Ecuador’s Alerta Emilia system, Crash in El Centro, 15 tons of Valentine’s flowers ship out, Jeep fair Saturday, Guitar recital at Abe Lincoln Center

Miércoles, 24/1/2018

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Upcoming and ongoing agenda events –

Dialogue – Ángel Valverdo is the special guest Thurs. a las 19:30 in the Portal Artesanal (Bolívar y Huayna Cápac). The photographer will talk to attendees about their experience at coworking Minga.

Talleres de arte – 3 rural areas will hold art and crafts workshops el viernes -11:00 en Cumbe, 14:30 en El Valle, and 15:00 in the Gullanzhapa library.

Recital de guitarra – “…Elé…Una fantasía sobre Tránsito Amaguaña” (… Elé … A fantasy about Transito Amaguaña (Google her)) will be played el sábado a las 19:00 in the auditorium at the Abraham Lincoln Cultural Center at Borrero 5-18 y Honorato Vasquez.

Articles about –

Nicanor Parra – The Chilean writer died yesterday at the age of 103. He was one of the great figures of Latin American literature.

Book launch – “El ayer latiendo en el hoy. Historias contadas de una Cuenca de antaño” by Susan Pesántez Sarmiento was presented Wed. in the Salón de la Ciudad. The author researched and found interview subjects who contributed to Cuenca when it was still a small town. The two volumes have first person testimony from 58 Cuencanos and foreigners who lived here. <Remind yourself that there other foreigners in Cuenca besides gringos.>

Otras cosas –

Titular – Libre joven por el que pedían 100 mil dólares (Youth freed – $100,000 ransom demand)

Choque en El Centro – Two Toyotas crashed at Sucre y Vargas Machuca. One destroyed the traffic light post. The presumption is one of the drivers didn’t stop for the red light. <That’s what can happen when Mr. Jackrabbit Start meets Mrs. Yellow-Means-Speed-Up.>

Law – The Law to Prevent and Eradicate Violence against Women was passed in 3 chunks. <I think this was the process.> The law was written in the Asamblea and submitted to the President, who vetoed some of the articles. It went back to the Asamblea which divided the rewritten law into three chunks <a real legal term there> to be voted on. Some of the points in the law included an Integrated National System comprised of 16 National Institutions which would work on 4 themes: prevention, protection, attention and reparation. It would bring all sorts of support to rape victims – medical, pyschological, socio-economic, legal advice – immediately and for free.

“Alerta Emilia” – Ecuador is starting an alert and notification system for missing children similar to the AMBER Alert in the US. Police will send photographs of the missing child and of the possible aggressor to the communications media and social media. The length of time a child is missing before a report can be filed was decreased to 24 hours.

Flowers – About 15,000 tons of flowers are being shipped from the Quito airport between 20/1 & 10/2. The airport enlarged an existing apron so it can load 6 large planes simultaneously. This year’s exports exceed last year’s by 15.4%. Planes arrive from the US, Low Countries <The Amsterdam Flower Market (not the tourist one) – it’s almost 1 million sq. meters.>, Spain, Luxembourg, Qatar, UAR, and Russia.

Arroz y leche – Ecuador has proposed exporting enough rice and milk to Venezuela to possibly meet its demand. The Ecuadors’s National Warehousing Company has over 13,000 metric tons of polished rice at high and intermediate qualities packed in 1kg bags or sacks of 1 quintal. A trade group also has 1,000 tons of powdered milk and 3 million kg of whole UHT milk in tetrapacks ready. The government of Venezuela is analyzing the proposals and said there was a high probability of a deal given the commerce between the two countries.

Voting page – The articles are about question 2 on the 4/2 referendum which deals with indefinite re-election. The question is answered either sí or no and says “To guarantee the principal of alternation, are you in agreement with an amendment to the Constitution of the República del Ecuador so that all popularly elected officials can be re-elected only one time for the same position; going back to the Constitution of Montecristi; and leaving the amendment approved by the Asamblea Nacional on 3/11/2015 without effect as established in Anexo 2.” <At least that’s my best guess as to what that says.>

IESS – A new general hospital has been opened in Manta. It has 40 consultories, 200 beds, 14 dialysis spaces, and 31 specialities. <A lot of it also appears to have a very “soft” first story so there’ll be a lot of rebuilding after the next earthquake.>

Books – The Comisión Municipal de Gestión Ambiental (CGA) has guide books to urban amphibians in Cuenca and mammals that are in the cantón. Go to the building the Mayor’s Office is in. <And the tadpoles in the habitat near my house are growing back legs now.>

Business Page –

Jeep Experience – this event will be el próximo sábado 27/1 from 10-18:00 in the Mall del Río parking lot. Enjoy the feeling of the 4X4 performance on their test track. <I wonder if they let you enjoy that feeling as a driver or only as a passenger?>

Chocolate – Pro Ecuador is promoting Ecuadorian chocolate at the “Salon Du chocolat in Seoul, S. Korea.

Intercultural – The article is about a pampa mesa (Comida de todos – Everyones food.) in Zhiña which set up a pampa mesa on a 20 meter long blue cloth. Usually the cloths are white. The women cooked in bulk, and the event fed the 9 communities in the sector. <If you ever have a chance to go to a pampa mesa where you aren’t hosted, take it. And bring something good to share. And don’t be stingy. It’s a lot like a potluck.>

Amenidades –

Concierto – Los Tremendos Mambo will debut their new show “Tu Partida” with Los Adolescentes Orquesta este viernes a las 20:00 in the Mansión Vizcaya.

Deportes –

JP Sport Marketing – Registrations are open for the 5 events this year. “Warmi Runner 5K” will be el 4/3 desda las 9:00. Free training started today at 19:30. Register at Mi Boletería at Mall del Río or the Fybeca on Bolívar. Cost: $12.00 with a 50% discount for girls under 12 and seniors <over 65>. The other events will be the Festival Atlético Fundación de Cuenca 15K on 22/4; the Duelo Xtremo 6K on 8/7 in Guayaqui, 22/7 in Cuenca, and 29/7 in Quito; the Ruta Nocturna 10K on 27/10; and Chikitines 1, 2, 3K on 25/11.-

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne