Five-star hotel opens at Mall del Rio, Photo exhibit of Old Cuenca, Renovated Casa del Arco opens

Domingo, 29/10/2017

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Today’s agenda events –

Encuentro – “Convergencias” was Sunday in the Plaza San Francisco with 9 hours of proposals by 21 artists. <Did they break through the construction fencing to get into the plaza and would that act be considered performance art? >

Desfile – The “primer Desfile Inclusivo” (First Inclusive Parade) for people with disabilities was hoy a las 16:00 in the Museo de la Ciudad.

Música – The Banda de la Guardia Ciudadana presented a Gran Retrata Sunday in the Glorieta del parque Calderón. The band played Ecuadorian and contemporary music. <At least they do something besides standing around or getting beat up by informal fruit vendors.>

Cerámica – The first festival de arte, cultura, y cerámica was Sunday in the barrio de la Convención del 45. Various objects, made with traditional techniques, will be shown. <The barrio is the traditional pottery neighborhood. You can buy clay for your own projects where you see “se vende arcilla” signs.

Upcoming and ongoing agenda events –

Museo – The Museo de Sitio “Manuel Agustín Landívar” will reopen el próximo martes a las 19:00 with an exhibit by Nelson Torres which will run for un mes (one month – not interesting enough a word to make it your word for the day.)

Feria de Libro de Macas – The first Macas (in Morona Santiago Book Fair will be el 31/10 y 1/11 in the plaza “Radimpa”.

Articles about –

Photo Exposición – There is a show of the work and collections of two Cuencano photographers. Miguel Díaz Cueva <His day job was attorney.> left a collection of 56,000 photos. His photos of Cuenca show a little town with white walled houses with roofs aging from red to black. The town is full of grassland and the women wear polleras <that pleated velveteen skirt with the embroidered hems you can’t have missed seeing> down to their feet. His friend Dr. Manuel Jesús Serrano also photographed Cuenca – portraits, days in the country, family, and landscapes. <Fine article, but nothing in it about where or when the show is.>

Pan (bread) – <If you’re not interested in bread, quit reading now.> A documentary video about the history of bread in the barrio of Todos Santos was shown in the Museo de las Conceptas at the 2017 Bread Festival. The barrio was the bread district <like the ceramics district and the iron workers district which is still on las Herrerías> for almost 5 centuries. Yeast bread arrived from Spain in the 16th Century. <So did the Inca eat something like corn dodgers or hot water corn bread?) Fray Jodoco Ricke brought wheat to the religious communities in Todos Santos, whose sisters installed the wood fired ovens. There are still bakeries in the blocks bounded by Pres. Córdova, calle Larga, Mariano Cueva and Hermano Miguel. Mercedes Quinde makes the best palanquetas (crowbars) and rodillas de Cristo (Jesus’ knees). <There’s a sweet named nuns’ farts, but I can’t remember the Spanish name.> The Tourism Foundation of Cuenca has a “Ruta de los Molinos y el Pan.” <There’s a nice booklet if you Google “Ruta, etc.”>

Otras cosas –

Titular – Pamela Malo es la Reina de Cuenca (Pamela Malo is the Queen of Cuenca) – The 25 year old economist and marial arts trainer was elected ayer (yesterday). One of her projects will be “Caminando Seguras” (Walking Safely) <First, ditch those 6″ heels.> which seeks to reduce sexual abuse of women and girls. As a tai kwon do artist, she feels safe and would like to share that so women can defend themselves.

Casa del Arco – This historic adobe and wood house on Loja y 1 de Mayo has been restored by the City for cultural uses. The house, built in 1903, belonged to priest and historian Jesús Arriaga. The house had been abandoned for some time, had suffered 3 fires, and was a wreck. It was originally built for agricultural uses with a water canal above that irrigated the crops and fed the turbines in the old Yanuncay electric plant which served the city for many years. A Museum of Energy is planned. The house marks the end of the historic part of av. Loja.

Sheraton – The new 5 star Four Points Sheraton Hotel above the Mall del Río had its grand opening la noche del viernes (Friday night). The 11 story hotel has 128 rooms and a pool with a retractable roof. It’s restaurant offers Ecuadorian and Peruvian dishes.

Actualidades – Articles about –

San Bartolomé – The parish is part of Sígsig canton in Azuay and about an hour from Cuenca. The population works in agriculture and cattle but is most famous as a center for fine guitar making.

Essay – <I can’t read it. I think it’s the same writer who talks about a hologram commemorating the bicentennial and justice and slavery. If any one of you reads it can you tell me what it’s about?>

Guablid Bajo – This community has fertile soil and a climate good for fruit. Family farms have good harvests due to the techniques they use including ancestral and technical knowledge and organic material (chicken poop fertilizer) <But does the poop come from factory farms?>. One farmer grows granadillas and tomates de árbol. Another, the Estancia Sulay, is considered to be the fruit growing hacienda most representative of Azuay. It grows chirimoya and peaches. The estancia pollinates the chirimoya by hand. Nature pollinates chirimoya with a beetle and not bees. The largest chirimoya can be 2.6 kilos, but the ideal size is between 750 and 1500 grams.

Sigsig – The history and traditions of this canton.

Sports and health page – An article about growth osteochondritis.

Amenidades – Articles about –

Fiesta I LOVE 80S y 90S – The concert/show will be el próximo miércoles a las 20:30 in all the first level rooms of the convention center at the Mall del Río. Tickets at Mi Boleteria mall de Rio, Almacenes el Surtido, Sesame Street on Remigio Crespo and the offices of Super 949. For 18 and older only.

Américo – the Chilean singer performed Sunday night in the parque Miraflores (Av. De las Amèricas) as part of the “Chola Cuencana” Food and Crafts Fair.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne