Lunes, 27/2/2017: Bus service reduction, Opera, Miss Ecuador, Carnaval in Recuarte

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Upcoming and ongoing agenda events –

Exposición – An exhibit by Jorge Chalco, “Yasuní: El paraíso de los contrastes” (Yasuní: The paradise of contrasts), will open el jueves, 30 de marzo in the Exhibit Halls in the Museo de la Ciudad.  The more than 20 oil paintings were inspired by the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Articles about –

Opera – The Compañía Nacional de Operas y Musicales has recently formed and is the first National Opera Company.  It put on the Opera Pasión a Dolores last diciembre, and plans to stage one childrens’ and one general public opera a year. The company is looking for children from 6-12 interested in participating.  Sign up by 21/3 on the Facebook page Compañía National de Operas y Musicales.  (I think you can skip the tilde and accent marks if your keyboard is in English.)  Rehearsals will be M-F for 3 hours each afternoon.  (That would have to be a dedicated kid.)

CCE – The CCE is talking about how to structure their elections to comply with the new Ley de Cultura (Culture Law).  (Sorry, but I’m just not interested enough in those elections to read the whole article.)  The local Núcleo is planning events.  There will be an homage to Women on 8/3 with conferences and artistic presentations in the Sala de Conciertos and the sala de la Biblioteca.  Also planned are conferences on the role of women in society and on femicide, and a recital of women’s poetry. Another project is for the Festival de Cine Colombiano to be a the end of marzo accompanied by dance and a gastronomic exhibit.  (OK – I’m in – as long as there’s food.)

Libro – The book, “La orilla memoriosa,” by Luis Carlos Mussó was launched yesterday.

Silk-screen printing – Eduardo Nieves started Impulsarte (las Américas y 12 de Abril) and in addition to printing items, he also teaches the profession of silk-screening. (This is commercial silk screening – not the art project you did in high school.)  He says there are only 10-15 good shops in Cuenca with the rest working in “forma rústica” (rustic form – maybe like your high school project).

Exposición – The photo show, “Ellos son Arte” (They are Art), from Buenos Aires, Argentina, will open in the Museo de la Ciudad (Antigua Escuela Central – just how long ago did this school actually close and how much longer will the Museum of the City be known as the Old Central School?  Until the last grad passes on?)) on jueves, 2/3.

Otras cosas – 

Titular – Alegría se desborda en días del Carnaval (Happiness overflows during Carnaval) – (And don’t forget the water balloons and foam.)

Mote pata – Ricuarte handed out 1,250 servings of mote pata in an hour.  (It was free, but you couldn’t be late.)  The mote pata was prepared in an oval “olla” (cooking pot – but the photos show a tank) measuring 3×2 meters (bigger than the standard 3 fixture bathroom).

Officials (and civics lesson) – The competition for the top spots in the Attorney General and Comptroller’s offices is in it’s final phase.  The Citizen’s Selection Committee for the comptroller notified the 14 of 18 candidates who took the test, the results of the exam given on 16/2.  The highest scorer with 95.5 points was the current Contralor General del Estado who is expected to serve another 5 years.  The test for the Fiscalía General will be on viernes.  Sitting Attorney General, Galo Chiriboga is expected to be reappointed as well.  (Interesting – top civil service positions filled competitively rather than politically.)

Announcement – TVCable will have a phone service interruption on 7/3 from 0:00-6:00 a.m. which will affect the Jardines del Río y Ciudadela Kennedy sectors.  Call 600 01 00 for more info.  (Or have your facilitator do it for you.)

Bus service – Hoy (today – another word for you to remember) and mañana, urban buses will not run on their usual schedules (whatever the usual is).  Line 100 will only run to 17:00, and other lines will not run normally, especially in the evening and night.  The frequency of intercantonal buses increased with temporary crowd control fencing installed at the Terminal Terrestre.

Amenidades –

Miss Ecuador – There are 22 contestants in this beauty contest and they will be in Cuenca from 4-7/4 with the pageant on 27/4. There is no one representing Cuenca this year.  (Guys, get your ogle on – but hide it behind a pair of sunglasses, and don’t drool – that’s uncool.)

Internacional –

Colombia – The first luxury cruise ship, the sailing ship Sea Cloud, docked at the Puerto Velero Marina in Tubará.  The departamento del Atlántico (Atlántico Province) is promoting tourism and likes having well heeled tourists off expensive cruises.

Barranquilla, capital of Atlántico, celebrated with its traditional parade, “Batalla de Flores” (Flower Fight) which was watched by more than 600,000.  (More than all of Cuenca – too crowded for me.)  The parade started in 1903 when the war of 1000 days ended and the Barranquilleros decided to have a parade with flowers instead of bullets.

US – Pres. Trump tried to compete with the Oscars by holding a Governors’ Ball at the White House.  (Because he doesn’t like those left leaning, pinko Hollywood types?)  (Sometimes the selection of news from the US that El Mercurio chooses to cover is more interesting than the news itself.)

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne