Cuenca celebrates 464th anniversary of its Spanish founding; The foods and crafts of Cuenca; New cacao museum tells all about chocolate; Cuenca Symphony

Lunes, 12/4/2021

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
De la pagina cultural –

Old articles from el sábado, 10/4 –

Un museo para conocer el cacao ecuatoriano (A museum to get to know Ecuadorian cocoa) – <Just what all of you choloholics have been waiting for.> After more than a year, Johanna Cruz opened a chocolate store through her Pajarogato project. The store sells chocolate processed from the cacao fino de aroma harvested from family gardens/orchards in Ponce Enríquez. While she was working to open the business, she realized that people didn’t know much about cacao and how it gets to be chocolate. She researched archives in the CCE and the Museo del Pumapungo and expanded her plans for the museum beyond historical information to sharing knowledge about cocoa and chocolate. The Museo del Cacao is at Juan Jaramillo y Hermano Miguel and is open every day a las 10:30 a 19:00.

Abya Yala, obra de Gotas Mágicas, se estrena en video (Abya Yala, the work of Gotas Mágicas, premieres on video) – The theater company Gotas Mágicas premiered “Abya Yala, tierra de leyendas” el sábado. The puppet theater tells 3 legends from different pre-colombian peoples: GOOS las ballena, Pulowi del mar y Pulowi del la Tierra, and El zorro y el cóndor (GOOS the whale, Pulowi from the sea and Pulowi from the Earth, and The fox and the condor). Go to www.gotasmagicasteatro.com for more info.

An exhibit at Cuenca’s new Museo del Cacao. (El Mercurio)

La Orquesta Sinfónica estrena cuatro conciertos virtuales (The Symphony Orchestra premieres four virtual concerts) – The OSC premiered 4 concerts between el 6 & 10/4: Oblivión by Astor Piazzolla; Sombras by Carlos Brito; Concierto para Violín y Oruesta by Bach; and Saludo de Amor by Edward Elgar. The concerts are available in the Sala Digital de Conciertos of the OSC at www.youtube.com/sinfonicacuenca. There are 47 other concerts in the Sala Digital along with productions by the musicians of the symphony.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Lasso, presidente electo (Lasso, president-elect) – See today’s article in CHL for details. There are also other articles about the election.

464 años de fundación (464 years since foundation) – For the second year, the founding of Cuenca will be celebrated under Covid restrictions. Activities for el 14/4 include:
9:00 – Inauguration of the Solmáforo (Sol (sun) and sem-áforo (stoplight) I think a UV risk monitor.) in the Parque Calderón.
10:00 – Conversation: Pandemic cultural management – https://bit.ly/3IWunHq.
11:00 – Exposition of wills – Museo Catedral Vieja.
19:00 – Exposición: Books of the Cabildo de Cuenca – Museo Municipal Remigio Crespo Toral.
El carnaval de los animales – Teatro Sucre.
Bang Bang estás muerto (Bang Bang you’re dead) -Casa Patrimonial Municipal de la Lira.
Concierto de Jazz – Museo Municipal Remigio Crespo Toral.
Download the “Abril, Artes Mil” agenda from the Facebook page of the Dirección de Cultura del Municipio de Cuenca.

The paper has 3 special sections for the founding of Cuenca with articles about the city, which all look interesting, but are way too long to translate.

Section C – Articles about traditional crafts and the craftspeople.
Basketry from fibra de dudas which you can buy at the Rotary Plaza.
Hairdressing from classic to modern.
Costurera (dressmaking)
Hojalatería (tin smithing/ sheet metal work) which is done in 2 barrios, in El Vado on La Condamine and in El Vecino.
Herreros y forjadores (blacksmiths and smiths) which you can find on Las Herrerías where you can also find Cuencanan gastronomy (humitas, tamales, quimbolitos, etc.)
Sombreros (hat repairers, of whom there are few left) on la calle de la Cruz. <Think this is where Charlie Sheen is going to get his $25,000 “Panama” hat repaired if he damages it?)

Section D – Articles about traditional Cuencanan golosinas (treats, goodies).
Espumilla (meringue) which you can find on many street corners, parks, etc. <This is the stuff you think is ice cream until you put it in your mouth and realize it isn’t, but where can you spit it out now that you’ve got this disappointing mouthful of foam?>
Chispiolas and maní dulce (popcorn balls and sugared peanuts).
Melcocha (a panela based candy with peanuts or toctes) It’s pulled like salt water taffy. Sometimes you can see people making it in a doorway.
Breads (if you can’t find a bakery, you’ve got a serious vision or olfactory problem.)
Hojas (leaves) You can find leaves from achira and green or dried corn husks wrapped around humitas, tamales, quimbolitos, cuchichaquis, chachis, and timbulos.
“Golosinas de charo” (Goodies on a tray) include artisanal potato
chips and chifles and which you can find on just about every block in the Centro Histórico.
Dulces (sweets) include fruits cooked in syrup and sweet sauces (?)
like dulce de leche and manjar and can be found in the mercados. Luzmila who owns the Delicias de Luzmila in the mercado 12 de abril has had her stand for 36 years and has been there every day for 36 years. <The hardest working woman in the dulce business.>

Section E – Varied articles about the history of Cuenca, the names it has had, the unofficial names it has been known by, the churches of Cuenca, the beauty of the Tomebamba, and the Chola Cuencana.

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. The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.