Domingo, 25/5/2017: New food courts, Earthquake, Cuenca’s pre-Columbian terraces, University symphony performs

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Today’s agenda events –

Festival de la Guitarra – Sunday was the last day of the San Bartolomé Guitar festival.

Upcoming and ongoing agenda events –

Conversation – El próximo martes at 18:00 at the Unidad Educativa Francisco Febres Cordero, there will be a conversation about the “Indor puertas adentro” exhibit.

III Festival de Charangos – The Cultural Unit of the U. of Cuenca and the group Ayllu Llakta with the Centro Cultural Andino is arranging this festival.  <There’s a poster in front of the U. of Cuenca on 12 de Abril.>

Opening – The show “Homenaje a las Indígenas” will open el próximo jueves at 19:00.  Artists Fausto Bravo, Sally Marr and Peter Dudar will exhibit photos, drawings and ceramics.  The program will include music and dance.

Articles about –

Nabón – The Brass Band unit of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuenca performed Fri. in Nabón to honor the Virgen del Rosario, Nabón’s patron saint.

Contest – Submissions are being called for by the XLII Aurelio Espinosa Pólit National Literature Prize for novels.  <Enough said – if you’re thinking about submitting, you can do find out how on your own just fine.  The deadline is 28/7.>

Concierto – The Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad de Cuenca will perform el martes at 20:00 in the teatro Sucre with two young Argentineans participating: Estela Oliveira will solo on piano and Carla Ábalos will direct.

Museo de las Conceptas – The new director is trying to attract families and the public.  The current show is “Iconografía Mariana, Vida de la Virgen y Advocaciones Marianas” (Marian Iconography, Life of the Virgin and Marian Advocations) which will run to July.

Otras cosas – 

Titular – Grave herida tiene el Tahual (Tahual badly hurt) – The vía El Descanso-Gualaceo has been closed due to dangerous rock falls in Tahual.  This is the main route between Cuenca and Gualaceo and many businesses in Gualaceo that rely on tourism have been hurt by the road closure.  The number of visitors has dropped steeply as well as contracts for receptions and social events made by Cuencanos.

Currently the alternate route through Pastobamba is an alternating one way with traffic driving from Gualaceo to Cuenca between 00:00-12:00 and traffic from Cuenca to Gualaceo allowed from 12:00- 23:59.

Plazas de comida – These outdoor food courts are an alternative to a restaurant or food courts at the malls.  The two in Cuenca are the Patio Comida Urbana on Veinte y siete de Febrero y and Francisco Cuesta  <one block east of Solano>, and Containers Park on av. Florencia Astudillo <the street on the south of the stadium> across the street from Parque de la Madre. The first one has 18 spaces in trailers offering national and international foods such as Japanese, Argentinean, Mexican, and more.  The second has 11 spaces with a central bar for alcoholic drinks, as does the 27 de Febrero one.  The Astudillo court houses the vendors in shipping containers.  It offers Mexican, Indian, Lebanese, Italian, sandwiches, burgers, and BBQ.  Hours for El Patio are martes y miércoles – 12-22:00; jueves a sábado – 12-0:00; domingo – 12-18:00; closed lunes. Containers Park is open martes y miércoles – 12:30-21:00; jueves a sábado – 12:30-0:00; and domingo – 12:30-21:00.

Sismo – An earthquake of 3.9 registered in Playas and no reports or injuries or material damage were received.

The shelters created after the 16/4/2016 quake were closed las 23/5.  12,500 victims were housed in 31 official shelters in Manabí and Esmeraldas provinces.  All of the families have left after finding their own houses.

TV signals – On 31/7 analog TV signals will quit to change to the Televisión Digital Terrestre (TDT) digital signal.

Police page –

There was a police control in the area outside the Terminal on av. Gil Ramírez Dávalos as well as Huayna Cápac and the Chola Cuencana sector.  The areas are known for streetwalkers and drug dealing.  Cops found one person hiding drugs in a small package in his mouth, and others who were hiding drugs between their socks and shoes.  <For more than one reason, if you run into a police control, don’t shove the joint you’re smoking into your shoe.  Stuffing it into your bra would be a worse idea.>

25 drivers were detained on last Thu. and Fri. nights for drunk driving.  <You know they step up patrols on holidays.  And I think it’s time for a reminder about the penalties.>  If your alcohol level per liter of blood is 0.3 to 0.8 grams, there is a fine of one basic salary or $375.00, loss of 5 points off your license, and 5 days in jail.   <Keep in mind that 0.8 is the level in the US.  You’re going to be legally drunk on less booze here.>  For driving with alcohol levels of 0.8 to 1.2 grams, the fine is $750.00, 10 points off your license and 15 days in jail. For levels over 1.2, the penalty is $1,125.00, the suspension of your license for 60 days, and 30 days in jail.  <Bet you’d learn a lot of Spanish in jail.  Bend over comes to mind.>

Road closures – Due to the Tranvía, stretches of Sangurima will have vehicle restrictions.  The intersections with Vargas Machuca, Tomás Ordóñez and Manuel Vega will be closed for work.  Mariano Cueva will change direction to Rafael María Arízaga.  Drive with care.

Actualidades – Articles about:

Barbershops and fancy hair cuts.

The mystery of terraces tucked around Cuenca – Guapondélig (now Cuenca), the Cañari city, was one of the most important pre-Colombian ceremonial centers in the Andes with it’s 5 sanctuary terraces and sacred plains.  These are the santuario de Pumapungo, El tablón de Llacao, El tablón de Turi or Icto Cruz, El Tablón de Sidcay, and the mirador de Miraflores.

Ecuadorian music – The music is a mix of Andean and Amazonian, European and African influences.  This includes the pasacalle andino which is an Ecuadorian and Peruvian genre with European origins.  The sanjuanito is a 2/4 pre-Colombian beat played in minor keys.  The page has descriptions of Ecuadorian musical instruments such as the rondador, pingullo, bandolin and more.

Sports and Health – the influence of psychology on sports performance.

Special supplement – The 2016 report on the city.  <Basically a list of accomplishments.  The Tranvía is mentioned as part of permanent controls on roadways and the emergency declaration.>  The back page is the list of asssembly members and the committees they serve on.  <No phone numbers, though, for those of you who like to call and complain about things.>

Internacional –

Brazil – Pres. Temer suffered a new blow with the resignation of the president of the development bank.  Last week the presidential advisor who was an important director in the PMDB, the party led by Temer, also “abandonó el barco” (abandoned the ship – your words for the day.)

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne