Hola Quito

I travelled 6795 kilometres, endured my second five hour flight with my seat neighbour smelling of BO and added in some snoring for extra fun, but once I'm standing in front of the customs officer and you hear the authoritative "CLICK CLICK" of the stamp into my passport, I forget any annoyances. I have arrived, my adventure begins. I couldn't help but smile as I walked out my first day in Quito, all the planning was coming to reality and I couldn't wait to get out there and experience all that Quito has to offer. Ecuador is often described as having old world charm which was one of the draws for me as my friends often tell me I have an old sole. It only took day one to see this charm in the flesh. It's not my first time seeing shoe polishing stations on the streets in my travels but it always puts a smile to my face. This is not something a Canadian does, stops and has his shoes polished with care and detailed pride while he enjoys a coffee or reads the newspaper, ever so charming. I took a bus tour that had eleven stops in Quito so I got a good first day of sightseeing. My favourite was the Iglesia La Basilica. As I was enjoying my day and soaking in all the historical and traditional charm I lowered my camera and turned to see a group of Ecuadorian teenagers swarming

towards me and I would be backed into a corner. They had shy giddy smiles on their faces and the front and centre girl began to speak rapid Spanish. I thought I would let her finish rather than interrupt to let them know "Yo no entiendo" but she finished her request with the word "selfie".....what??? Did I hear this correctly? Looking to her hand with her cell phone ready and scanning again the young groups giddy faces I did in fact understand. They wanted a group selfie with me in the centre. As I reflected I found it ironic that here I was enjoying my day of culture and historically charming traditions of a world far from Canada and yet technology and modern social media prevails. I have a feeling "selfie" is probably understood in all counties and I guess there is even something charming about that :-)