Bus safety, Low octane gasoline, Ricaurte festival, Chevron appeal, ETAPA to extend digital tv coverage

Viernes, 22/7/2017

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Friday’s agenda event –

Exibición – A group of art students in their 2nd cycle at the U. of Cuenca opened an exhibit of their Fri. in the Casa de las Posadas. <It’s nice that budding artists from 5 year old dancers to art students to tercera edad painters have opportunities to exhibit to the general public. I don’t remember newspaper articles for shows like this in the US.>

Articles about –

Teatro – The colectiva El Quijote is made up afficionados of theater ranging in ages from 11-65. It will present two plays in the sala “Alfonso Carrasco” at the CCE at 17:00. The first will be “Una visita singular” (A singular visit) Saturday and the second will be “Con mi sombra” (With my shadow) on el sábado, 29/7. The first is based on a Woody Allen work. One member of the collective is a teacher nearing retirement who had never acted before. He said he felt “como un niño con juguete nuevo” (like a kid with a new toy).

Radionovela – <I’m very confused. A radionovela is a radio soap opera. The photo is of a stage set and actors in costume.> Anyway, the radionovela “Dolores Cacuango, la Pachamama habló por su voz” (Dolores Cacuango, Mother Earth spoke in your voice) was launched ayer <yesterday – remember that word?) in the auditorium of the Museo de la Ciudad. Dolores Cacuango was an country woman who fought for indigenous rights in the middle of the 20th Century. This leader disappeared <was disappeared?> about 50 years ago.

Música – “Alias,” a band from Loja, will launch its first CD with a concert el próximo jueves, 27/7 a las 20:00 in the teatro Carlos Cueva Tamariz. The band plays a fusion of rock metal, Andean music, trash <that’s really a musical genre? – excuse me while I go to YouTube>, and ritmos tropicales (tropical rhythms) <I like those for your words for the day.>

Book launch – “Feminismo y Buen Vivir, Utopías decoloniales” (Feminism and Good Living, Decolonial Utopias), with contributions from 10 writoras <Could that be that Spanglish for women writers?>, was launched yesterday.

Ad – Quinteto del Recuerdo – 27/7 – 20:00 – Teatro Pumapungo – tickets at El Surtido and the theater box office – $12.00.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Los que buscan trabajo quieren ir a El Otorongo (Those looking for work want to go to El Otorongo) – The city is looking at a social program and not just relocation for the day laborers that congregate in the San Francisco Plaza. Most of the job seekers are builders, bricklayers and painters. <I bet these are the guys that were peeing on the little house that got torn down. If they go to Otorongo, there better be porta-potties for them. Flush toilets would be better and would be good for all the events and concerts, too.>

Chevron – The Appeals Court of the Hague denied Ecuador’s appeal of a decision by the Arbitration Court.

Gasoline – The sales of low octane gas will be continued until the end of 2018. Pollution is higher with low octane gas. In 2015 the Government lowered the octane level in extra from 87 to 85 and in super from 92 to 90 in response to a decrease in production at the Esmeraldas Refinery. It was supposed to go back up to 87 and 92 in 2016, but was extended to 2017. A mechanic recommmended switching to super if your engine starts to “cascabelear” (jingle) <A cascabel is a bell/jingle bell/sleigh bell. I know there’s a word in English for that same engine noise. Is it knocking?>

Ricaurte – The Buena Esperanza barrio in the Ricaurte Parish will honor its patron, el Señor de la Buena Esperanza (Lord of Good Hope) this weekend. There will also be the 2nd Dance Festival, “Mi Raza Mi Color” (My Race My Color). So far, there are 10 folk dance groups from different rural parishes performing. Groups interested in performing should register in the Consorcio de los GAD de Cuenca offices (General Torres 7-15 y Pres. Córdova. <Right in the middle of the SF Plaza work.> Scheduled activities include:
Sábado – afternoon sports, 20:00-serenata with the Mariachi Monterrey; 21:00-a dance with the Tropicalísima orchestra <will this be the whole community dancing in the main square?>
Domingo – 8:00-outdoor mass; 9;00-festival de sancocho; 12:00-folk dance festival; 16:00-Sahiro in concert; 17:00-raffle.

Buses – For the first time in 10 years, the Government will meet with transportistas and collectives (transporters and unions) to come to a consensus about a strategy for safety on the roads. In the 1st half of this year, 1025 people have died, including those killed in the recent accident on the vía Alóag-Santo Domingo. According to Justicio Vial and Ecovial, public interest groups, there is a major accident in Ecuador every 245 days, while other countries experience them every 2 years.

Complaints – If you see dry or damaged plants in public spaces, call 139 to EMAC to report them. Public green spaces have a 30 day maintenance schedule. A technician in the Áreas Verdes (Green Spaces) Department said that many of the dead plants drowned in the last rainy season due to lack of drainage.

TV – ETAPA is looking to extend its digital television services with the Satellite DTH system. It’s new digital OTT product will be available soon.

Business page – Prices have gone up for land and houses in 4 areas of Cuenca: San Joaquín, Racar, Challuabamba nad around the Tennis Club. Tarqui is also getting popular because land prices are low. <So far.> The El Ejido area is changing from residential to commercial.

Horse back ride – A group of riders from Quito Equestre is fulfilling a dream by riding the length of Ecuador from Carchi in the north to Macará in the south. They started on 1/7 and expect to finish in Macará in the beginning of August. They expect to cover the 1,000 km. distance by riding 6 hours a day for 40 days, mostly in the páramos in the Andes, and they use a GPS to navigate. <I really don’t think the Garmin has dirt paths in its database.>

Amenidades –

CONSEQUENCIAS – This band from Ambato will perform at
El Prohibido Centro Cultural (calle La Condamine 12-102) Saturday a las 15:00.

Movies – as usual, go to www.multicines.com.ec for show times and locations. The following movies open this week.

2D & 3D Transformers 5 – Esp.
2D Transformers 5 – Sub.

The following movies are continuing. All are in 2D.

Spiderman de regreso a casa – Esp. & Sub.
Mi villano favorito 3 – Esp.
Cars 3 – Esp.
Dos son familia – Esp.

Internacional –

Venezuela – The general strike paralized entire zones in different cities and left 2 dead and 200 arrested.

Descuentos y compras –

Tedasa – tire sale, 3×4 for cars and trucks – Sony DSX A100, USB/ MP3 <is that a car radio on steroids?>

Kia – Rio from $18,990, Picanto from $14,990, Sportage from $29,990 – extended hours, viernes, 21/7 – 9-20:00 and sábado, 22/7 – 9-18:00 – Kia financing, 25% down, 60 month term, 1st payment in septiembre. <I bet the interest rate is really, really high.>

And that´s all for today so Hasta Domingo –

Jeanne