Gov’t promises Cuenca major road upgrades; Ricaurte serves up its best sancocho; Cuenca-area produce is more organic; Toy exhibit at Pumapungo

Viernes, 26/7/2024

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Presentación de la obra “Crime Brulé” (Presentation of the play “Crime Brulé”) – “Crime Brulé,” the new work by dramaturgo (playwright – your more or less useless word for the day unless you are one) Martín Peña Vázquez will be performed on el 31/7 and el 1/8 a las 19:00 in the Teatro de la Casa de la Cultura. The play is about a 40 year old assassin named Billy J. Flash who has committed the most heinous crime in Ciudad Beta. The play invites the viewer to float in a space where the absurd and irrational govern. <Might that be the world as we know it?> For more information, call 098 471 2196. Presale tickets cost $10 until el 28/7, after that, tickets cost $15.

The government is promising to invest $150 million to build four overpasses on the Cuenca-Azogues autopista in 2024-2025. The overpasses would replace over-loaded redondels. Some local leaders are skeptical of the offer, pointing out that the work was announced before and not fulfilled. (El Mercurio)

Argentino dicta taller de cine y proyectan filme (Argentinian filmmaker gives film workshop and film screening) – Argentinean director Juan Cruz Caricati, is holding a workshop on film with cellphones and screening the “Millones” series. Millones is a community film that denounces agrochemical pollution and reflects on the use of pesticides, and their affect on people and on the environment. The workshop will be mañana (sábado) starting a las 16:00 in the Casa Aurora (calles Cisnes y Golondrinas, U. of Azuay sector). The cost is $10 and you can register through the social networks @milloneslaserie. A las 19:00 there will be live music and appetizers with “Millones” screened at 20:00. The screening is free for those who attend the workshop. The cost for the film only is $5.00.

“El Amado Inmóvil”, monólogo detectivesco de Juana Estrella (“El Amado Inmóvil”, a detective monologue by Juana Estrella) – Juana Estrella has returned after a 5-year absence to direct with a project that will captivate theater and mystery lovers. The monologue revolves around a real crime from the 80’s in Cuenca which Estrella has recreated and fictionalized, assuming the role of a detective in search of the truth. She said it is like a caricature of herself, playing a detective who is always getting into trouble, saying more than she should, and looking to solve the case while laughing at herself. She interprets 5 characters, each coming to life through elaborate sound design, visual resources, lights and set design. The performance will be el jueves, 1/8 a las 20:00 in the Teatro Pumapungo. Tickets are available at Librimundi, Tienda La Raíz, La Pizza de Juanja, La Gata Cafetería y Bontticafe. Cost: $15.00. <I wish my Spanish were good enough to let me understand a monologue.>

De El Mercurio del jueves (3 articles):
Ricaurte ofrecerá su mejor sancocho (Ricaurte will offer its best sancocho) – The Buena Esperanza barrio of the Ricaurte Parish will have 3 days of religious festivities starting viernes and ending el domingo with the traditional festival del sancocho. (Sancocho is a popular Latin American stew; the local version has Cañari / southern Ecuador origins,) The events start mañana a las 19:00 with a competition, “Los artistas cantan al Señor de la Buena Esperanza,” and a las 23:00, there will be a lantern contest. <It will probably be pretty, twinkly, and sparkly, but hopefully less likely to set fire to the church than a fireworks contest.> On el sábado, sales of cascarita (the crispy pork skin) will go on sale at 8:00; there will be traditional games at 9:00; a serenade at 20:00; and an artistic show at 21:00. <That’s probably when everyone in the neighborhood plus tourists come down to the church square and dance their butts off.> El domingo, the 9th edition of the festival de sancocho starts at 9:00, with a dance contest a las 11:00, and a musical presentation by Euler Caicedo at 16:00.

Concurso de danza en Turi y Santa Ana (Dance contest in Turi and Santa Ana) – The Santa Ana and Turi Parishes will hold the Tercer Festival de Danza this weekend with 11 dance groups competing. The festival will start in the Greek-Roman theater in Turi el sábado, a las 17:00. It will be in parque central de Santa Ana a las 10:00 el domingo.

Regreso a la ‘infancia’ con juegos y juguetes (Back to ‘childhood’ with games and toys) – The Museo Pumapungo is showing 300 pieces that date as far back as the prehispanic era; and continue through the colonial, modern and contemporary periods. Although the show is for children, it might be more for adults to remember their childhoods. <And what toys you played with probably dates you pretty accurately – like the box the refrigerator came in for kids whose folks were moving into new post war subdivisions in the 50’s.> Parents might remember toys like tops, ceramic yoyos, old magazines such as Mi Escuelita and Panas; mud puddles <They have one on exhibit?>; and “Chopper” bikes. Before entering the exhibit, the numbers 1 through 10 are laid out on the floor in a game of avioncito (hopscotch?) which more than one adult jumped through. Another game is from the cañari culture which was used to develop algorythms and resolve arithmetic problems using seeds. There are also characters from the 80’s including He-Man and Thundercats.

Titular –

Ofrecimientos en precampaña no convencen (Pre-campaign offers are not convincing) – Ministers Roberto Luque of MTOP, and Juan Carlos Vega of Finances were in Cuenca to announce a $150 million investment in roads. The money will be invested between 2024 & 2025 to build 4 overpasses on the vía Cuenca-Azogues, and for interventions on the vías Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme and Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje. María Cristina García, representative for the Asamblea Ciudadana Gran Cruzada por la Vialidad del Azuay (Citizens’ Assembly Great Crusade for Roads in Azuay) said that they didn’t present studies, concrete budgets, nor planning. She said some of these projects were presented as far back as 2021 by previous governments.

David Barzallo, a political analyst, said that what the ministers are doing, not just in Azuay, but other provinces as well, are making promises to create a positive image of Noboa’s government by the end of the year. <So what else is new, and what have the same ministers promised other provinces?> Previous governments have announced road projects such as working on studies to implement a 4 lane road from Cuenca to Paute and Gualaceo which was done in 2017 by Rafael Correa’s administration. In 2019, Lenín Moreno offered to build a Cuenca-Azogues-Biblían highway corridor which included a new Southern Access to Cuenca. In 2022, Guillermo Lasso said he’d budgeted $26 million for 11 road repair projects in Azuay and to do studies to build a new Cuenca-Guayaquil highway. <How many of those have you seen or even better, actually driven on? Zero, right? It might come to pass we can all float on hot air from Cuenca to Guayaquil or Paute before the roads get fixed or built.>

Actualidades –

MAG verifica calidad de cultivos (MAG checks crop quality) – La Dirección Provincial del Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería (MAG) asked the Ministerio del Ambiente (MAATE) to do an analysis of the water used in the province for agricultural activities. With this, it can guarantee that crops are free of contamination risks. According to Roxana Torres, this is being done after the results of an academic study in Quito found that 4 mercados in that city were selling tomatoes, lettuces and carrots that had high levels of cadmium and lead. She thinks that in Cuenca and Azuay, this is not a problem because most of the agricultural products are characterized by not using chemicals on the crops. <Those of you who buy organic can breathe a sigh of relief and congratulate yourselves for your wise choices in produce.>

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne