Miércoles, 04/11/2015: Exposition, concert, tranvía test, etc.

Hola, Todos – 

Starting today, your periodico will be available as a column on CuencaHighLife.  I will continue sending the periodico to my current list for the foreseeable future. There will be the same Sun. through Fri issues and no Sat. issue since El Mercurio still has book reviews on its cultural page on Saturdays.  And my position is that if your Spanish is good enough to read a book, you can go out and get your own Saturday paper to see the book reviews.  If your Spanish isn´t good enough to read a book (more complicated than “Run, Dick, run, see Jane run.”) you don´t need the review translated anyway.

Pagina cultural –

Asamblea – the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana del Azuay will meet tomorrow at 18:00 in the Sala de Conciertos to discuss their election process.

Exposición – the work “Presencia del Pasado; la Alfarería Contemporánea del Austro Ecuatoriano” (Presence of the Past; Contemporary Pottery in the Ecuadorian South) opens tomorrow at 19:00 in El Museo Pumapungo.

Concierto – “Tributo Fest Independiente” (Independent Tribute Fest) this Saturday at 14:00 in parque Guataná (where?) with Mala Vibra (Bad Vibrations), Xarcasmo (sarcasm spelled with an X), Burning Hell and others.  (Do you get the impression that maybe this won´t be soft rock?)

Articles on – 

A seminar on constructing and conserving structures made of raw earth.  (This goes from your basic mud hut to adobe to maybe rammed earth construction.)  It will be at the U of Cuenca from 9-13/11.  Register at the Department of Architecture at the U of Cuenca.  It´s open to professionals and students.

A training seminar for members of the Consejo Internacional de Museos de Latinoaméria y el Caribe (International Council of Latinamerican and Caribbean Museums) will be this Thu and Fri in Cuenca.  (And to paraphrase, if you need to ask where it is, you don´t belong there.)

Two new museums are in the pipeline at the U of Cuenca.  One is an archeological museum for all the Ecuadorian cultures in the pre-hispanic era and the other is a geological museum at the School of Engineering.

Two books, “Neuro comunicación avanzada” (Advanced neuro communication) and “Del conductismo, cognitivismo y conductismo al Conectivismo para la educación,” (Of behaviorism, cognitism and constructivism for education) the first written by a north American psychologist and the second by a Cuencanan.  (Even with Google translate I still have no idea what these books are about and the article doesn´t help much either.  I guess there are things even less transparent than “artspeak.”)

Otras cosas –

Titular – El Alcalde destaca ´buenas relaciones´ (The Mayor highlights good relations) with the national government. (Sounds like the Mayor´s idea of good relations is continued and new funding for public works such as the Tranvia, reconstruction of Ordoñez Lasso and the new circunvalación (ring road).

Geovanna Espinoza is – the new 2016 Chola Cuencana.  She´s from Sayausí and was selected from the representatives of 21 rural parishes.

The test run – for the Tranvia had 135 people aboard car 1001. The Mayor got to drive one of the cars and he regretted that Pres. Correa couldn´t be there.  (Just goes to show that all guys are about 10 years old at heart.  At least with the Pres. absent, there wouldn´t be a fight about who got to drive the train.)  The project is about 55% complete and should be finished on schedule in July of 2016.

Representatives from – Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador y Perú met in Lima to discuss improving the management of the conservation of the Qhapaq Ñan (the Inca highway) that runs 23,000 km and connects 310 archeological sites.  (I don´t think I´ve seen any consistent spelling for the Inca Highway.  Must be one of those sounds that doesn´t lend itself to Spanish spelling.

El palo encebado (the greased pole) – is a traditional game which was played in the cultural center of El Rosal yesterday. The pole was eucalyptus, 12 meters high and sanded and smoothed.  It was greased with manteca (lard – so if you´re a Jewish or Muslim competitor, don´t lick the pole.  I imagine all of you who grew up in snow country were told “don´t lick the slide.” But you did anyway and your tongue stuck to it, didn´t it?)

Contests – encourage good treatment of pets.  in the ciudadela Tomebamba, there was a pet costume contest and at the colegio Sudamericano, there was a bulldog conformation show. Organizers of both events hoped to spread a message that pets are friends and part of the familhy and should be treated well. A second debate on the ordinance for the protection of domestic animals is pending before the Cantonal Council.

Forum – “Kimsakocha entre el agua y el oro” (Kimsakocha, between the water and the gold) tomorrow at 10:00 in the lecture hall of the School of Law at the U of Cuenca.  There will be representatives from the Prefectura, City, U of Cuenca, Ministry of Mines and Defenders of Kimsacocha.  (Note EL agua and EL oro – there are those articles again.  And it´s el agua because it´s easier to say then la agua even though in other respects, agua is feminine – like agua fria.)

Azogues  – also celebrated its independence.  (And here´s a little bit of local history.)  Cuenca and Azogues were liberated thanks to popular revolts and patriotic uprisings.  Captain Tomás Ordóñez was in command of the patriots (or rebels depending on if you were Latinamerican or Spanish) in Cuenca and thinking of withdrawing before a seige by the royalists and the impossibility of holding the city.  Things were looking bad (much less flowery than the Spanish original) until patriots from surrounding towns, armed with whatever they had, entered through El Vecino. (They were probably brandishing agricultural hand tools.  Well sharpened agricultural hand tools.  And machetes.  Lots and lots of machetes.)

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne