Lunes, 21/12/2015: Foreigner arrested with 60 passports, Bus buries itself in El Centro beauty shop, Typing cat helps with the news

Hola, Todos – 

Pagina cultural – 

Exposición – the I Exposición de Arte “Permanencia en el Tiempo” (The 1st Art Exhibit, “Permanence in Time”) by Fausto Bravo whose show is called Emociones en Dimensiones (Emotions in Dimensions) is showing at the “Puente Roto” Gallery. (Instead of a word for the day, here’s a note for the day. Tiempo refers to time, but not to the time of the day.  If you want to know what “time” it is, you use “hora” or hour as in ¿Que hora es?  Or you can point at someone´s watch and pantomime.)

Club de Teatro – the Alianza Francesa is offering a space called the Club de Teatro to the public on Mondays from 20-21:30 in their auditorium.  (Think of the possibilities – karaoke night, jewelry shows, porn films – well, maybe not the last one.)

Escritura creativa – the Alianza Francesa also has a Club de Escritura Creativa (Creative Writing Club) on Mondays from 14:15 to 15:15.  The workshop is for writing in French.  (Thanks, but I’m still trying to master simple emails in Spanish.)

Articles about – 

A new Biblioteca Central (Central Library) whose collection includes works by the writer Antonio Lloret Bastidas’.  The 9800 volumes include literature, history and journalism.  It is in the ex escuela Central (G. Colombia y Benigno Malo).  (I think a whole generation who will never know the building as a school will need to grow up before it will stop being called the ex-escuela Central.)

Free knitting classes for housewives at the Palacio de la Lana 2 (The Wool Palace 2) (Guapondélig 5-13 y República), owned by María Isabel Peralta who carries a selection of yarns in different colors, thicknesses, brands and prices.  (Please don’t email me and ask if they’ve got xxx yarns.  The article didn’t say so I don’t know.) You can also learn weaving, crocheting and something called tunecino and palillos (Tunisian and sticks (?) – to me, palillos are chopsticks.  Maybe it’s also used for knitting needles.)

The Ministry for Culture and Patrimony is calling for artists to apply for the MERCOSUR Prize in Visual Arts which includes a 3-4 week artist in residence at the Espacio de Arte Contemporáneo (Contemporary Art Space) in Montevideo, Uruguay. Go to http://www.culturaypatrimonio.gob.ec for more info.

Free straw weaving classes at the Museo Casa del Sombrero. The classes are Mon-Fri with hours in the morning and afternoon. One of the teachers said it takes an average of 3 months to learn how to weave a hat.  Last year, 300 people were trained and certified, and they hope to teach 500 this year as a way to keep this patrimonial activity alive.  Register at the Museo (Rafael María Arízaga 7-95 y Luis Cordero.  (Maybe Ecuador should think about naming “living treasures” the way Japan has for the practitioners of its traditional crafts.)

Christmas concert “Rondalla Cañari” in the Teatro Sucre on Wed, 22/12 at 20:00 with songs from around the world.  (The fuzzy photo shows an instrumental group with lots of guitars and maybe charangos.  I don’t see winds, strings, brass or singers, but it is a fuzzy picture.)

Otras cosas –

Titular – Emelec ¡Tricampeón! (Emelec ¡Trichampion! or Threepeaters. Was it a coach that coined the win, repeat, threepeat phrase?)  They also won the national championships in 2013 and 2014.

New software – to streamline paperwork in La Dirección de Control Urbano (Department of Urban Control – which seems to be analogous to Building Services Department where I lived in the US) will be ready on 11/1/2016. You can get a planning approval, plan approval, construction permit and Certificado Unico de Funcionamiento (CUF – Single Operating Certificate – a business or operating license?) on line.  The system can tell architects and engineers where their application is, which department it’s in, what changes need to be made and who the technician in charge is.  Go to www.cuenca.gob.ec.  This system also helps prevent corruption.  (Like paying for going to the front of the line or paying for approvals.  I was told that in Philly if you wanted to pass a building inspection, the building inspector would leave his or her jacket in the car and you’d put the money in the pocket. Have no idea if it was true or not.)

A foreigner – who was trying to enter the country with 60 Senegalese passports was stopped by the police.  The minister of the Interior, José Serrano said that immigration security is working optimally. n¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢ (Sorry  – cat typing.  And how come the cat can find the cent symbol and I can’t after pushing every dang button on the keyboard? But before you tell me where it is and how stupid I am, keep in mind I’m using an English keyboard converted to Spanish.  It’s like the arroba – can’t find that either. And can’t find an Ecuadorian who knows.)

Matriculación vehicular – find out what you need to pay on your car at the EMOV EP website. Have your plate number ready. The vehicle taxes from 2012 and 2013 have been adjusted since the wrong code was used to make the assessment.  (The municipal website says you can pay until 1/12/2016 without a penalty.)

The “Asilo de Ancianos Hogar Cristo Rey” (Christ the King Old Age Home) – had a Pase del Niño parade with residents and staff.

Your sliver of life article – is about a bus that drove into a house in El Centro at Sangurima and Borrero.  The impacted area was being used as a beauty shop.  (Thank goodness for adobe – if it had been a glass storefront, the bus could have buried itself further into the shop.)

Internacional –

Paraguay – heads of state of the Mercosur countries are attending a summit in Asunción which is coinciding with a strike of mostly public transportation workers. (I’m guessing they’ve got presidential limos and don’t need to take the bus.).

Venezuela – prisoners will be under a “humanitarian” regime in 2016. (In other words, prison reform).  Before, prisoners had to march like soldiers and sing songs of praise to Chavez and there were high levels of violence.  In 2014, around 300 prisoners in a population of about 55,000 were killed.

Chile – 12 airports in northern cities in Antofagasta e Iquique were closed due to a strike.  Airports in Santiago, Calama, Temuco and Punta Arenas are still operating.  LAN, the primary airline has had to cancel 70 national flights, but is maintaining their international flight schedule.  It is warning about delayed flights and recommending getting to the airport 4 hours early for international and 3 hours early for national flights.  (So be warned if you’re flying from Chile.)

Deportes –

Motociclistas – There will be a “Paseo de la Confraternidad 2015” (2015 Friendship Ride) on 26/12.  It will leave at 9:00 from Av. González Suárez at Mr. Motorcycle and end at the Honda track in Capulispamba with refreshments served to participants. The ride will take 3-4 hours and no registration is required.  The ride is sponsored by the Comisión de Motocross of the province.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne