Border with Peru reopens today; Spain donates 1.5 million vaccines; Event schedule for Carnaval 2022; Cañar orchid show to introduce new variety

Feb 18, 2022 | 2 comments

Jueves, 17/2/2022

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Dos exposiciones en un museo y galería de arte (Two exhibitions in a museum and art gallery) – <Finally something to translate in this section – after 2 years of nada.> An exhibit, “Desnudez del alma” by Cuban artist Esteban Machado, opened ayer at the Museo de la Catedral Vieja. The exhibit has 9 works in medium format done in acrylic on canvas. Hours are from 9:00 to 17:30, lunes a viernes. “La Creación de un Santuario” by Magdalena Herreshoff opened hoy a las 19:00 at the Saladentro (3 de Noviembre 4-8 y bajada de Todosantos).

Also see the 2 articles below in the Region section.

Titular –

Árboles en riesgo de caerse (Trees at risk of falling) – La Empresa de Aseo de Cuenca (EMAC EP) has identified some 2,000 trees in different sectors of the city that are in danger of falling. Wolfram Palacio, manager of EMAC said they are maintaining constant monitoring of these trees to reduce the risk of accidents such as the one that occurred el último martes. A tree fell on a taxi at av. 12 de abril e Imbabura injuring una mujer de la tercera edad (a woman in her third age/ an elderly woman). <Doesn’t a woman in her 3d age sound nicer than an elderly woman? Somehow less decrepit.>

City officials say that 2,000 trees are in danger of falling and pose a safety risk. Many of the trees are along local rivers. (El Mercurio)

Palacio said the trees at most risk of falling are eucalyptus which are not endemic to the city. EMAC has a protocol for evaluating trees and determining if they should be cut down or saved. To cut a tree down, EMAC has to get permission from the Ministerio de Ambiente, Agua y Transición Ecológica (MAATE) which is the highest environmental authority in the country. <Or you pound iron spikes around the roots or pour bleach(?) around the roots and wonder why the tree died.> For every tree removed, 10 more of native species have to be planted. According to Milton Mejía, an agricultural engineer, the areas with high risks of falling trees are the río Yanuncay in the Barabón sector, Misicata at av. 1° de may y 12 de Octubre, and La Isla. Along the río Tomebamba, risky areas are in the hospital Militar sector, Puertas del Sol, parque lineal Los Cerezos; and along the río Cuenca in the Colegio de Ingenieros zone; and the Milchichig and La Companía Creeks.

Cuenca –

Infantes entre 3 y 4 años se vacunan este lunes en Cuenca (Infants between 3 and 4 years old are vaccinated this Monday in Cuenca) – This week vaccinations for children between 3 & 4 started in the 4 cities of Quito, Loja, Zamora y Machala. The rest of the cities, including Cuenca will start el lunes, 21/2. Kids will receive the Sinovac vaccine with an interval of 28 to 42 days between doses. Ministra de Salud Pública, Ximena Garzón, said they are evaluating if this age group should or should not get a booster after 5 months. She stressed the importance of vaccines since cases in many children are unnoticed, but after a time they get long Covid.

The MSP is also evaluating the possiblity of vaccinating babies starting at 3 months as is being done in China. Zone 6 coordinator, Andrea Bersosa, said they are planning on how to get the kids vaccinated while avoiding crowds. One possibility is by call from lunes a sábado at locations to be defined, and another is to activate health centers. The most logical would be to start with massive vaccination locations. Garzón said that once positive tests get below 5%, the recommendation would be that mask usage in open spaces such as parks could be eliminated. This could happen in abril o mayo. <It would be so nice to breath fresh air again instead of the last meal I ate.>

Ecuador recibe 1.5 millones de vacuncas (Ecuador receives 1.5 million vaccines) – The Government of Spain donated 1,511,640 doses of Pfizer vaccines to Ecuador el miércoles. The donation will allow the percentage of coverage in the country to increase, especially in the applications of boosters.

La ANT entregará placas a Cuenca (ANT will deliver (license) plates to Cuenca) – ANT will start delivering license plates for vehicles and new motorcycles to the municipal GADs in marzo. The priority will be to get the plates to the 3 principal cities in the country, including Cuenca, that have the largest number of vehicles. In Cuenca, plates need to be issued to 924 vehicles that need duplicates, 76 plates for new vehicles, and 8,000 plates for new motorcycles. ANT has reached an agreement for cities to start contracting their own plates. ANT is close to an agreement with the Empresa de Movilidad (EMOV EP) to start fabricating and delivering license plates. <Do prisoners here make license plates, and would this put them out of work?>

Region –

Show y tradición en el Carnaval 2022 (Show and tradition at Carnival 2022) – You can enjoy shows, parades, gastronomica, places to visit and spaces to play during Carnaval 2022 in Paute, Gualaceo, Chordeleg and Sígsig from 20/2 to 1/3.
In Paute, “Vive el Carnaval del río Paute” will start el domingo, 27/2 with the Corso de Carnaval followed by the orquesta Don Medardo y sus Players at 15:00 in the Parque Lineal. Later at 21:00 Colombian singer Jessi Uribe will perform. El lunes, 28/2 will feature Colombian artists Crissin & Paola Jara.

The Festival de Carnaval “Sígsig 2022”
will open el sábado 26/2 with a cultural parade, election of the Taita Carnaval and a Festival of cuy and traditional sweets in the multiple sports fields. On lunes el 28/2 a las 14:00, there will be a cultural parade and gastronomic festival. There will be show with Don Medardo y sus Players, Los Adolescentes from Venezuela, and la Sonora Dinamita from Colombia. <An international show!>

Gualaceo Carnaval starts out on el 24/2
with the Jueves de Compadres. On viernes, 25/2 there will be the 1st Festival de Arte in the Jardín Azuayo, and on el sábado 26/2 the proclamation and crowning of the señorita Carnaval. At 20:00 on el 26, there will be the Cultural Route “A la voz del Carnaval” in the Casa Comunal in Bullcay. <I’m going to reformat the rest of this information. I hope it’ll be easier to read.>

More in Gualaceo –
27/12 – The artistic show “El Carmen Plaza”
The Festival de Sabores y Colores del Carnaval – in the mercado Santiago.
Festival Gastronómico Carnvalero in the Acoustic Shell (Acoustic shell – band shell?)
La Caravana Cultural del Carnaval del Río Gualaceo with music, dance and carros alegoricos (floats).

14:00 – international concert with Wilvrido Vargas – Plaza Cíviz Gualaceo.
lunes, 28/2 – Festival de Sabores y Colores – Mercado 25 de Junio.
martes, 1/3 – Festival Gastronómico Carnavelero & the DJ Fest.

Chordeleg – activities from 24/2 to 1/3
24/2 – traditional Jueves de Compadres with a parade with more than 19 barrios, organizations & associations.

At night – election of Taita Carnaval and a dance with Quinto Mandamiento.
sábado – the traditional Hauyco Fest with live music, a foam machine, and tradtional games.

sábado 26/2 to martes, 1/3 – traditional crafts fair in the Plaza José María Vargas.
domingo – an artistic show with the Orquesta Suprema.

Carnaval de los Cuatro Ríos (Four Rivers Carnival)
<I like that better than Carnaval of the Four Rivers. 4 Rivers Carnaval sounds like a festival in Oregon or Washington.>) – Cuenca will also celebrate Carnaval.

sábado 26/2 – “Carnaval de los Cuatro Ríos” carnaval comparsas parade from 9:00 – route starts in parque San Blas, goes along Bolívar to General Torres and then to the Plaza San Francisco. Groups that can participate include barrio organizations, schools, dance academies, folkloric groups, families, groups of friends, and parish GADs with any theme. However, preference is for Carnaval themes such as the Taita Carnaval, El Pucara, Comadres & Compadres, La venada, etc. or representations of carnavals in other countries. <Samba marchers in glittery, skimpy costumes. Right now I’m cringing at the image of a troupe of retired gringos in teeny costumes, lots of feathers, and even more wrinkles.> Prizes will be awarded, and the parade is organized by the Municipalidad de Cuenca, Amistad Club, and the Unión de Periodistas del Azuay.

Exposición de orquídeas en Cañar (Orchid exhibition in Cañar) – The first orchid show, “Cañar 2022” will run from mañana (viernes) a las 11:00 to el domingo 20/2 from 9:00-17:00 in the patios of the Prefectura del Cañar. The event is being organized by the Prefectura del Cañar and Ecuagenera Orquídeas del Ecuador. A new orchid called “Masdevallia Cojitambo” will be introduced. After, there will be conference-workshop related to the exhibit in the salon de actos in the provincial building. Ecuagenera, located in Gualaceo, is a benchmark for environmental conservation with an inventory of more than 9.500 species including those endemic to Ecuador, and from the whole world. The company protects, studies and cares for these orchids.

Nacional –

Plantean que se abra frontera sur (Southern border to be opened)Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Holguín announced Thursday that the border with Peru in Huaquillas and Macará will be reopened Friday, February 18. He said the entry and exit of both Ecuadorian and Peruvian citizens will be controlled with biosecurity measures. The President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, <Does that guy ever take off that hat? Is he hiding a bald spot the size of Texas?> issued a decree opening the borders with Ecuador and Chile. The reopening will be progressive with only the passage of vehicles and people via the Huaquillas bridge in El Oro at first.

And that´s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne
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Editor’s note: Jeanne’s Periodico is a translated digest of news from the Cuenca daily newspaper El Mercurio. If details, such as event dates and times, do not appear in the translation, they did not appear in the newspaper (please don’t ask her for them). The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.

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