Light rains provide only minimal relief; Safety tips for street food; ‘Not in use, save the juice,’ utility co. says; City promotes crafts markets; Christmas comedy

Domingo, 24/11/2024

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Exhiben artesanías de San Fernando (San Fernando handicrafts on display) – The crafts show, “Un Pedacito de San Fernando en el Corazón de Cuenca” will be at the Aceladora Cultural de la Casa de la Cultura (Luis Cordero y Pres. Córdova) until el sábado, 30/11. The show will include handmade crafts from artists in San Fernando and include weavings, ponchos, paintings and more. The items will be for sale, admission is free.

Recent rains in Cuenca and the Austro provide some drought relief but don’t recharge the city’s drinking water supplies.

De El Mercurio del sábado, 23/11 (1 article):
En los mercados habrá “Viernes Cusni” (In the markets there will be “Cusni Fridays”) – The 5th “Viernes Cusni” will be el viernes, 29/11 with promotions and big discounts on products. There is sort of a route that starts in the Plaza Rotary, continues to the Centro Comercial 9 de Octubre, then the Plaza Santa Ana (Hippy market), Plaza San Francisco, CC 10 de Agosto, Mercado 3 de Noviembre, and ends at El Arenal.

Vice mayor Marisol Peñaloza said it is important to support local businesses. Diego Cedillo, city director of the mercados, said that these spaces offer the best in fresh products, quality and the vanguard of current fashion. <Why not, the clothing is probably all made in China and at some of the same factories as designer clothing which could create opportunities for sewing some knock-offs.>

De El Mercurio del viernes, 22/11 (3 articles):

Aniversario de Museo (Museum Anniversary) – El miércoles 27/11 will be the first anniversary of the reopening of the Museo de la Moneda which was remodeled by the Banco Central del Ecuador to offer an inclusive and interactive space. Activities are planned.

“El Intercambio de las Tres”, comedia con aire navideño (“The Three O’Clock Exchange”, a comedy with a Christmas twist) – This comedy features 3 Cuencanas who get together to exchange gifts as well as reflections on themes from daily life such as children, partners, divorces, surgeries, finances and fears. The performances are el 27 & 28/11 a las 20:00n in the sala “Alfonso Carrasco” at the Casa de la Cultura. Playwright and director Juana Estrella adapted “El asunto de las tres” which was presented in junio, 2024. She adapted the script to bring a Christmas twist to let people start the season with joy, and commented that in difficult times, laughter is a necessary therapy. Tickets are available at Librimundi in the Centro Histórico and the Mall del Río. Cost: $10.00.

Titular –

D. Cuenca salva la categoría (D. Cuenca saves the category) – Deportiva Cuenca assured its place in the LigaPro Serie A in 2025 with a tie against Libertad FC. <I’m not sure what all that means. That the team is still in the running for the “Super Bowl” of Ecuador?>

De El Mercurio del viernes, 22/11 (1 article):
Al comer en la calle revise la salubridad (When eating in the street, check for sanitation) – <I wouldn’t buy food from any vendor you see picking their nose or scratching their butt.> Cases of bacterial gastroenteritis are recurrent in Cuenca, expecially with people who eat street food. Lack of hygiene in the food preparation is one of the main causes. Improper food handling and exposure of the products to conditions such as high temperatures and environmental pollution increase the risk of bacterial growth. Health professionals have advised that it is urgently needed to implement stricter controls on street vending and to promote good hygiene practices.

Eufrasia Fajardo, Zone 6 coordinator of the Agencia Nacional de Rgulación, Control, y Vigilancia Sanitaria (ARCSA), said that people should consider different aspects of eating food such as the cleanliness of the area in general and the hygiene of the personnel. Also look at the hygienic and sanitary conditions where the food is being prepared. She said ARCSA started a campaign CALIFICATE CON ARCSA (QUALIFY YOURSELF WITH ARCSA) where there is a rigorous inspection and those who get the maximum of 100 points are awarded an A grade which is displayed so customers can be confident their food is safe.

In Zone 6, 104 locations have an A grade, and you can see them at www.controlsanitario.gob.ec. For Maribel Merchán, a food engineer and gastronomic best practices consultant, it’s necessary to improve and regulate sales of street food to prevent illnesses. The first step is to guarantee the vendors have basic knowledge of hygiene, both personal and in food management. She noted that is is fundamental for food stands to be equipped to conserve food at safe temperatures as well as with potable water for washing hands and utensils. <That would be the big bucket on the ground next to the food cart.> Municipal authorities should implement training and certification. She added that there is a contrast between health and social issues since for thousands of families street businesses are their only source of income. This means how to regulate and control it needs to be thought out.

Cuenca –

Lugar de votación (Polling place) – The Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) has a call center where you can find out your polling place for the General Elections in 2025. Call 02-3815-841 from lunes a domingo between 8:30 & 20:00. You can also go to www.cne.gob.ec and the mobile app CNE APP which is free for IOS and Android operating systems. <If you want to run for office so you can “fix” this country, you have to show that you’ve voted.>

Ahorro de energía (Energy savings) – the Empresa Eléctrica Regional Centro Sur (EERCS) which serves Azuay, Cañar and Morona Santiago made a series of recommendations to save electricity. They include disconnecting your phone and device chargers when not in use; avoid opening the refrigerator door constantly and check that the rubber seals are working perfectly; and substitute incandescent light bulbs with LED bulbs. <Another reason to stay out of the ref’r is the blackout diet. You can’t eat or drink what’s behind the door you don’t open. Or is that the Ecuadorian intermittant diet – you don’t eat during blackout hours.>

Lluvias, mínimas para lo esperado (Rainfall, minimal for what was expected) – The rains that were strongest on the 19th & 22/11 did not help to improve the conditions of the 4 main rivers in the city. On el sábado, they were declared with low flow rates. The Tomebamba was at 0.60 cubic meters per second when its normal flow is 6.5 The Yanuncay was at 1.09 v.s. 6; the Tarqui was at 0.96 and is normally at 3.5; the Machángara was at 1.12 and normally has a minimum of 4.5. At ETAPA’s hydro-meteorological network of 12 monitoring stations, rainfall on el 22/11 varied. 4 stations measured rainfall of less than 1.0 mm, 3 had amounts of 2.0 and 2.1, 3 were around 6, and 2 had 16.7 and 10.6 mm. of rain.

Ernesto Martínez, a civil engineer and hydrology expert, explained we are experiencing localized rains, especially in the north of the city in zones that are not water recharging areas. What did fall helps to regulate the weather and other conditions for plants and animals, but weren’t a big help with the water sources we rely on. He said it should rain on the Parque Nacional Cajas (PNC), in Soldados, in the high part of Checa, and in the mountains in Taqui and Victoria del Portete since these are the zones that recharge water. Rigoberto Guerrero, with ETAPA’s hydro-meteorological network, said that to overcome the drought, it would need to rain between 10 and 15 consecutive days with an intensity of 10-15 mm. He said ETAPA has a drought protocol that when the flow is below a threshold of 20% of what can be captured, the company should temporarily suspend supplying potable water. Because of this the company has started a campaign to ask the populace to use potable water strictly for human consumption. <So your dogs get to drink gray water like out of the toilet while the yellow is mellowing?> ETAPA is also asking that misuse of water gets reported. The Administrative Boards of the Nero and Baños water projects has already had water service shut-offs due to the low level of the flows feeding its plants.

National –

Apagones bajarán a seis y siete horas (Blackouts to be reduced to six and seven hours) – The Ministerio de Energía announced that outages, now at 8 hours a day, will be reduced to 6 and 7 hours. This was after the Ministry detected an improvement in the flows that feed the hydroelectric plants. The different electric companies published the new hours which will apply from lunes to jueves. Last miércoles, Pres. Noboa said that Ecuador “volverá a tener una vida normal” (will return to normal life) without outages in diciembre, as he also promised at the end of octubre during a TV interview. <The reporter leaves it to the reader to remember what’s been happening since the end of octubre.>

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne