Don’t burn monigotes on tram tracks, Local coffee plantation wins int’l award, Panamericana sur goes one way, UFO event, NYE dinners

Lunes, 30/12/2019

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
De la pagina cultural –

Street singer – Darwin Sánchez visits Cuenca from Manabí every 5 months to sing Julio Jaramillo songs on Sucre y Benigno Malo.

Seasonal products – Also on Sucre y Benigno Malo, 28 members of the Asociación 6 de diciembre are selling seasonal products such as masks, wigs and dolls. The tents will be there until 6/1/2020.

UFO Culture – GaraCultura and Radio Comunitaria Guacamaya are organizing a UFO event el sábado, 11/1 from 16-22:00 with stars, a full moon, music, nature, and astronomic observation. <it might be an on-line event so get your Google on.>

Crime victims have right to see ECU911 videos.

Taller de Duendes, Hadas y seres Mitológicos (Workshop of Elves, Fairies and Mythological beings) – This workshop will be el sábado, 1/2/2020 a las 9:00 at the Prohibido Centro Cultural (La Condamine 12-102). You will learn to use recycled materials to make your own creations. <Kind of like glorified sock puppets?>

Show – Santhiago (sic) Illescas, el Hombre Voz, will be at the teatro Casa de La Cultura el sábado 4/1/2020 from 20-22:00. Tickets are available at Surtido (Borrero 8-68 y Bolívar), Radio 96.1 fm (Ricardo Muñoz 4-38 y Juan Bautista, and at www.ticketmas.com.ec.

Otras Cosas –

Plan para aliviar tráfico vehicular (Plan to relieve vehicular traffic) – Authorities are analyzing a plan to relieve traffic congestion on the Panamericana Sur. However, the New Year holidays will not see the application of this national and provincial project at the south entrance to Cuenca. The Panamericana sur will be changed to one way, exiting the city. This will be paired with the vía Turi-Gullanzhapa-Tarqui which will also be one way with the toll barrier being raised on the holidays. <This sounds backwards to me – isn’t Turi-Gullanzhapa-Tarqui exiting the city, too? Actually, they could reverse directions during the day if there are directional rush hours. But after a second thought, I think maybe that would only be asking for more chaos and trouble here.>

10 year old recognized for heroism – Erick Joel Zhagui Guallpa will be decorated for saving 6 younger kids of 5 & 9 after they were abandoned in a car which rolled 80 meters. Erick said they were going home from school, and the driver was on the phone, let go of the volante (steering wheel – your word for the day), and the car rolled 80 m down a hill. She then got out of the car, got her belongings, and left the kids. One child was killed and Erick freed his brother, cousins and neighbors. He tried to break the window with a clot of hardened mud and finally butted his head into the window 3 times and broke it. He calmed the other kids, got them out, and took up to the street.

ECU 911 videos – People who have been crime victims or in an emergency situation, have the right to get the 911 video tapes. You have to report the event and get a prosecutor or judge’s order to get the info released to you.

Basic salary increase – see CHL article for more info. Other items are tied to the SBU <Salario Básico Unificado – Basic Unified Salary> are traffic infractions, renewing your license, fines for not voting, IESS contributions, and pensiones alimenticias (alimony). <This phrase might be handy given the numbers of marriages that end in divorce.> The canasta familiar (basic basket of goods) was $715.10 in noviembre. The SBU in 2008 was $200 and $340 in 2014. In 2020, the total cost to the employer based on the new SBU will be $589.05 for workers in general, and $561.26 for domestic labor.

Where not to burn monigotes – The Tranvía is reminding citizens that burning monigotes on the tracks or platforms is prohibited. El Amistad Club and the Unión de Periodistas del Azuay, organizers of the contest, are also telling contestants to stay off the tracks and not burn monigotes on black asphalt paving. Contestants who don’t observe the restrictions are responsible for correcting any damage. <If you broke it, you fix it.>

Heat and radiation alert – The Organización Panamericana de la Salud (The Pan American Health Organization) issued an alert for a heat wave from diciembre to marzo, 2020 in Ecuador and various South American countries. The high temperatures are are already being felt on the coast. In Cuenca, the UV index was between 13 & 14 – extremely high, with temperatures around 23 C. <Less than 74 F. I think there are people in hot states in the US who don’t even set their air conditioners that low in the summer.>

Sprudgie Award – The hacienda La Papaya in Tenta in Saraguro cantón was nominated for a Sprudgie Award as one of the 8 producers of the most notable coffee in the world. It won that category in 2018. La Papaya has 85 hectares, 13 of which are dedicated to specialty coffees.

Giant screen – The mercado 10 de Agosto will be installing a giant high definition screen of 3×2 meters so shoppers can enjoy programs such as fútbol, news, and more. <Eggs and go-o-o-o-o-ol! Just no Simpsons at jet engine decibels, please.>

Descuentos y compras –

Hostería Duran – New Year – 31/12 a las 20:00 – Dinner Buffet, barra libre de licores (free liquor bar? That can’t be what that means – maybe no host bar?), unlimited soft drinks, champagne and grapes, burning años viejos, music with DJ and Amigos de la Banda Orquesta – Adults: $55. incl. taxes, Children: $25. including taxes – for reservations call (07) 2892 485 or 099 234 0985.

Hosteria Caballo Campana – NY dinner show with María Rosa Jérves,Los Fabulosos Locos del Ritmo, and Andrés Andrade – NY dinner: $29 plus IVA, dinner plus show: $39 plus IVA, show only: $20 plus IVA. Tickets available at Hacienda Suiza, Mall del Río or Hosteria Caballo Campana.

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.