Jueves, 10/3/2016: Tram work and bus schedules, Traditional medicine fair, Road rerouted, Alianza Francesa anniversary

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Events

Teatro – “Elías o quién diablos te crees que eres (Elija or who the hell you think you are – so Google says and I’ll buy it.) will be Fri at 10:30 at the centro cultural República Sur (P. Códova 5-55).

Ordenanza de Cultura (Culture Ordinance) – El Frente Cultural Independiente met Thurs in El Prohibido (calle peatonal (pedestrian) La Concamine, sector de El Vado). The topic will be the Cultura Ordinance and is open to anyone who wants to contribute their ideas that will amplify proposals from the collectives. (I think your ideas need to be expressed in Spanish, though.)

Concierto – “Voces de Mujer” (Womens’ Voices) Thurs at 19:30 in the teatro Pumapungo to commemorate International Womens’ Day.

Articles about 

The 50th Anniversary of the Alianza Francesa which was founded in March, 1966. The Cuenca branch is one of over 800 Alianzas around the world. You can take French from professional native speakers, check out their library of printed materials and film, and exhibit in their spaces.

Encuentro – a program called “Mujeres al borde de un ataque de letras” (Women on the verge of an attack of letters) will be Fri at 11:00 in the “Antonito Lloret Batidas” library in the Museo de la Ciudad (ex Escuela Central for any Cuencanos reading this). The goal of the event is to acquaint high school students with local female poets and their work.

Otras cosas –

Titular – De terna, alcalde designará al jefe de Bomberos (Mayor will name a fire chief from a list). The new chief will serve for 5 years without a re-election option.

Solución provisional en vía – (Temporary fix for road) – through Sarayunga on the vía Cunca-Girón-Pasaje. When the creek cut the road, it also broke some sewer pipes which have to be replaced. The alternate route goes through Uzhcurrumi and got 5 km. of new “lastre”.) (Google says it’s ballast, but I think it’s the rock and gravel base course before the final layer of paving. Maybe it’s actually the paving.)

Proposal – by Pres. Correa to reform the Code of Territorial Organization to allow trimming the money going to GAD. (Gobiernos Autónomos Descentralizados) (Autonomous Decentralized Governments – governments at a lower level then federal like provincial and cantonal. This is your civics lesson for the day.) The funding would depend on national oil revenues. The current price for Ecuadorian oil is less than $20/barrel with the national budget based on $35.

Weather – 70% chance of rain with a max. temperature of 19 and a min. of 11. (That’s centigrade in case you’re scratching you head and wondering why it’s a 70% chance of rain and not snow. Time to reboot how you measure things.)

Tranvía work and bus changes – some of the bus route changes are permanent and others temporary. The final plan should be ready in August. the 22, 50 and 28 lines that now use Mariscal La Mar will change to Vega Muñoz as far as Juan Montalvo and then go back to their normal routes. The pres. of the Cuenca Chamber of Transport says they don`t know how the lines have changed since the tranvia “divide en dos a la ciudad” (divided the city in two). The 2, 7, 10, 22, & 26 lines normally using Huayna Cápac around Chola Cuencana were rerouted to Hurtado de Mendoza and Garcia Moreno to la República. Lines 7, 10, 26, 29, 33, 41, 42, 43, & 44 which were displaced by work on España were rerouted to Las Laderas by the old Feria de Vehículos. Work at Elía Luit and Francisco Pizarro changed lines 6, 7, 12, 18, 29, 33, 41, 43, 43, and trunk line 100. (So is everything clear now? Don’t worry – it’ll be different next week and if you’re really lucky, there will be fixed routes in August when the Tranvía is done. And more reroutings in Sept. to reflect the changes wrought by Tranvía usage.)

Motorcycle helmets – is the law. Wear one or pay a $109.80 fine and the reduction of 6 points off your license if you go bareheaded. (If you can’t stand the helmet, find out if one of those little biker beanies is legal here.)

Ancestral medicine fair – in Gualaceo from today to Sun. in the plaza Guayaquil. About 20 healers and practitioners of natural health will be participating. (No more details than that, so don’t ask. If you’re interested enough, you’ll hop on a bus and go see for yourself. If you’re not, don’t expect me to do it for you.)

Intercultural – the articles are about Saraguran (those are the folks in the white hats with black spots like cow hide and the men wear short pants) wedding customs and rituals. (If you’re interested go to www.elmercurio.com.ec and read it for yourself.)

Internacional –

Brazil – former Pres. Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva has been accused of hiding assets and money laundering. The accusation is for receiving a luxury apartment from a builder implicated in the Petrobras corruption scandal. Lula denied the charges, and denied that he is the owner of the apartment.

Perú . a landslide in the northern Peruvian Andes in the area of Cajamarca caused 2 deaths and 4 injuries.

Argentina – a Congressional commission issued a majority opinion against a presidential decree that raised the base income on which an income tax can be assessed from 15,000 pesos ($960) to 30,000 pesos ($1,920.) (I wonder what the average wage in Argentina is.)

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne