Jueves, 3/11/2016: Thousands of tourists are in town, Wild fires, Cuenca culture celebrated, Ancestral medicine fair,

Hola, Todos – Happy Independence Day!

Pagina cultural –

Today’s (Thurs.) and continuing agenda events –

Some choices for art, design & crafts fairs –

Feria de las Culturas, Arte, Artesanías y Diseño (Culture, Art, Crafts and Design Fair) – Museo Pumapungo
Feria Artesanías de América (American Crafts Fair) – CIDAP
Exposición de pintura, escultura y joyas (Painting, Sculpturea and Jewelry Exhibit) – Calle Larga 1-209
Feria de saberes ancestrales (Ancestral Knowledge Fair) – Museo Manuel A. Landívar

Article about –

Cuencano history – Cuenca declared its Independence from Spain on 3/11/1820.  On the 5/11, a Constitutional Assembly was called, and 35 representatives from the law, church, business, and population close to Cuenca met to approve the Constitución de la República de Cuenca.  The Spanish retook the city at the battle of Verdeloma. (That’s why there’s a street called Héroes de Verdeloma.)  For more details, read Thursday’s article in CHL.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Cuenca atesora su libertad (Cuenca treasures its freedom) – (I’m going to translate one paragraph closely since I think some of the editorial page snuck onto the front page.) Hundreds of Ecuadorians have come into the city to enjoy, next to Cuencanos, its natural charm, its architecture, its culture, its traditions and its crafts and gastronomy, despite the difficult time as a consequence of the tram construction which is shrouded in controversy with severe underfunding, which the principal investor, the federal government, is trying to dodge.  (I said it was a paragraph and it is.  It also happens to be a long sentence.  In fact, the whole front page article is 4 paragraphs, and 4 sentences, long.  Now you see what I’m up against when I translate this paper.)

Energy company – Ros Roca Indox Cryo-Energy S.L. lost a law suit by Petroecuador for paralyzing a public service.  It was shown that the legal representative of the company ordered the employees of its LNG Liquifaction Plant to go home, which affected industrial clients in Guayaquil, Cuenca and Quito, and paralyzed electrical energy generators.

The company was sentenced to dissolution (If a company is defined as a person, it should suffer a death sentence if warranted – and it looks like it does down here even without Citizens United.) and a fine of 1,000 basic salaries (about $366,000)  A suit for damages of $170 million is still in process.  El sindicado (the company’s representative?) was sentenced to a year of prison and a fine of $1,565.00.  (I wonder what an Ecuadorian court would have done to Enron for its shenanigans?  Seems like someone would have gone to jail.)

Medicina ancestral – About 30 taitas and mamas from different communities who have knowledge of ancestral medicines will be attending to the public in parque Luis Cordero from 9:00.  These are considered home remedies and are recognized by the Ministry of Health.  (Consider that these remedies have been around a lot longer than the Ministry of Health has.)

Road openings – Juan Montalvo and Padre Aguirre were reopened to vehicular traffic yesterday.  The No. 18 bus line (Zhucay-Técnico) has returned to its normal route through El Centro.  (Problem is, I bet some of you haven’t been here long enough to have experienced the normal route.)

Tourism – Crowds in the Terminal Terrestre grew today – the first day of the holidays. Tourists are coming from Guayaquil, mostly, but also from other cities and countries. Cuencanos are going to El Oro and Guayas.  (If you’re at the beach you go to the mountains for a vacation and vice versa.  Must be human nature to want something different every once in a while.)

Student parade – Groups from 11 different schools danced through El Centro yesterday, costumed to represent the diversity and culture of Ecuador.  (I wonder if these were the richer, private schools – everyone in each group is wearing an elaborate costume.  And they look new – not leftover from another parade.)

Danza folclórica – The Festival CIOFF Ecuador will be in the old Escuela de Medicina (diagonal to the Puente del Centenario – behind the Banco de Pichincha) until domingo.  There will be dance performances and a crafts fair.  Tonight there will be a gala with 4 dance troupes.

El Vado – The fair in the sector La Cruz de El Vado will run until domingo.  Artists in the neighborhood will exhibit as well as artists from other places.  The Casa Museo La Condamine is a house that has been opened to the public for exhibits and also to see the owners’ collection of antiques.

Incendios forestales – Officials from Risk Management and Firefighters took an overflight of areas most affected by forest fires including Molleturo, Camilo Ponce Enríquez (El Panecillo), Pucará and San Fernando.  In the second 2 zones, small fires for agricultural purposes (I think it may be the time to burn off last seasons corn stalks in preparation for this planting season.).  If you directly or indirectly cause a forest fire, the sanction is 1-3 years.  And if that fire causes a death, the sanction is 13-16 years.

I Feria Herrerías 2016 – There will be a crafts, food and agroecological fair from 3-6/11 from 10-22:00 on Las Herrerías. There are 30 exhibitors including iron craftsmen and food vendors.  There will be musical performances in the plaza de Chaguarchimbana.

Amenidades – 

Today’s and continuing events – 

Huaynacapazo 2016 – 20:00 – music on  4 stages.
El Mercadito – today until 5/11 – 9:30-21:30 – Terraza de Todosantos (Calle larga y Bajada de Todosantos).
“Farra-Concierto” with Juan Magan – 20:00 – Quinta Lucrecia (av. Primero de Mayo y av. Isabela la Católica) – $40.00.
Alternate music – reggae, rock, indie, ska, punk and electronica – 20:00 – Sonora Club – Cost: $15.00 including after party.
Trypy-Trypy – This show is celebrating its 13 edition with “Luminarias Turi,” and 3 live bands – 18:00 – the event will have official “Tripy Tripy 13” buses leaving from Colegio La Salle every half hour starting at 17:30.  Cost: $20 (general) and $40 (VIP).
“Con la gente siempre” (Always with the people) – a show – Otorongo.

Discuentos y compras –

RM – clothing – 15% off everything in the store except previously marked down items.  (As if you had enough time to do all the shopping that’s available right now.)

SuperStock – daily promotions –
lunes – 7% – dairy, liquors y snacks (now there’s a reason to get up on Monday morning. 7% off liquors.)
martes – 10% – strollers(?) and diapers
miércoles – 10% – shoes and clothing
jueves – 20% – fruit and vegetables (does their produce delivery truck come on Friday morning to stock up for the weekend?)
viernes – 10% – seafood and sausages
sábado y domingo – 15% – toys

Expocuero, moda y calzado (Leather, fashion and shoe Expo) – buy directly from the manufacturer – exhibitors from Cotacachi, Ibarra, Otavalo, Salasaca, Pelileo, Gualaceo y Quito – 2-6/11 – “Milenium Plaza” Food Court and Salón Auditorio 1 & 2 – all credit cards accepted.

Detalles (home decorations and furniture?) – 30% off – Feria del Mueble (Furniture Fair) – jueves a domingo – 10-19:00 – corner of Max Uhle y 24 de Mayo – www.detallesmueble.com

Dekorare – Liquidation, 20 and 30% off and 2×1 on selected merchandise – 2-5/11 – Primero de Mayo y Carlos V esq. (esquina – corner.   No, Carlos the 5th wasn’t a lawyer and how did that esquire crap ever come into use anyhow?  Or was is just California silliness?)

Special sections – there are 3 special sections in today’s paper. 

D – Cuencanos around the world – stories of 5 Cuencanos on 5 continents.

E – Human interest stories about Cuenca

F – Articles about Cuencano businesses and associations.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne