Lunes, 16/5/2016: Ecuador heals the wounds, Palestinian films, Traveling with cash, Tony the magician, Taxi fares

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Upcoming events –

Segundo Festival de Charango (2nd Charango Festival) – This festival will be held on 25/5 in the teatro Carlos Cueva Tamariz at the U. of Cuenca, and last 2 days. Ecuadorian and international artists will give concerts.  (The charango is like a little guitar and the back of it is made with an armadillo “shell,” although modern versions are backed in wood.)  (And be patient – there will probably be more articles with the times of the concerts closer to the event.)

Expectáculo de rock – Rojo Garrote, Pulpo 3, Costafria, y Los Recienmuertitos will perform live this Fri at 20:00 in the auditorium of the Colegio de Ingenieros del Azuay (Fray Vicente Solano 4-101).  Cost: $15.00.

Ongoing or finished event –

The 14th Edición of the Festival Colegial de Artes Escénicas (High School Festival of Performing Arts) – This festival runs to Fri. and starts Mon. at 16:00 in the auditorium of the Universidad de Azuay.  Free.  (Is free worth it if you have to sit through performances you don’t understand?)

Articles about –

Tony the Magician – Tony is part of an international non-profit organization called “Magic Brothers World” who perform at orphanages all around the world.  He and 5 local magicians gave shows at the “Miguel Leon” and “Antonio Valdivieso” orphanages.  At the first orphanage Tony picked a child to be his assistant and the kid kept smiling the whole time.  Later a social worker told him that the child had been at the institution for 3 years and this was the first time they’d seen him smile.  Wouldn’t you feel good about yourself if you could do something like that for another person? Unless of course you’re the most selfish jerk in Cuenca.)

“Caudal” (Flow) – An exhibit by painter Pablo Cardoso will open this Thu. at 19:00 in the Museo Municipal de Arte Moderno. Cardoso will also participate in the Bienal this Oct.  The theme of his paintings is rivers.  Parallel to the exhibit are 6 panel discussions about river issues such as the rights of the environment, resource, conservation, extraction and more.  The first, “Paisajes del territorio/Paisajes del alma” (Landscapes of territory/Lanscapes of the soul)  will be Fri., at 18:00 in the auditorium at MMAM.

Palestinian films – The festival starts Mon. with a talk in the Sala de Conciertos at CCE.  The films start Tues. with a morning showings for schools, and a public showings at 19:00 at the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana.  Tomorrow’s (Tues.) film will be “Omar”, Wed. will be “La sal de E”, and Thu. will be “Cinco cámaras rotas.” (I’m not translating the titles because the films will probably be subtitled in Spanish, and if you don`t understand the title, how are you going to understand the subtitles?)

Otras cosas –  
 
Titular – Ecuador cura heridas (Ecuador heals wounds)  One month after the quake, people are trying to recover.  A post from Manabí said “Los manabas nos hemos vuelta a poner a pie y estamos trabajando para construir el futuro.” (We Manabans are getting back on our feet and are working to build the future.)  The greatest needs now are “techo y empleo” (a roof and a job). People are still living in the streets, in make shift shelters and formal shelters.  There are still areas where help hasn’t reached. (So the next time you go to Supermaxi, buy something extra for the aid bins.)

“Exporting” money (I missed this article from yesterday’s paper so here it is) – The exit tax on money taken out of Ecuador will not apply to taking less than $1,098 in cash out per trip, or on purchases of up to $5,000 made on a debit or credit card each year.  If you travel between May and June of this year and the SRI deducts the tax from your card purchases, it will automatically credit the taxes in July and Aug.  If you do leave EC with more than $1098, you have to declare and pay the exit tax either on line at www.sri.gob.ec, or at the airport in the Duty Free stores.  Present your receipt when you leave the country.

Taxi – Rounding up fares is still a problem and one that riders need to help solve.  If you’re charged more than the meter rate for whatever reason, or you get a taxi with a speeded up meter, you need to report it.  You can do this on Twitter or Facebook or call #157 with the taxi’s municipal number, the name of the taxi company, and a description of the route. (If it’s a problem big enough to make the newspaper, don’t go thinking gringos are the only victims.  But gringos may be the victims less likely to complain since you have to do it in Spanish.  So when are you going to get your butt into class?)

Burglaries – The Policía Judicial del Azuay reports that there were 276 home burglaries from Jan. through Mar.  Most commonly taken items were plasma TVs and portable computers.  It recommends three actions you can take to avoid being a crime victim.  Activate the “Botón de Seguridad” (Security Button), join the “Encargo Seguro” program or be part of “Chat Comunitario.” All of these  are a direct contact between police and residents.  (Go to your local police station if you’re interested. And get to know your neighbors – especially the retired ones who are home all the time.)

Road work – A new stretch of Ordóñez Lasso will be closed from De la Higuerilla to Jacaranda from the sector of the Virgen del Milagro field next to the Ciudad de Cuenca High School to the sector Hotel Oro Verde. The work will be removing and reinstalling paving in two lanes.  In the following days this work will extend to calle Los Pinos.  Suggested alternate routes are Del Tejar and Paseo 3 de Noviembre. Intersections in this stretch should remain open.
 
Election polls – (Ecuador, not the US – remember it’s El Mercurio I’m translating.) With less than a year until national elections and no official candidates, two polls showed ex-VP Lenin Moreno as a popular candidate.  One poll asked people to name a person they’d like to see as president and the other to “vote” on a list of names.  On the vote, Moreno got 39% followed by Guillermo Lasso at 13%, Jaime Nebot at 11%, voto en nulo 11% (which is a null vote – for double marking the paper, drawing outside the lines, erasures, etc.), voto en blanco at 9% (That is either not marking any choice or voting for “none of the above” if the ballot has that option.  Do you think in a contest between Clinton, Trump, and None of the above, that None of the above might win?).  Other candidates got less than 9%.

Deportes –

Las Cruzes 10k – Yesterday’s race was won for the 8th time by Cuencano Byron Piedra.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne