Martes, 10/5/2016: Feds owe Cuenca $35 million, Quake zone aid, Gastronomic congress, It’s flu season

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Upcoming events –

Symphony – The Symphony Orchestra of the U of Cuenca’s 5th Concert of the 2016 season will be Wed.) at 20:00 in the Museo Catedral Vieja with guest violinist Gilles Lefevre.

Puppet show – “Rigoberto” will be presented Wed. and Thu. at 20:00 in the Teatro de Bolsillo del Sono (Pres. Borrero 6-83 y Pres. Córdova). Cost: $5.00.

Articles about –

Patricio Palomeque – His show, “La linea de sombra. Versiones de la Ciudad” (The shadow line. Versions of the city) is at MMAM until 29/5. It includes large scale B&W photos and videos.

Grupo La Carpa de la Luna (The Tent of the Moon Group) – Will present “La ratita presumida” (The conceited little rat), from a Hans Christian Andersen story, Sat. at 11:00 & 16:00 and on Sun. at 11:00 in the Teato Sucre (Sucre y Luis Cordero). Cost: $5.00 for adults and $2.50 for children under 12 and seniors.

“Voices” – Originally a men’s quartet, the voice of Vanesa Regalado, a Cuencana soprano, has been included in the group.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Unos 35 millones debe el gobierno a la Municipalidad (Gov’t owes 35 million to the Municipality) The 35 million includes 12 in delayed budget transfers, 18 for the Tranvía, 2.2 in traffic fines not transferred since 4/2015, and 3 in IVA refunds since 9/2016. (All you gloom and doomsters – have yourselves a field day with this news.)

Campaña El Respeto Nos Mueve (Respect Moves Us Campaign) – EMOV launched a campaign to promote a peaceful existence between different modes of transportation and pedestrians and to reduce the risk of accidents.

Schools in quake zone – 75% of students in the zone are back in class. 560 schools were damaged, 166 of them either moderately or seriously. In Manabí, 150 schools are too badly damaged to be repaired. Pres. Correa announced that 25 mobile, prefabricated campuses will have a 75,000 student capacity in Manabí. He pointed out that $21,000 million was invested in education since he has been in office, and that the $30,000 million Ecuador’s “oligarquía” (oligarchy – your word for the day) has stashed outside of the country could pay for 5,000 schools – more than the 900 needed. (Seems like there might be an extra 0 in the amounts of education investment and offshore accounts.)

Quake aid – The El Vergel barrio and parish went to Jama in Manabí yesterday with 100 aid kits which included food, water and clothing. The parish intends to provide constant support and has formed a Comisión de Solidaridad to guarantee this permanent help. (What a good idea! Maybe the gringo community could also “adopt” a pueblo.)

Congreso gastronómico – The Hospitality School at the U of Cuenca is organizing a Gastronomic Congress from the 18-20/5. Cost: $50 for U of Cuenca students, $70 for students in other institutions, and $90 for the general public.

La gripe – There are 6 confirmed cases of AH1N1 in Azuay which are of the 2009 strain. AH1N1 symptoms are more severe than the common “gripe” (flu – you’ll hear this word a lot – whenever anyone has the sniffles) and include a high fever, “quebrantamiento del estado general” (a general broken feeling – you feel like crap on a hot griddle), dry cough and a little runny nose. It’s not fatal unless there are other medical problems.

Tortillas – Mexican flour tortillas are being made in Cuenca by a young woman who studied in Mexico, returned to Ecuador with $25,000 worth of equipment, and set up a small tortilla factory. The brand is Mayas and she is currently producing 400 packages of a dozen tortillas daily. They are available at one of the largest chains (not named in the article) in Cuenca.

Deportes –

Las Cruces 10K – The race will be run this Sun. starting at 10:00 from the Plaza El Otorongo. Register at the club headquarters (Calle De La Cruz 13-110 y Pres. Córdova) or at Referee or at Unisport this week from 8-21:00. About 1400 runners are confirmed including 6 foreigners. (I think they mean foreigners with international reputations – not just your average gringo runners.) Three Cuencano Olympic runners are also in the race.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne