Domingo, 6/3/2016: Inflation rate stays low, Play supports cancer victims, Landslide slows traffic

Hola, Todos – 

Pagina cultural – 

Upcoming(?) events –

An homage to women – presenting Juana de Arco (Joan of Arc) and María la Guagua on Wed at 20:00 at Sono.  $5.00.

Teatro – a benefit play “Penelope” will be this coming Wed. and star Cuencana actress, Juana Estrella.  It is being produced by the association de Fieles Caminantes de Emaús to benefit a home for children with cancer. $15.00.  (I hope you remember what I said in my reminder from a couple of days ago regarding information about events.)

CCE apoya (supports) arte nacional – they are putting on “Los viernes populares” (Popular Fridays) once a month with Cuencanano singer Paulo Freire Valdiviezo.  $5.00.  (Not sure if Valdiviezo performs all the Fridays or only the first one.  They’re not going to get many people if they don’t announce when or where.)

Articles about –

Promoting reading – the Ministry of Culture and Patrimony of Azuay is giving books to libraries and info centers in and around Cuenca.   Recents studies show Ecuador has one of the lowest indices of reading in South America. (Does it also have one of the highest indices of connectivity so that people are glued to their phones instead of books?)

“Turbina Editorial” has published its 1st book titled “Arrarau, trece peomas de aniamor, desamor y amor.” (Arrarau, 13 poems of anti-love, heartbreak and love.)

Otras cosas –

Titular – Casas de El Vado a restauración (Restoration of houses in El Vado)  Next week, el estado (the condition or state – which can also be the State as in the State of Utah – your word for the day) of the Casa de la Lira will be evaluated.  There are 5 patrimonial houses around the plazoleta of El Vado.

Inflation – in Feb. was .14%, less than the .61% of a year ago. The annual inflation rate from Feb-Feb was 2.6%.  The canasta básica de productos (the basic basket of goods) rose to $678.62 and family income based on an average of 1-6 workers is $683.20.  (So if you came in with the minimum $800 income, you’re still ahead of the game, especially since that’s for one person and not a whole family.)

Rain and roads – intense rains caused landslides of rocks and dirt on the vía Cujenca-Molleturo-Puerto Inca on kilometer 105 where (and here are more words for the day) piedras de gran tamaño (rocks of large size, literally, or big rocks, more colloquially) blocked 2 of the 3 lanes.  (In case you’re wondering why 3 lanes, there’s one lane in each direction and a passing lane which needs to be used with caution since it serves both of the other lanes.  But you know Ecuadorians will stuff 5 cars into those 3 lanes.)  In the Amaluza sector of Sevilla de Oro, on the vía Paute-Burumales-Méndez, a landslide trapped 3 interprovincial buses and some private cars.

Crab – is in scarce supply due to a ban during their mating season. According to Raúl Contreas of the Don Raul seafood restaurants, the ban generally applies twice a year.

Your sliver of life article today – is about the police and the risks and sacrifices officers must make.  Vanessa Silva López serves in Ochoa Leon (a rural parish of Cuenca) and lives in Tena, 402 kilometers away.  She has a 3 year old baby and her husband is also a cop.  She has the support of her husband and parents to make this arrangement work.  I think she has 3 days at home between 15 days of service. The police are celebrating 78 years of professionalization.

An interesting ad – aprenda ingles durmiendo (learn English while sleeping).  I think there are similar ads on-line for Spanish. (Does this sound like selling snake oil to you, too?  If it actually works I’ve wasted a lot of years learning Spanish the hard way.)

Pets “fixed” free – this weekend in San Antonio de Gapal, El Valle parish.  The municipal pet sterilization campaign administered by the Health Dept will cover 15 rural and 6 urban parishes in Cuenca with priority for pet owners with limited resources.

Actualiidades – 

Articles about –

Paúl Jara, priest and firefighter, who was moved to serve as a volunteer firefighter after the La Josefina disaster.  (That’s the one where a landslide blocked rivers flowing into the Paute and created a 15 mile long lake reaching almost to Chaulluabama. Lives, homes, farms and livestock were lost before the earthen dam collapsed about a month later.)

A document signed by Bolívar was found which gave a military promotion to Alejandro Machuca for his part in the battles of Junín and Ayacucho fighting for the liberation of Perú from the Spanish.  (This would be like finding a document signed by George Washington giving a promotion to some soldier.)

Sculptures from pan de finados (bread) of Otavalo is a tradition of that area.  Some bakers used unleavened dough for better sculptures.

Deportes –

Huarmi Runner 5K was Sun, – in Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca. (So if you saw women in pink T-shirts running, that was the race.)

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne