Jueves, 30/3/2017: Rumors, Tranvia loan, New Disney park, Agendas, Arts festival

Hola, Todos –

<This is not part of the newspaper, but I learned a new word yesterday worth sharing.  Gringcano or grincano.  I don’t know if it’s something in common use or an invention of the man I was sitting next to at a language exchange lunch.  He used it to describe gringos who speak (or are trying to speak) Spanish.  So are you a grincano yet?
And to all of you who send words of support and encouragement, my heartfelt thanks.  It’s a good reminder that monetary compensation is the least valuable reward in life.>

Pagina cultural –

Header event –

Festival de Artes Escénicas – The Festival of Scenic Arts, Initial Level will start tonight at 19:00 in the teatro Casa de la Cultura with children from child care centers. The goal is to encourage young children in the art of acting.

Articles about –

Literature – The 13th edition of the Encuentro de Literatura Alfonso Carrasco Vintimilla, planned for this noviembre próximo, was announced yesterday.  At the same time, a book with memories of the last conference was launched.  Poet and educator Galo Alfredo Torres said that this conference, along with the Fiesta de la Lira and the Bienal, form a triad of events the support culture in the city.

Danza – A group of ex-students of Osmara de León, stage name for Estrella Villamana Bretos, a pioneer in dance in Cuenca, have formed the Pies Desnudos (Bare feet) collective <That sounds like something from China during its great leap forward.> The collective is preparing events for the Día Internacional de la Danza (International Day of Dance) on 29/4.

The first event will be a cycle of conferences about dance in Cuenca, tomorrow at 19:00 in the Unidad de Cultura of the U. of Cuenca (doce de Abril y Solano – antigua Escuela de Medicina). There will be a performance on  29/4 at 19:00 in the teatro Carlos Cueva Tamariz.

Teatro – There will be performances of “La hora precisa” (The precise time) and “Carlitos perdió un tornillo” (Carlitos lost a screw) Fri. at 20:00 in the sala Alfonso Carrasco.  The first play is about suicide, depression and irrationalism.  In the second, Carlitos looks for the loose screw. <He can come to my house and take one from my collection.>

Exhibición – A show of paintings by Jorge Chalco is showing in one of the halls in the Museo de la Ciudad.  The subject is the Yasuní and its richness.  <The richness apart from the oil underneath, which unfortunately,  is the only richness some people see.>

Otras cosas – 

Titular – Condenan violencia en campaña (Violence in campaign condemned) – Both candidates condemned the violence against Guillermo Lasso outside the Atahualpa Stadium in Quito.

Tranvía – The City is planning on taking a $20 million loan, secured by the property at the Cayambe base, from a private bank in order to complete the Tranvía.  They expect to have the money in April.  Prior to that, the Cantonal Council needs to change the use of the land.  That application will be submitted to the Council next week.  The land use on 8.5 hectares will be industrial services such as offices, office towers, warehouses, and parking; but not industry.  This will allow businesses with offices in the Parque Industrial to move to the new project, which will decrease congestion in the industrial park.  The other 13.5 hectares will be a green buffer zone.

False rumors – Rumors have been spreading on line about the electronic currency.  <Have these rumors made it into the gringo sites or were they all in Spanish?  Thank God for the language barrier.>  The electronic currency system is entirely voluntary <the rumor must have been the opposite>.  Employers can pay their workers in electronic currency only with the express permission of the employee.

El Ejido – Commercial activity is growing in this zone (from Todos Santos south).  In the memory of middle aged Cuencanos, this area used to be green – grassland.  It is now a mix of residential and commercial and has become “una ciudad saludable” (a healthy city) because it has supermarkets, clinics, pharmacies, etc. and future Volkswagen and Honda dealerships at Solano and Diez de Agosto.  <How El Ejido developed sounds like that planning movement in the US – walkable cities.  Well, Cuenca beat that by 400 years – not that people had much of a choice 400 years ago.>

Disney Park – Workers installed the rides in Disney Park outside of the Complejo Deportivo de Totoracocha.  So far it is the only concession to have received permits. Once the rides have been assembled, there will be a thorough check by the Association of Mechanical Engineers.  Another application for the area of the Plataforma de Narancay is in progress.  <At my age any ride is probably asking for a whiplash injury

Fundación de Cuenca agendas – The event calendars for the fiestas will be out el próximo martes at 10:00 in the Hemiciclo in Parque Calderón.  Here is a preview of some events:

Viernes, 7/4 – Gala del Pasillo y Bolero – El Barranco zone.
Sábado, 8/4 – 2 concerts – PRAC and parque De La Madre.
Domingo, 9/4 – Festival del Humor – parque de la Ciudadela Kennedy.
Lunes, 10/4 – Night Parade “Vive la Cuencanidad.”
Martes, 11/4 – Serenata a Cuenca – Parque Calderón.
Miércoles, 12/4 – Many activities including student parades.

Pachamama Raymi 2017 – The intercultural festival will be from 5-8/4 in Zamora.  A group from Zamora was in Cuenca to promote the festival which will have a dance competition, a national cocoa fair, and more.  Guaba and chonta <two tropical fruits and isn’t chonta the palm that hosts an edible grub?  I think they’re grilled.>  are currently in the markets and early.  The Prefect, Salvador Quishpe, said this early ripening was an index showing the need for changes that man needs to make relative to nature. There is a long list of activities, but each day starts with a canoe ride at 8:00. 6/4 – 9:00, Cocoa fair opens; 10:15, chocolate sculpture contest, and more.  Sábado, 8/4 – 10:00, adventure tourism; 11:00, chicha de chonta tasting; 12:00, people bring food; 13:00, intercultural lunch.  <I think the lunch might be open to all, but to be polite, you should bring something for the table. Bring something from your culture and see how fast you make new friends.>

Deportes –

Inicia Liga Nacional de “Football Americano” (National “American Football” League begins – The season will open with the Cóndores against the Troyanos this sábado at 13:30 in the field in parque El Paraíso.  The Cóndores played in the 2016 League, but this is the Troyanos debut.  There is a simultaneous game in Quito between the Colorados and the Lobos.  The other team in the 2016 championships was the Quito Berserkers.  New teams include the Troyanos-Cuenca, Caimanes-Guayaquil, Kraken-Quito, and Osos-Sur de Portoviejo.  <Hey, it’s not exactly like sitting in the stadium, screaming like a banshee, and stuffing your face with nachos and hot dogs and the devil knows what all else, but it’s what’s available and it’ll do.>

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne