Jueves, 28/1/2016: Noise control ordinance, Fatal cable car accident, Indie Pop at Republica Sur, Feds owe Azuay Province $65 million

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

“Trueque” (exhange – I bet it’s a swap meet) organized by Centro Cultural Changarro Fufurufu (corner of G. Colombia y Miguel Vélez) Fri. at 10:00. They’ll have crafts, comics, action figures, video games and other stuff. (Sounds like their target market is teen-age boys of all ages.)

Música indie pop – Fri. at 21:30 in República Sur (Pres. Córdova y Hermano Miguel) by Kevin Herm Connolly. He’ll cover English language groups like Radiohead and Tom Waits and Spanish singers like Simón Días and Manu Chao.

Obra de títeres (Puppet theater) – “Cuentos” (Stories) a collection of traditional children’s stories will be presented this Sat & Sun at 16:00 in the Teatro Imay (El Batán y El Oro). Cost: $5.00.

Articles about –

A review of the concert with church bells and electro-acoustic chamber music. Performers synchronized watches at 19:30 for the performance at 20:00. (I’m looking at the photo and there’s not one watch in it. All of them are syncing their phones, and none of them looks over 30.)

“Ashanga. Cocina morlaca” is a cookbook of traditional Cuencanan and Azuayan recipes collected by Nydia Vázquez since the 80’s. At the time she lived in the sector El Vado and woke to the smell of baking bread. It was an area with many bakeries which were disappearing along with the recipes, and she talked to the bakers and learned how to make about 40 kinds of bread. Later she researched Corpus sweets, comida típica (typical food) of Cuenca and of Azuay. These investigations were published as pamphlets and have been compiled into a 335 page cookbook. (So if any of you foodies finds a copy, let me know where you got it.)

Sinfónica – the Symphony Orchestra of the U of Cuenca played Thurs. at 20:00 in the Museo Catedral Vieja. The orchestra is composed of professors and students of the U, musicians from other academies and conservatories and foreign volunteers.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Presidentes reconocen crisis (Presidents recognize crisis). CELAC concluded its 4th summit yesterday. Ecuador turned the presidency over to the Dominican Republic for the coming year. The representatives from the 33 nations talked about the economic scenario, falling prices for raw materials, China’s slowing economy, and replacing the OAS with CELAC which would represent Latin America and the Caribbean when talking to the US and Canada.

GAD-Azuay – is owed $65 million by the federal government. Guayaquil is owed $29 million.

Fire – in Guachapala involved hundreds of hectares of native forest.

The noise control ordinance – passed the first debate in the Consejo Cantonal (Cantonal Council) with the second to follow in about 30 days. An anti-noise campaign will launch next week, tentatively on “el miércoles venidero.” (this coming Wednesday. You probably hear el miércoles proximo more often. Assuming you’re hearing any Spanish at all, and if you’re not, why did you move here?) The campaign is directed principally at drivers of public transport. (Buses are noisy in themselves, but are bus drivers noisier than the rest – horns, music, etc.?)

A project – for an ordinance concerning collection of bus fares has as its object, use of prepaid cards to pay bus fare. Part of the ordinance includes letting disabled passengers recharge their cards from home. (Would tercera edad riders get the same priviledge?)

Registration for the Universidad del Adulto Mayor is open – register at Estévez de Toral 9-53 y Gran Colombia. There are all sorts of classes from exercise to cooking to computer to starting a small business. (In case you’re a senior who’s not ready to retire.)

Your sliver of life article – is about a response to El Niño in Ponce Enríquez and Carmen de Pijilí where MIES (El Ministerio de Inclusión Económica y Social) is taking a survey of households who have disabled members and helping families prepare an emergency plan. The households will be geo-referenced (is that like sticking pins into Google Maps?) and in an emergency, families would put a white flag on the outside of the house as a signal that there is a disabled person inside.

A tarabita (cable car) – in Amaluza, cantón Sevilla de Oro, fell 150′ meters killing a father and son. The cable broke. (Don’t know if it was a tourist cable car or a local way to get across the river and ravine.)

Plastic pools – are on sale in various places for Carnaval and are well received due to the heat. (And up north, Punxsutawney Phil will predict how much more winter there will be. Aren’t you glad you’re here and not back up in the snow, shoveling your way out of the driveway?)

Intercultural –

The Afro-Ecuadorian community is planning its 2016 calendar. El Movimiento Afro del Azuay is hoping to have a Casa de la Cultura del Pueblo Afro with space for visual, performance, and gastronomic arts, and workshops. Other projects involve development, justice and recognition. (Sounds like black folks here have similar problems to black folks up north – their history is unknown and untaught, they’re burdened by negative stereotypes, and they face unequal treatment and fewer opportunities. At least cops don’t shoot black kids for no reason here although they do stop kids for “walking while black.”.) In the Americas, there are 200 million Afro descendants.

Amenidades –

Photos of Mayor Cabrera’s birthday party.

Internacional –

Venezuela – the majority opposition Parliament is promoting a “ley anticadenas” (anti-network law?) to regularize the obligatory transmissions by the government and Pres. Maduro which currently broadcast live actions by the gov’t (like public meetings or signing ceremonies?) and reports. (No wonder the broadcasters don’t like them – probably zero entertainment value and maybe for no pay, too. I don’t understand why this would be an antiadena law and not a pro cadena law.)

Deportes –

The 5th Huarmi 5k run was kicked off Wed. with an event in Quito. In quichua, haurmi means “mujer guerrera” (warrior woman – an Amazon?). The organizer Jefferson Pérez hopes for 10,000 runners in this multi-city race. In Cuenca, register by 28/2 in Mi Boletería at the Mall del Rio, Monay Shopping or Fybeca (Bolívar). Cost: $12.00 with a 50% discount for under 11, over 65 and disabled. (I can’t find the actual date of the run in the article so be patient – it’ll be published in good time. If you still insist I provide a date, I’ll happily invent one for you.)

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne