aid in Yusvae and Moses' efforts to mock me. Moses got rid of the topknot after about a minute, but Yusvae wore it until the performance. I think me showing him pictures of samurai influenced his decision.

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The trip from Regina to Rosetown saw us back in our original bus. No more Regina Pats bus for us. The good news was that the air conditioning had been fixed, so we wouldn't feel warm and sleepy anymore. Good.

I played more Super Smash Bros with the kids, and I realized that each kid played the game differently. Gabriel sticks to a singular strategy, Samuel hits buttons wildly, Minea tries to learn the game mechanics, Chanthy sneakily lets the boys fight it out, and Chantha seems to just enjoy making her character move around. Then there is Veasna, who I think may be sneaking out from Rescue and playing Smash Bros in his spare time, as he caught on alarmingly fast how the game works and wins most matches.

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Upon arriving at Rosetown Alliance Church, I quickly had doubts about the setup. The sanctuary has a second floor balcony with several rooms for Sunday school, which the kids would use to change. The problem with this is that the kids continue to struggle with volume control, meaning the entire sanctuary would hear them chattering in between dances. The Cambodian adults remedied this by having the kids stay within the rooms for as long as possible, as opposed to getting changed and then roaming the balcony.

While setting up, I had a rather embarrassing moment that also served as a humorous moment of Leah, our favorite little drama-queen. As I was using the washroom on the second floor, the boys went downstairs as the girls changed into the clothes for their first dance. The girls were not aware that I was still on the second floor, as they left the door into their room wide open. After leaving the washroom, I walked by the open door, realized the girls were changing, and quickly looked away. Leah, who was already changed into her starting outfit, was not having it. She began to scold me for being up there, and gave me a death glare when I didn't show proper remorse. She even put her hands on her hips like a disapproving mother as I walked away. Don't change, Leah.

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The performance at Rosetown was great, especially due to the large turnout we received. While I will continue to stress the importance of donation numbers over attendance, it does feel rewarding to see multiple people smiling at the dances. I am sure that the kids would agree.

There was a blooper that I noticed that appears to have gone undetected by everyone else. During the 'stick dance', Kapriel put his foot in between the planks as they were being clacked together. He did not seem hurt and the dance continued on as usual, which led me to question if I saw what I think I did. The video proof does not lie and the moment can be seen towards the end of the 'stick dance' video below.

For you impatient ones, the foot gets clacked at 0:48.

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The next day saw us make a detour to the grave of Norman Ens, Marie's late husband and my grandfather. It stood out from the other graves as it had Khmer text on it with the English translation below it. The text was about how he was a pastor to the Cambodian people. The kids showed respect to Marie, before going into song. If was a unique and rather surreal experience for me, due to the circumstances around Norman's passing.

I was born on October 26, 1990, in Côte d'Ivoire, as my parents were missionaries there. Norman and Marie came out to visit in February 1991, largely to see their new grandson, me. Norman got to hold me as an infant, but he sadly succumbed to a heart attack while swimming off the beach of the port-city of San-Pédro. While I obviously have no memory of my grandfather's passing, knowing that I was part of his final moments leaves a bittersweet feeling in my heart.

I would have liked to get more photos of our visit to the grave, but I was not thinking about photos at the time.

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Upon arrival at Rosthern, we realized we had some time to kill. We had lunch at a local park and then the kids ran around a nearby playground. Kapriel impressed me with his balance, as he sat cross legged at the center of the circular swing without using his hands to steady himself as it swayed. I apparently looked tired as I snapped photos, as Thavin told me to relax and take it easy.

Upon arriving at Rivers Christian Ministry in Rosthern, we quickly unpacked and set up. This was a fun stop for Sarah, as this was her family church! Her parents, sister and brother-in-law would all be attending the performance. This was also a special location for Marie, as Rosthern was the place of her birth! The visit to her home church (Rosthern Alliance) would be two days later, with a visit to Prince Albert occurring in between.

The performance was good, although it was rather tricky for me to get photos and videos due to the sanctuary setup. I tried to use my phone camera to get footage of the action through the glass doors to the sanctuary, but found that it was not possible to get footage that looked good. Regardless of this challenge, it was a great night. I really enjoyed seeing Sarah interact with her family, and it was extra special seeing her give a brief message to the audience at the end of the performance. Towards the end of the night, I received several selfies from Thavin, which I have decided to include with the Rivers Christian photos to bolster the gallery.