Days 7-9: Nobleton, Kingston and Ottawa

In a repeat of last year, I am struggling to keep up with the blog. It turns out that when you have 12 Cambodian children to monitor, it is hard to find time to do much else. I digress.

Our drive to Nobleton saw us make a stop at Springridge Farm, a fun tourist farm in Milton. After initially missing the initial escapades due to a brief episode of nausea (lots of twists and turns on the road), I joined up with the group to observe their fun. The children did not seem to understand the appeal of a petting zoo, likely because of the animals they see on the Rescue property daily. What they most enjoyed was a small loop track in which they could ride small vehicles. Perhaps I'm getting old, as I was constantly worrying about them getting hurt.

Normally the farm does not allow for outside food to be brought on the premises, but the manager was super understanding and allowed us to bring the food Trakuan prepared. This was good, as I doubt the farm sold rice dishes. The kids explored much of the farm premises, splitting the chaperones' attention, but thankfully there were not many areas where they could escape our gaze.

Once back on the bus, the team got very sleepy very fast. The weather was rather warm and humid, making everyone feel tired after the farm visit. Once we arrived at St Paul's Presbyterian Church, we were touched to see the welcome board they made for us (pictured below). While we began unpacking, Sarah made a joke about summoning rain by mimicking a frog's croak with one of our wooden frog souvenirs. Twenty minutes later it began to pour.

The performance went perfectly, as the children have fully settled into the routine. Part of me was hoping for a performance hiccup, just so I could have something new to write about. I know, I'm the worst. Sany has done too good of a job teaching these kids.

The next day saw us make our way to Kingston, where we finally utilized the bus' DVD player. After Ratatouille stopped working at its halfway point, we switched to Puss in Boots (the first one), which the kids seemed to enjoy more. We stopped at a picnic area for lunch, where lots of sandwich swapping took place, as the kids seem to enjoy figuring out what each other got from their billets.

The performance at Bayridge Alliance Church in Kingston was another hit. The kids seemed confident enough for me to film them from the side of the stage, something I didn't do initially for fear of distracting them. This is not doable at every venue, as I also do not want to distract the audience, but Bayridge's stage setup allowed for me to get nice and close.

The next day saw us go to Ottawa. When we arrived, we stopped at a leisure center to use their restrooms, only for the children to spot a pile of snow beside the building. This was excess from the leisure center's ice rink, so we told the kids that the snow was quite dirty and should not be put in their mouths. We did allow them to have a snowball fight, which may have been a safety goof, as the snow was rather compact and hard. The kids laughed off getting hit with some gnarly snowballs by each other, at times making me nervous that we would have someone getting a bloody nose. The hit I took in the video made me feel like the kids violated some kind of law about targeting journalists, but whatever, I'll live.

The performance at East Gate Alliance Church saw the kids have their first major blooper, which made the night stand out for me (again, I'm the worst). For some unknown reason, the kids completely missed their cue for the 'Praying Mantis' dance, as they were nowhere to be seen once the dance was introduced. By the time the music started playing, the kids were running into the auditorium with panicked looks, but were saved by the song being restarted once they were in position. The rest of the night had no issues, as Sany likely kept a very watchful eye on the kids after the comical blunder.

The next blog entry will cover our visit to Quebec. God bless!