Cuenca is a welcoming city, Coyote ring busted, Sombrero Festival, Another crafts fair, Mahogany trees protected, Weaving demonstration

Viernes, 3/11/2017

Hola, Todos –

El Mercurio has a special Independence of Cuenca issue today and it’s daunting – 66 pages. Obviously I’m going to be doing a lot of summarizing.

Pagina cultural –

Today’s agenda event –

Feria – The “Al otro lado del Río” (Across the river) fair was until today in the Pasaje 3 de Noviembre next to El Vado bridge.

Ongoing and upcoming agenda events –

Revista – The Tres de Noviembre Magazine starts circulating today. It is the magazine of the Concejo Cantonal (Cantonal Council/City Council) and has articles by important authors in the city. <I wonder about the content – puff pieces on how well the Tranvía is doing, self congratulations on Cuenca’s tourism award?>

Museo – The Archeological Museum of the U. of Cuenca will be open during the current feriado (holiday – your word for the day) <For those of us who are retired, every day is a feriado, unless you were dumb enough to invent yourself a mission such as translating the newspaper.>

Sombrero Festival – Calle Santa Ana will hold the IX Festival del Sombrero until el domingo. There will be weavers from groups such as the Asociación de Toquilleros (those who work in toquilla straw) de Sidcay and the Asociación de Tejedores (weavers) Rurales del Cantón Cuenca.

Tejido (weaving/fabric) – There will be a show and demonstration of embroidery and “macanas” (ikat weaving) <Google says a macana is some sort of a wooden weapon.> by 3 artisans in the Galería de Oficios at the CCE.

Articles about –

Poetry Slam – The contest was rained out and had to move off the CCE terrace into the Cinema Café. 13 poets participated with David Barzallo from Azogues winning the first prize.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Cuenca, ciudad acogedora (Cuenca, a welcoming city) – <Yes, it is, isn’t it – but if you don’t feel that way, it has more to do with your own state of mind than with Cuenca.>

Corruption – The Prosecutor charged 4 people who were benefitting from irregular contracts, including the finance and administrative directors of the Ministerio del Interior; the wife of one of the directors; server of the House of Pichincha of the National Assembly who was an assistant to Gabriela Rivadeneira when she was president of the Asamblea; and a 4th person who is a fugitive. <I count 5 people, but maybe spouses don’t count.> The investigation includes the period 2014-2015 when José Serrano, current president of the Asamblea, was Minister of the Interior. <The stuff that hit the fan is blowing all over the place now.>

Parking – Until el próximo lunes, parking in the lot at El Arenal is free. Once pay parking starts, it will be 80¢ an hour with hours from 5-19:00 and 500 spaces. <5 frickin’ a.m.? That’s the middle of the night!>

Exposición – A show of paintings by 3 contemporary artists is at the Museo de los Metales (av. Solano 11-83). The show is sponsored by “Biergarten” (Beergarden) <Did I just get your attention? Beer? A new place to while away the day?> to promote the upcoming opening of the restaurant. Hours are from 11-23:00.

Caoba (mahogany – our word for the day) – The ministry of the Environment has prohibited the exploitation and commercialization of mahogany for the next 10 years in all Ecuadorian territory as part of the national plan for conserving and managing natural resources. <Are there plans to enforce this prohibition? Or will Ecuador will go the way of Perú and export even more mahogany – all illegally cut?>

Electric bills – Paying your electric bills was suspended from Friday hasta el lunes, 6/11. The call center will be open 24 hours a day. This month 60% of EERSC clients will get two electric bills. Meter readers are now reading the meter, sending the reading in electronically, and a bill is generated immediately. So some customers might get this past month’s bill and the month before that, this month. <Too many months to keep track of. So don’t go calling your landlord a crook if he says you owe two electric bills this month.>

Coyote ring busted – 11 people were arrested for trafficking migrants. Police raided 12 houses, offices, and a travel agency. Customers paid $10,000-16,000 for a trip to the US. <I can hear it now – And for the last leg of the trip we’ve booked you into a 14′ U-Haul van.> The investigation started when the mother of a young man who died crossing the Río Bravo filed a complaint.

Section D – Ciudad de adoquín (Cobbled city) – There are 10 articles each featuring a street in El Centro with its history and points of interest for a walking tour. The articles cover: Calles Bolívar y Sucre, Sagrario y del Águila, calle Presidente Córdova, calle Benigno Malo, Calle Larga, Rafael María Arízaga, Gaspar Sangurima, Calle Santa Ana, Avenida Doce de Abril, and Gran Colombia.

Section E – Ciudad laureada (City laureate) – Articles about Cuenca’s recently received tourism award for Best City for a Short South American vacation; culture, education and knowledge; art and culture; World Heritage site for 18 years; changes and challenges; La Plaza de las Flores.

Section F – Ciudad de todos – Articles, each featuring an immigrant from a different country including Karen Kennedy from the US.

Amenidades –

Movies – not listed as normal.

Discuentos y compras –

All the ads are from businesses wishing Cuenca a Happy Independence Day – no sales or specials. <Why compete with all the ferias going on.>

And that´s all for today so Hasta Domingo –

Jeanne