Lunes, 28/3/2016: Green belt project underway, Church tour is popular, Bar argument leads to shootings, New Internet option

Hola, Todos – 

Pagina cultural –

Exhibición – “Fe & Devoción” (Faith and Devotion) (Sounds like a girl group from the 60’s) – will be at CIDAP from 22/3 to 29/4 showing and selling works by 7 craftsmen and women from 4 provinces.

Articles about –

El Lab Act Cine – will show 6 films by winners of the competitive funding from the Consejo Nacional de Cine in the República Sur on Thu, 21/4 at 19:30.

A tienda galeria (gallery/store) – carries the work of 40 designers and producers from different cities.  The offerings include art, organic foods, textiles and clothing at reasonable prices. Location: Honorato Vásquez y Borrero. (This place apparently has no name – at least not one mentioned in the article. Sometimes local marketing leaves a lot unsaid.)

(Not a whole lot of cultural activities going on.  I guess people are still digesting their fanesca.)

Otras cosas –

Titular – Planean más áreas verdes (Plan for more green spaces) with the Proyecto Cinturón Verde de Cuenca (Greenbelt of Cuenca Project).  Cuenca has a green space deficit of 4.72 sq. meters per person.  Completion of the Green Belt should increase open space by 13.77 m2.  Components of the plan will be the creation of a model for urban growth, promoting conservation and preservation of ecosystems including native plants and watersheds.  (And in the US we’re promoting fracking.)

Two men – were killed by gunfire at Vargas Muchaca y Muñoz Vernaza on the north side.  3 men were in a car that was shot at. The driver and a passenger were killed. The shooting was preceded by an argument in an El Centro discotech.  (So don’t go and get your butt into a bar fight – it might not end there.)

Ruta de las Iglesias – was well received.  The tours of several El Centro churches was organized by various tourism institutions. The next 50 days will be the Tiempo Pascual (Easter Time?) which ends in Pentecost Sunday.

Unemployment Insurance – law takes effect today.  It is opposed by the Frente Unitario de los Trabajadores (FUT – United Front of Workers) on the issue of more flexibility in work hours.  It is also opposed by the Comité Empresarial Ecuatoriano (Ecuadorian Business Committee) over the way Unemployment Insurance will be funded.  Neither party likes the maternity leave or severence pay provisions.  (I guess that’s better than one party ecstatic and the other chewing nails.)

Petroamazonas EP – (the EP stands for Empresa Pública or Public Company in the sense of government ownership and not publically traded) has launched the “Amazonía Viva” project to clean up environmental damage.  242 workers from Parcayaco Parish in Sucumbios Province will work on cleaning 450,000 cubic meters of soil and eliminating 200 sources of contamination.

Potable water – El Banco de Desarrollo (Development) del Ecuador is financing 13 projects and 11 studies to provide water in Azuay, Cañar and Morona Santiago Provinces.  The goal is to fill gaps in coverage.  (This is when I’m reminded that Ecuador is a 3d World Country – water service is not universal……But what does that say about water service in the US?  Flint, Africa?)

Your sliver of life article today – is about stolen cars and their return.  A new system (SIAF) will share information among agencies and should shorten the time a car stays in the evidence collection centers from 2 months to 5 days.  (I still wouldn’t bet that it will be an easy process to get your car back after it’s been impounded.)

Intercultural – The laguna de Culebrillas in Cañar comes with legends.  One is that the lake was built by the Incas who hid the treasure of Atahualpa at the bottom. Another is the legend of “Espíndola”, a child of a giant serpent that lived in the lake and a Cañari woman. Espíndola hung around the lake, attacking and eating travelers until the people drove him away to the Coast.  (I got the impression that the attacking and killing was maybe OK – a standard travel risk back then – but eating was beyond the pale.)

Discuentos y compras – 

Ultra Internet from CNT – fiber optic plans – 5 megas with a one year boost to 15 megas, $27.89/mo. and 10 megas with a boost to 25 megas for one year, $40.32/mo.  Sin costo de instalación (Which I think means no cost to install rather than installation costs not included.)  Available in 4 sectors – Tres Puentes, Parque Iberia, Cuidadela los Joyeros, Yanuncay.  (So only for you southsiders as of now.)

Ecuamueble – furniture sale – 30% off on selected merchandise – new location at Av. Paucarbamba y Miguel Cordero – www.ecuamueble.com

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne