"You're from Toronto are you? Well we're not going to hold that against you." Our new neighbour, a Tony Soprano look-alike, said to us after a brief introduction."And let me guess, you must be from Alberta," I replied. First encounters with Albertans are always pretty much the same for me. It's as though they're just about to catch up to us Ontarians in a competition that we didn't even know was taking place. Ellen and I are stretched out i...

"I haven't any fear of getting caught out after dark in Quito. I hold a can of pepper spray right out in front of me so everyone can see it. I don't go anywhere without it.""But what if the muggers have guns?" I asked."It's all knives in Quito, they don't have guns - can't afford them." she replied.Ellen and I were having dinner with Anne-Marie, a freckled young Irish woman who'd been teaching English for the past six months in Quito, Ecua...