Flu death toll rises, Sexual segregation for Sunday’s election, Seminar on mysteries of the Tayos Cave, Italy returns prehistoric artifacts to Cuenca

Miércoles, 31/1/2018

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Upcoming agenda events –

Poemario – “Sílabas sin ruido” (Syllables without noise), a book of poetry by Janeth Toledo will be presented Thurs. a las 19:00 in the Salón del Pueblo.

Conferencia – Nelson Pineda Brito, explorer and researcher, will give a conference on “La Cueva de los Tayos” (The Cave of the Tayos) in Morona Santiago Province, el viernes a las 18:30 in the Sala de Conciertos at the CCE. Free. <You can ask him if he saw evidence of the extraterrestrials that were supposed to have lived in the cave.>

Taller de máscaras – There will be a mask making workshop taught by Ismael Tacuri el próximo lunes de 15:00 a 18:00 in the CCE.

Articles about –

Repatriation – The Instituto Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural (INPC) delivered 62 boxes containing 6,445 artifacts to the Ministerio de Cultura y Patrimonio (MCYP) to be housed at the Museo Pumapungo in Cuenca. The museum will verify the condition and authenticity of the pieces and catalogue them. These artifacts have been recovered since 2008 – 4,289 of them from Génova, Italy. They will be ready to go on exhibit in 56 months.

Book launch – “Claves de la Historia de Cuenca” was presented Wed. in the Catedral Vieja. It is a collection of work from 19 columnists, written between 2014 and 2016.

“Tertulia Cinema” (Tertulia get together) – This event, organized by 3 young women, will be Thurs. desde las 19:00 in the Museo Pumapungo. It came out of the observation that there wasn’t a lot of cultural activity on offer on weekends. The event will open with short films and a forum; continue with a performance by “Molicie,” a Cuencano rock group; and end with a gastronomic exhibit by Bumba Fruits and Beer. Cost: $5.00.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Saben poco sobre la consulta en área rural (Little known about referendum in rural areas) <And if it weren’t for CHL, probably just as little would be known in Gringolandia.> – <So voters will do as many US voters do – go to the polls, read the ballot and decide right then and there. I’m guilty of that – voting based on gossip and a brief reading of the pro and con articles in the information packet.> 60 disabled voters will benefit from the “Tienen Derecho a Votar” (They have the Right to Vote) program. They can get free taxi service on voting day. The Vote at Home voters will vote on viernes along with the vote from jail folks.

Carnaval – The holiday starts with the Jueves de Compadres (Godfathers Thursday) which will be on 8/2. <But without Marlon Brando.>. A parade will start a las 15:00 and go from parque de San Blas along Bolívar to the Parque Calderón where the program will start at 16:00. There will be tents with traditional sweets, Carnaval bread, and typical food along calle Luis Cordero. At 18:00 there will be bands and folk dancing. At 19:00 there will be more performances, and the comadre (godmother, singer Karla Kanora, will speak at 20:00. 10,000 people are expected to be in Parque Calderón. <They will be partying and spraying “carioca” – foam. Be warned and dress accordingly. Your newest Armani would be a poor choice.>

Flu – The number of flu deaths has increased from 22 as of 22/1 to 43 in 8 days. 40 people died from the AH1N1 strain, and 3 from the AH3N2 strain. Nationally, total AH1N1 flu cases went from 441 on 30/1 to 716. 74% of the cases are in Pichincha, and 85% were in high risk groups, tercera edad and children.

Only in Ecuador – Men and women vote in separate lines in Ecuador. No other country in the Americas does that. Among the reasons for why, probably it was to “darle un poco más de comodidad a la mujer” (give make it a little more comfortable for woman) and avoid “hecha un sandwich” (making a sandwich) between two men. Another thought was that women, especially from the most disadvantaged social/cultural groups could vote without pressure from men. The more than 600 Ecuadorians who have changed their gender on their cedulas can vote in the line with which they identify. <I suppose you could, too. Wonder what would happen if a gringo showed up in drag. You’d show up in the paper if they could get a photographer there in time.> Ecuador was the first Latin American country to pass women’s suffrage in 1929. <I wonder how much this apparent streak of progressiveness in Ecuador has to do with the Cañari culture?>

Refinery – Pres. Moreno spoke to businesses from 7 countries interested in investing in a refinery in Manta with a 20 year concession under a BOT (Build, operate, transfer) structure.

Malnutrition – 25% of children suffer from chronic malnutrition in which they do not reach the height for their age. This percentage has dropped from 1988 when it was 40%, but is still high. The number includes major malnutrition, particularly in indigenous populations, with another 8-15% of children who are overweight, which is also malnutrition. MIES has 3 areas it wants to address: promoting healthy diets by training mothers through infant care centers and the Growing Up with our Children program; prevention of sexual abuse of children; and reducing poverty. Extreme poverty is at 8% in the country and 1% in Cuenca which still translates to 6,000 people surviving on less than $48/month, many of them elderly without social security or families. <In the US, $48/day would be considered poor.>

Free bus rides – The free rides on the electric bus started today. It starts at Unidad Nacional and Remigio Crespo, goes along Remigio Crespo to Solano and then to parque El Paraíso where it will stop at the “bahía” (bay?) at the “Vincente Corral Moscoso” hospital. After that it will take av. 12 de Abril to the El Vado bridge where it will stop at he U. of Cuenca stop. Then it will go av. Tres de Noviembre to Sucre to Cordero, Bolívar, back to 3 de Noviembre and to Unidad Nacional. The tours will run until 2/2. The bus has a capacity of 80 and runs on 8 battery packs generating 400 hp and no noise. The city is studying the possibility of buying these buses at about $300,000 each.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne