Martes, 20/9/2016: Cuenca businesses seek new airlines and international flights, Book club for foreigners, Day without cars

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Today’s agenda events (why can’t you just read the heading which says Martes? Not all of you – just those of you who ignore the day and express your confusion as if it were my fault.) –

Martes de Cine – Today’s Tuesday movie at the Alianza Francesa started at 19:00 and was “Michael Kohlhaas” with Spanish subtitles.  The story is about a horse seller who is the victim of an injustice by a landowner.

Taller de serigrafía (Silk screen workshop) – the Centro Cultural Sono (Borrero 6-83) is holding a silkscreening workshop which will end with a show of the products made. More info at dek464@hotmail.com.

Upcoming agenda events –

Humor – “De Caretas y Caretucos” (Masks and scoundrels?) by comedian Carlos Michelena will be Wed. at 20:00 in the teatro Carlos Cueva Tamariz.  Tickets on sale at La Victoria.

Conferencia – “El Efecto Compuesto: cómo multiplica el éxito de manera sencilla” (The Compound Effect: how to multiply success easily) is the theme of Douglas Saito Melo tomorrow (Wed. – since today is Tuesday for those of you who still aren’t paying attention) at 18:30 in the Sala de Conciertos.

Articles about –

Club de Libro – The “Cuenca Expad (sic) Book Club”  or Club de Libro para Extranjeros, is geared towards foreign residents in Cuenca, especially North Americans.  It will promote the Cuencanan culture, the Spanish language, and local forms of expression used in Cuenca.  The inaugural event will be this Fri, at 10:00 in the Bibilioteca “Antonio Lloret Batidas” in the Museo de la Ciudad (ex Escuela Central).  (Mijos, (an example of morlaca Cuencana) I hope you appreciate that I actually paid a visit to the library to find out what time the inaugural would be.) There will be weekly meetings in cycles.  The first cycle will run to 28/10.  Reading will be done in the original language so attendees need to have enough Spanish to understand.  (So how many of you qualify?)

“Imprenta Digital” (Digital Print) – In the entry of the CCE there is a screen which can be used by artists to project their works – photographs, short videos or animation. Since many artists don’t have venues to show their work, this screen will be available. Interested artists should go to the “Pedro Paramo” library (Pres. Córdova y Luis Cordero) and ask for how to get their work placed.  Videos can have a length of 33 seconds (good practice if you want to make commercials), and photos and digital images will be shown or the same amount of time.

Otras cosas – 

Titular – Pedirán que otras aerolíneas sirvan a Cuenca (Request that other airlines serve Cuenca) – The business sector of Cuenca met with Mayor Cabrera to express their worries about the irregular air service to Cuenca and wrote a letter to ask/demand that the civil aviation authorities guarantee flights to and from Cuenca. (Seems like lots of folks are fed up with TAME.)  They will also solicit other airlines to study the market to see if they can provide efficient service.  The Asociación de las Cámaras de Producción also asked for studies on the possibility of starting routes directly from Cuenca to destinations outside of the country such as to the US and Perú where there is a large demand.  (Hear, hear!)  Monday, LAN restarted service with a 7:45 flight using an Airbus-319 with 116 passengers from Quito.

Día Mundial Sin Auto – This Thu. will be the Worldwide Day without Cars and EMOV is preparing a series of related activities. There will be forums at the Museo de la Ciudad (you can park in the lot behind Tosi), bicycle use, alternate and non-motorized mobility; showings at the Planetario, and bike rides.  EMOV’s general manager said that there are about 110,000 vehicles in Cuenca of which 3,600 are taxis, 475 urban buses, 700 vans, 500 transporte mixto, and the rest private cars.

Traffic jail – The Centro de Detención para Infractores de Tránsito (cognates – you’re on your own), currently next door to the old Mens’ Jail will be relocated in a month and half.  The site will be the new parque de La Libertad.  The jail has a capacity for 80 inmates, and when they reach that number, police stop detaining infractors.  (So if you’re driving drunk or speeding, you better pray that you’re the 81st stop.)  EMOV is looking at other sites to buy with a loan from the Banco de Desarollo (Development Bank).  Prevention of accidents and infractions is working – in June, 2014, an average of 30-50 drivers were sanctioned on Friday nights and now it’s about 12.   From Mon-Thu there were 18-20 detainees and now it’s 5 or 6.  Accidents decreased by 39.4% from 2014 to 2015.

Trade agreement – The minister of Comercio Exterior expects that the trade agreement with the European Union will be signed on 11/11.  When (or if) signed, the agreement will take effect on 1/1/2017.  The Consejo de Asuntos Exteriores (Foreign Affairs Council) of the EU will meet on 17/10 and make a decision.  EU Minister Cassinelli said that Ecuador has resolved 9 observations including reduction of tariff surcharges from 40-35%, 25-25% and is maintaining 15%.

Acciones antiminería – Members of the Yasunidos collective gave a press conference yesterday to inform the public about future actions of resistance to mining in the paramos.  The collective wants competent groups such as the Concejo Cantonal to declare the parque nacional El Cajas a mining free zone.  They are also planning to occupy public spaces to make the public aware of the risks of mining, especially the contamination of water sources.  (Would you want poisonous, funny colored water coming out of your taps?  Might as well move to Flint – you could get a house real cheap.)

Control de llantas (Tire inspections) – Traffic cops were checking tires on 24 de Mayo and la Subida a Turi yesterday looking for cars with bald tires.  (That explains the stop, the peek at the bottom of my car, and the waving me on yesterday.  They were checking tires – tyres for you Brits.)

Deer – A white tailed deer was rescued by the National Police in Jima yesterday.  It was badly injured, apparently from an attack by dogs, and taken to Amaru for evaluation and treatment.

Crab – Red crab is back on sale in the back part of Feria Libre El Arenal.  The molting season ban ended on 15/9.  An atado of crabs costs $20.00.  (But I can’t find how many crabs are in an atado.)  A plate of crab at a restaurant will run around $3.50 or 4.00.

Tools (this is for all of you handy types) – Grupo Ortiz (Coral stores), DeWalt, Black and Decker, and Stanley Power Tools are launching their new lines of power tools on 22/9 at 19:00 in the Salón Yanuncay at the Mall del Río.

Discuentos y compras –

An ad for instructors – Instructors are needed for training seminars in Labor Law, Payroll, Finance and Taxation, (I’m switching to Spanish because you’d have to give the seminars in Spanish.) Contabilidad de Costos, Admin. de Bodegas, Compras Públicas, Seguridad Industrial, Excel Básico, Int. y Avanz., Excel RR.HH, Tribut. y Finanz., Admin de Empresas.  (Even if you’re a Harvard MBA, CPA, etc. with 30 years experience, if you can’t read the Spanish, what makes you think you could give a seminar here?)  Enviar hoja de vida a (Send your resume to): ong.pymes@gmail.com.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne