Jueves, 29/12/2016: Opera at Sucre Theater, Prosecutors seek scandal evidence, Drunks shouldn’t use fireworks, LGBTI festival

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Undated and upcoming agenda events –

Childrens’ book – “Cuentos fantásticos de pactos y encantamientos” (Fantastic tales of covenants and enchantments) by Iván Petroff has 30 stories and illustrations by Santiago Álvarez.

Clown classes – Learn to be a clown (or just hone your natural tendencies) in classes at el centro cultural Sono (Borrero 6-83). Classes are on 10, 11, 13, 17, 19, 20 & 31/1 and 1,3,7,8,& 10/2 on martes, miércoles y viernes from 18-20:30.  There are 10 spaces.

Festival de Artes Escénicas de Género Cuenca LGBTI Arte por la Diversidad (Gender Festival of Scenic Arts Cuenca LGBTI Art for Diversity) – This first festival organized by the Mudra dance/theater collective is requesting the participation of cultural managers, artists, social and art groups and the public in general.  For more info, go to the Facebook page for Mudra teatro.

Film Festival – The preparations for the Festival International de Cine de Cuenca (FICC) 2017 in March are continuing.  There are three categories of film in the contest – Short films, fiction and “cine fantástico” (fantastic films – am I mistranslating a film genre? Would the genre include movies like Pan’s Labyrinth?)

Articles about –

Cinco Sentidos (5 senses) – The Cinco Sentidos art academy is run by musician and U. of Cuenca professor Dixon Delgado Vega who says music has the gift of bringing people together.  A child who lives with music learns to get along better with other children.  The academy is at Tomás de Heres 7-38 y Francisco Tamariz in the Cristo Rey sector of the Bellavista parish.  Call 099 580 5102 for more info.

Ópera – The new dates for the premier of the opera, “Pasión a Dolores” will be 12/1 at 10:00 for students (free) & 13/1 at 20:00 for the public (cost: $10.00) in the Teatro Sucre.  (I wonder if the Tranvía Consortium was running this production?  I just passed a poster for this opera with an opening date in mid-Dec.)

Premio Mariano Aguilera – The City Museums Foundation is calling for artists, cultural managers, students, professors of art, and researchers to compete for this national award.  Entries are open until the 1st week en marzo.   Go to premiomarianoaguilera@gmail.com for more info.

International competition for scripts – El Primer Concurso Internationcal de Guión Cinematográfico “Centenario de Augusto Roa Bastos” (The First International Cinematographic Screenplay Competition “Centenario de Augusto Roa Bastos”) is being organized by the centro El Cabildo, the cultural arm of the Paraguayan Senate.  All scripts must be unpublished and written in Spanish, Guaraní or Jopará. (Well, that knocks a lot of you writers out of the box.)

Otras cosas –

Titular – Rumbos diferentes en casos Petreoecuador y Odebrecht (Different leads in Petreoecuador and Odebrecht case) – Two Prosecutors from Panama delivered information related to the Petroecuador corruption case to the “Fiscal general” (Attorney general) of Ecuador.  Prosecuters in Latin America are talking to each other and especially authorities in Brazil and Panama about the Odebrecht case.

Divorce –  Reforms to the Ley Notarial have given Ecuadorians 2 options for divorce by mutual consent.  Notarios can now dissolve a “union de hecho” (common-law marriage?) or a marriage as long as there are no children.  Currently petitioners need to appear before a judge with a time frame of 60 days as opposed to a notarial action which could take only 10 days. (But are you still married no matter what the notario says if you married in a Catholic church?)

Waiting list – There are four major city projects that have been on a waiting list for over a year – the slaughterhouse, stockyard, Terminal Terrestre and cemetery.  Since the construction started on the Parque La Libertad which incorporates the old jail, EMOV is speeding up its search for a site for a jail for traffic offenders.  The new location has to have separation between men and women and enough bathrooms and not be overcrowded.  There is a rental budge of $4-5,000 with a remodeling budget of $130,000.

The Pachamama Plateau – This area is in serious risk of environmental damage and destruction.  The plateau is considered a national patrimony and has been preserved by the residents of Llacao.  It also contains a segment of the Qapac Ñan (Camino del Inca – Inca Highway or Trail).  Since Azuay ceded 72 hectars of Pachamama to Cañar, residents have seen daily dumping on the site.  Llacaoans have met with the City Department of Historical and Patrimonial Areas, an archeologist, a delegate from the National Institute of Cultural Patrimony, and a delegate from the Cañari parish of Solano in the cantón of Deleg which adjoins Llacao, a rural parish of Cuenca.  The cantons will split the area of the Pachamama Plateau and the responsibilities of security and environmental management.  The have also asked for help from EMAC EP (Sanitation Department?).

Fireworks sales – Authorities are making inspections to make sure vendors are authorized to sell fireworks as a way to reduce the risks of accidents.  They have already found some vendors who did not issue facturas or have a license for the temporary sales of “fuegos artificiales” (artificial fire, literally – fireworks in practice.)   Police are recommending that neither minors nor drunks be allowed to play with fireworks.  (I would put the age up to 25 for boys – like car insurance companies – they know at what age boys stop being so dangerous.  If someone gets injured while lighting a firework and jumping over the Año Viejo simultaneously, does anyone really need to be told that it’ll be a young male or drunk male of any age who was the jumper?)

Internacional –

Venezuela – With 28,479 killings in 2016, Venezuela is the most violent country in the world.  The total number translates into 91.8 murders per 100,000 residents.  (Plus you have to go to Colombia for basic necessities.)

Colombia – Both houses of Congress unanimously approved the Ley de Amnistía for FARC.  The law legally pardons members of FARC who did not commit serious crimes during the conflict.

Deportes –

Dakar Rally – The first drivers and vehicles are arriving in Asunción, Paraguay for the Dakar rally which starts on 2/1 in Asunción, goes through La Paz, Bolivia and ends up 12 days later in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  (From almost sea level up to almost 12,000′ and then back to sea level.  (Does a team of mechanics ride along?))

Discuentos y compras –

Tía – End of year offers – 12 piece set of dishes, $14.99; 9 piece set of stainless steel pots, $29.99; women’s blouse and jeans, $9.99 each; men’s T-shirt and jeans, $7.99 and $15.99, 20% off on turkey, leg of pork,& chicken – 29-31/12.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne