Jueves, 8/12/2016: History lessons from Cuenca museums, Tame tries to clarify its slips, Afro food fair Sunday

Editor’s note: Please read Jeanne’s policy statement at the bottom of today’s post about her translation of El Mercurio for the expat community. She also explains why she does not respond to comments and emails. Fyi, Jeanne spends two to three hours a day to produce Periodico and receives nary a centavo for her efforts.

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Today’s (Thurs.) agenda events –

Concierto – Producer and composer Mauricio Vicencio is director of Altiplano from Chile performed Thurs. in the Teatro Carlos Cueva.

Música – María Fernanda Rivera and Sus Amigos presented “Navidad, Cantos e Historias de Nuestra Tierra” (Christmas, Songs and Stories of Our Land)  (Your land, too now, if you’re a permanent resident or naturalized citizen.) Thurs. in the treatro Casa de la Cultura.

Cine – A celebration for “La guerra de las galaxias” (Star Wars) fans with movies, videos, talks and games Thurs. at Catarsis (Calle Larga y Huayna Cápac).  (Is this the kind of celebration where people come in costume?  That would be interesting.  The Ecuadorian version of a mini Star Wars convention.)

Solidaridad – There was a runway fashion show Thurs. in the Mansión Vizcaya to benefit children with cancer.

Upcoming agenda event –

Recital – There will be an homage to Bolívar Sarmiento on 16/12 at 20:00 in the teatro Carlos Cueva.  Vanessa Freire, Dúo Inolvidable, and others will perform.

Articles about –

History – Some little known information was revealed by historian Diego Arteaga at a conference on the history of Cuenca and its archives.  Ecuador has one of the oldest ceramics pieces in the world. In Cañari regions, native people were making a ceramic called “Cáscara de huevo” (Egg shell).  And 2,000 years ago, the village of La Tolita in Esmeraldas was working with “platino” (platinum – this is your word for the day and useful to you jewelry collectors.) which Russia started to work with around 1700. Arteaga regretted that primary and high schools study the history of Egypt and Africa and lastly the local history.

The National History Archive is in the charge of the CCE, was founded in 1964, and is organized into 3 categories of documents – government with official documents and correspondence from 1776 to 1910; Notarias with deeds and wills from 1563 (That answers my question from yesterday.  Notarial records date back almost to the founding of Cuenca.  Centuries rather than generations.); and legal with judgements from 1700 to 1936.

The Museo Remigio Crespo has a large archive with 6.000 fotos and 2,870 documents including the books of the Cabildos (early Colonial municipal governing bodies) which document the decisions taken by the city.  The earliest book is from 1557 and the last is from 1921.  Subsequent years are in the Palacio Municipal (City Palace – City Hall).

OSC – The OSC performs Fri. at 20:00 in the teatro Pumapungo. The program includes “El Caballero de la Rosa” by Strauss, a selection from “Carmen” by Bizet, Capricho Italiano by Tchaikovsky, and national theme such as “Apamuy Shungo.” The orchestra will play the same program Sat. at 18:00 in the Parque Samanes in Guayaquil.  (If you miss it tonight, it’ll be a pain to get to tomorrow’s performance.)

“El Turi” – The Chivox art collective from Guayaquil publicized a false exhibit called “El Turi” by posting notices around the city, especially at or near Bienal sites.  When people went to see the exhibit they found an explanation of what “El Turi” was on the closed doors of the Librería Contemporánea instead.  (So was that serious art, or a practical joke by the art community on the art community? It does fit into the Bienal theme of impermanence.)

Fraud – A professor in Argentina was found guilty of fraud for taking Jorge Luis Borges’ work “El Aleph,” adding 5,600 words, titling the changed work “El Aleph engordado” (Chubby El Aleph), and selling 200 copies for $1 each.  He was fined $2,000.  (Could he have countered on freedom of artistic expression grounds?  The original work is a short story so it would be pretty hard to hide an additional 5600 words.)

Museo Remigio Crespo – The museum has a collection of 28,000 pieces, but barely 5% has been displayed due to lack of space. The remodeling will allow more of the collection to be shown in seasonal and rotating displays.  It is hoped that it will reopen in abril.  (That sounds like there’s no solid expectation that it will reopen in abril.  Kind of like the Tranvía.)

Otras cosas – 

Titular – Primó la jerarquía (Primarily the hierarchy) – After 3 months, a new Fire Chief was named.  Patricio Lucero is the oldest official in the department.  He joined the department in 1981 and has directed the “organismo de socorro” (relief, rescue, aid unit) for 5 years.  The Chief’s position is an honor since it is unpaid.  (Maybe it took 3 months to find someone qualified who’d work for free?)  The whole department has 350 members of which 120 are paid and the rest volunteers.  (How many cities of close to a half million rely on a volunteer fire department?  I guess it’s possible with a city built with masonry.)

Feria en San Blas – The Afro del Azuay movement is holding a culinary and cultural fair this domingo at 10:00 in the parque San Blas.  You can fill up on dishes such as cariucho de guandul, ovos, acuacates sin semilla (are those aguacates deditos?), tapao arrecho, encocados, bolones, encebollados and muchines.  The census estimates a population of 17,000 people of African descent live in Azuay.

TAME – The airline issued clarifications to a document it issued detailing events that occurred with its planes in Cuenca.  It changed the date of slipping on the runway from 4/9/16  to 13/6/16 and the runway number on another flight.  The document mentioned 13 reports related to information from ATC and slides before the runway was repaved.  (Those mistakes were obvious since I think the Sept. date was while the airport was closed.  I wonder if anyone went through the dates they slid and compared it to the weather records.)

Bus routes – Due to the closure of Miguel Vélez at Gran Colombia and Mariscal La Mar, bus lines 100 and 22 have changed.  They’ll turn at the redondel de los Sagrados Corazones, go up to Corazón de Jesús, take Abraham Sarmiento and turn onto Sangurima and their normal routes.

Referendum – Pres. Correa signed the decree to hold a public referendum that would prohibit public officials from having property or capital in tax havens.  The opposition warned that the objective is to meddle in the campaign.

Condors – 3 condors freed in noviembre are being monitered by GPS, communication radios, binoculars and telescopes.  The first national condor census estimated a population of 94-102 in Ecuador.

Public announcement – A stretch of the vía Cuenca-Azugues-Biblian from km 3+600 to km . 4+600 will be reduced to one lane to stabilize a geological fault in Turi.  The work is between the exits to av. 24 de Mayo and calle Hernán Malo.  The right hand lane will be closed in the Cuenca-Azogues direction and the left hand lane will become two-way, limiting acess to av. 24 de Mayo.   Work started today (8/12) and will last for about 60 days.

Today’s political cartoon – The cartoon shows two train tracks, both radiating crack lines.  One asks the other, “¿De qué materíal está hecho? which answers, “De falsas promesas.” (Q: What material are you made from?  A: From false promises.)

Elections – There is an article each day about the view of all 8 of the presidential candidates on various issues.  Today’s issue is on justice and security.   (If you’re interested in what each is saying, go to www.elmercurio.com.ec and read it for yourself.)

Megamining – Directors of Ecuarunari, FOA and others held a press conference yesterday.  It reported increased activity at the INV Metals Mine in Quimsacocha.  It announced an assembly in either the Salón de la Ciudad or parque Calderón this lunes at 10:30 to adopt resolutions about how to maintain opposition to large scale mining.  (Will joining a protest affect your visa status if you’re caught?)

Feria inclusiva – A fair with 20 disabled entrepreneurs will be this sabado from 10-21:00 in the Portal Artesanal (Huayna Cápac y Bolívar).  You can even get dentures to sink into chocolates, empanadas and buñuelos.  There will also be music.  (A crafts fair seems like an odd place to sell dental appliances.)

Internacional –

Venezuela – In response to the high level of inflation, the government issued 6 new bills in 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000 bolívar denominations, and 3 new coins worth 10, 50, and 100 bolívars.  (I wonder how much a loaf of bread costs and if you need a wheelbarrow full of cash to buy one?)  The old denominations of 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 & 100 will continue to circulate until they’ve all been exchanged. Inflation in Venezuela was between 10,000 and 16,000 percent from 2008 to now. (Get that wheelbarrow out.)

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne

About the “periodico” …

1. All I do is translate the culture page in El Mercurio as well as I can (I’m still learning Spanish as I hope you are) and I “summarize” any other articles I feel will be of interest or use to other gringos.  Some of these articles are more than I can read and translate in their entirety in a normal work day.  If you don’t see information you want in the culture page items, it’s because it’s not in the article as far as I can tell.  Some items are a “heads up” for upcoming events and usually the paper will have a follow up article closer to the event.   So try to be a little more Ecuadorian and practice patience.  Please, please, please do not email me with questions like “Where can I buy the tickets or what time does it start or how do I get there?”  I DO NOT KNOW.  All I know is what I read and I WILL NOT REPLY to emails and comments asking me to do research for you even if you’re my best friend.   I am not your slave and if you’re interested in something there is a thing called Google.

1a. I’ve noticed that some of you have not paid any attention to the previous paragraph and not only will I not reply to your request for more research, I will take you off the mailing list if you receive the Periodico through my email service and not on the CuencaHighLife website.  And I don’t give second chances – first offense, go to jail.  If you’re really interested (as in interested enough to do a little work on your own) go to www.elmercurio.com.ec.   I’m guessing you know how to use the translation programs better than I do.  I have to do it in my head with the aid of a paper dictionary.

1b. I do not translate place names because I figure you’re going to need to tell the taxi driver in Spanish, and if you can’t speak intelligible Spanish, you’ll have to copy the address or location to show him.  And I promise you’ll get better results if you use Spanish.  Remember Ecuador isn’t a new state in the US and wishful thinking won’t make it an English speaking country.

2.  I take Saturday off because the culture page reviews books on Saturday and because it’s nice to have a day off.  And (duh) the reviews are for books in Spanish.   If you’re able to read a book in Spanish, you can get your own Saturday paper and read the review for yourself.  For those of you who do speak and read Spanish, there are a lot of interesting books reviewed.  Some are written in Spanish and others are translations from another language.  And no, I don’t know where to buy them.

3.  I only write what’s in the newspaper.  I have neither the time nor energy to post advertisements or promote your events or business.  CuencaHighLife,  GringoTree and GringoPost are set up to do that for you and will do it much better.  And do you really want me to editorialize about your pet event?     Didn’t think so.

4.  If you want to add someone to my list, please have them email me directly.  My computer skills are barely basic.  If you write me that your friend’s email is ***@???, I then copy your friend’s email to a scrap of paper, go into my contacts and type it into the contact list.  If they email me directly, I can add their name without 2 sets of copying and the high possibility of mistakes and typos. As I mentioned above, you can also read Periodico every day in CuencaHighLife. It is the same Periodico that goes to my mailing list.

5.  Finally, this whole endeavor is totally amateur hour.  Since I’m not a professional journalist and can’t even claim taking a writing course ever in my life, I feel free to editorialize to my heart’s content.