Miércoles, 30/12/15: Property tax can be paid on Mon., Prisoners are making old year dummies, Bolivia signs agreement with Russia

Hola, Todos – 

Pagina cultural –

Programa – Communications workers

will have an end of the year event and burn an año viejo today at 19:00 in the hotel Esequiel.  (And they can do it all over again with their families tomorrow, except for Ignacio who suffered indescribable injuries when he mistimed his jump over the firecracker stuffed dummy.)

Concierto – “Extraño todas tus patadas (I miss all of your kicks) (in the sense of shoes or abuse?) on 8/1/16 at 19:00 in La Barranca with Pateando Piedras, Alci Cooper, Gatocicletas, etc.

Festival – “Semana de Resistencia Punk” (Punk Resistance Week) will be from 10-17/1/2016.  The event is organized by Lakomuna.

Articles about –

The 3 candidates for the presidency of the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana and their visions for the CCE.

A family musical group called Niburnira which is touring Ecuador with their “Regreso a Casa” (Homecoming) tour from 26/12/15 to 26/1/16. To find out more, go to www.nibunira.com.

The Museo de las Conceptas will focus on telling the history of Cuenca through religious pieces.  The room with the temporary exhibits has a 44 piece pesebre (manger scene – your word for the day) that’s 100 years old.  These exhibits will change monthly.  Hours are 9-1830 on M-F and 10-13:00 on Sat.  Admission fee: $3.50.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Pocas horas le quedan al 2015 (Few hours remain in 2015 – about 30 as I write this.)  The 31st will be a regular work day. Monigotes are on sale all over Cuenca.  (Wonder if there’s a generic mask for bad polititians.  This is an undefined bad so whatever your point of view, it could work.)

Property taxes – can be paid starting Mon, 4/1.  Incentives to pay early are a 10% discount for payments in Jan and decreasing discounts through June.  There is also a tercera edad and disabled discount.

Un día con la EMAC (A day with EMAC (Municipal Sanitation Company) – was yesterday to raise public awareness about how to keep the city clean.  A spokesman said residents should put garbage out on the appropriate day, pick up after your dog (I’ve never seen anyone walking a cat although I’m told it can be done.), and most importantly for the garbage collectors, don’t put sharp things in with the regular garbage.  Wrap them in paper or cardboard and write a warning so the collectors don’t stab or cut themselves.  (If you can’t write an intelligible warning, wrap some of that yellow “peligro” (danger – your word for the day and useful.  If you’re going thru a door marked peligro, you might want to reconsider your route.) tape around that old knife or broken mirror or ice pick.)

Prisoners – at the CRS in Turi are making monigotes (old year dummies), but for security reasons, they won’t be burning them. (They don’t need a fire in cellblock number 9.)

The Portal Artesanal de Cuenca – is scheduled to open on 12/4/16.  The crafts center is on Simón Bólivar y Huayna Cápac and will house 140 artesans.  The 780 sq. meter building will also have restaurants, commercial spaces and administrative offices.  The work on the traditional wooden building is 83% complete and had a budget of $3,788,977.  (Better declare that a no globos, no pyrotecnicas, no fuegos artificiales, no castillos zone.  Remember the old seminary!)

A study – by the School of Medicine at the U of Cuenca recommmends a wide brimmed hat as the accessory for preventing skin cancer.  Ultraviolet waves are stronger at the Equator and you can help protect yourself by wearing a hat or gorra (your other word for the day – baseball cap), long sleeves and avoid white clothes which can reflect the rays back at you.  Much of Ecuador exceeds the maximum tolerable level of 11 UVI as specified by the World Health Organization.  Quito has registered levels of 24, Guayaquil – 19, and the coastal beaches – 23 during 2008 and 2009.   Cuenca is usually 12-14 with past spikes of 20 and 24.

Internacional –

Central America – another Cuban crisis took a first step towards resolution. Cubans are stranded at Central American borders from continuing their journey to the US. Several hundred will be housed in an unused hotel in Paso Canoas on the Panama-Costa Rica border, Costa Rica will fly migrants to El Salvador where there are buses to Mexico.  Costa Rica had issued 8,000 transit visas , but was overwhelmed and cancelled further issuance of the visas.

Argentina – a heat wave has left 59,000 electricity ratepayers without service in Buenos Aires.

Bolivia – has signed a cultural and tourist agreement with Russia.

Argentina – President elect Macri ordered a review of contracts with government officials signed in the past 3 years to verify that the contracts comply with the law and meet genuine management needs.  (Too many deadbeat slackers with friends in high places on the payroll?

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne