Jueves, 19/11/2015: Organ music, state of emergency, 4G tourist chip

Hola, Todos – 

Pagina cultural – 

Nothing in the agenda section of activities.

An article about –

The organ at the Catedral de La Inmaculada has been restored and will be played at a recital on Sat. at 20:00 by Miguel Juárez, an Argentinean living in Quito. The program will include sacred and classical music.  The organ was built in 1934 by Hammond.

Today´s La Orquídea films – TCCT is the Teatro Carlos Cueva Tamariz, TS is Teatro Sucre, MMP is Multicines Milenium Plaza.

10:00 – TCCT – Quatsch – German dubbed into Esp.
14:45 – TCCT – Mátame por favor – Argentina, Brazil – Portuguese w/ Sub.
15:00 – República Sur – Maratón de Cortos (Short film marathon)
15:00 – TS – La Madre del Cordero – Chile – Esp
16:00 – MMP – Taxi – Iran – in Persian w/ Sub.  (This one doesn´t star Robert De Niro)
16:30 – TCCT – Cortometraje Nacional, Program 1 (National short films.)
17:00 – TS – Cortometraje Nacional, Program 2
18:30 – MMP – The Assassin – Taiwan, China, HK, France – in Mandarin with sub.
18:45 – TCCT – Violencia – Colombia – Esp.
19:00 – TS – Viaje – Costa Rica – Esp.
19:00 – Patio de Administración, U of Cuenca – Cortos en la Plaza (Shorts in the Plaza) – Cortometrajes  Nacionales, Prog. 1 and 2, Short Plays, International Short Films.
19:00 – Plaza del Otorongo – Vengo Volviendo – Ecuador – Esp.
20:45 – MMP – Arabian Nights – Portugal, France, Germany, Switzerland – in Portuguese w/Sub.
21:30 – TCCT – Rams – Iceland – in Icelandic (or whatever the language is called) w/ sub. (And this isn´t about the NFL Rams)
21:30 – TS – Boi Neon – Brazil, Uruguay, Holland – in Portuguese w/ sub.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Estado de excepción a causa de El Niño (A state of rarity because of El Niño – but don´t be surprised if your Spanish teacher calls this a crappy translation.) El Niño is expected to intensify during the rest of 2015.  So far it´s contributed to a gran sequía (a big drought – your word for the day – and my reminder of how to spell “drowt” correctly instead of phonetically.) in Central America and very active cells of tropical cyclones in the northern Pacific (with hurricane Patricia being the most intense storm in the western hemisphere). It´s expected to cause levels of precipitation much higher than normal in Ecuador and Peru.

The Alianza Block of legislators accepted Pres. Correa´s request to include a transition period with the constitutional amendment which would allow for indefinite re-elections.  The transition would prohibit the Pres. and asemblistas in their second terms from running in 2017.  They could, however, run in 2021. (Maybe they should take a close look at the US Legislature which allows for indefinite re-elections and see if they think it works.)

“Chip turista” – the gov´t will have new tourist chips for sale to allow tourists to connect to the 4G LTE network through their smartphones for calls and the internet as well as GPS while they are in Ecuador.  (So does this chip automatically unlock your foreign phone?)

Your sliver of life ad – for housewives who want to join the IESS system at a cost of $2/mo. for disability, old age, and death benefits.

EMAC has notifed 320 users for “malos hábitos” (bad habits) such as putting out garbage outside of collection hours.  Fines can run from $20-100.  (There is a garbage police – so respect your garbage collection days and locations.  Or is flouting garbage protocol your way of feeding the street dogs?)

Electric meters – So far this year, EERCS has changed 126,000 meters to 220V in Azuay, Cañar and Morona Santiago Provinces at no cost to the ratepayer.  If you want to change your meter go to www.centrosur.com.ec.  (If you want to plug in that big drill press or table saw, you still have to add your own interior wiring.)

Drinking and driving – in one word, DON´T.  Between Jan and Oct, 2,389 drivers were detained for drunk driving and 609 for speeding.  Penalties depend on how drunk you are – a blood alcohol level of 0.3-0.8 grams per liter of blood is a fine of $354, loss of 5 points off your license and 5 days in jail.  (In the US, you weren´t drunk until you got to to .08%.)  A level of 0.8-1.2 gets you a $708 fine, loss of 10 pts and 15 days in jail.  Over 1.2 you get a $1,062 fine, a 60 day suspension of your license and 30 days in jail.  (I wonder if the 60 day suspension is concurrent with the jail time?  But is any of that worth that extra margarita?)

Internacional – 
Argentina – both presidential candidates are in pursuit of the undecided voters.

Descuentos –

Almacenes España – today only from 19-22:00 – Noche de locura (Crazy night) sale – Luis Cordero 9-56 between Bolívar y Gran Colombia.  (If you´re in the market or appliance, this might be worth checking out.)

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne