Martes, 6/12/2016: Funding for city parks, Governor honors Castro, 500,000 Christmas lights, Fashion show benefits cancer victims

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural – 

Correction – The Cuban art exhibit is at the Conde Galería and not the Casa Todos Santos which is a building next to the gallery.

Today´s (Tues.) agenda events –

Homenaje a Fidel (Tribute to Fidel) – The Comité Socialista rendered homage to Fidel Castro Tues. in the Gobierno Provincial del Azuay.

Star Wars – There was a celebration for fans of Guerra de las Galaxias Tues in the Cine Club (calle Larga y Huayna Cápac).

Película (movie) – The Martes de Cine movie at the Alianza Francesa Tues. was “Camila repite.”  (If you’re interested in French films, the Alianza has them every martes.)

Articles about –

Festival de Luces (Festival of Lights) – This ceremony is Wed. to celebrate the 83 anniversary of the coronation of the image of the Virgen Morenica del Rosario.  The festival will start at 18:00 with the placement of 5,000 “faroles” (lanterns – maybe made from paper with candles) in the plaza and streets at Santo Domingo which will from a silhouette of Santa María.  Mass will be celebrated at 19:00 and the Youth Chorus of the Conservatory, soprano Vanessa Freire, and pianist Peter Dudar will perform.  The evening will end with the San Luis Beltrán School Chorus and the Cuenca Danza Popular dance group.

Tejido de toquilla (Straw weaving) – The Museo del Sombrero had a celebration of the 4th anniversary of the craft’s listing as a UN Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Danza – La Compañia de Danza Contemporánea de la Universidad de Cuenca under the TAXI project for Resident Artists will present 3 works, “Memorias del Tiempo”, “El Bolero de Ravel”, y “Tip Toe” Wed. at 20:00 in the teatro Carlos Cueva Tamariz.  Voluntary contribution: $5.00.

Libro – “Reflexiones, un camino hacia el saber masónico” (Reflections, a road to masonic knowledge) is a book written by Iván Peña.

Premio Cervantes – The prize was won by Ecuardo Mendoza from Spain.

Otras cosas – 

Titular – Cuencanos deben pagar por obras (Cuencanos must pay for works) – The Cantonal Council resolved in a special session that taxpayers will cover $5,005,214.25 in projects benefitting the public in 2017 such as parks, the Puente Roto plazoleta, access to the parque de La Madre parking lot, and street and sidewalk work.  It will also cover outstanding amounts from 2013 and 2014.  The city’s total budget for 2017 is $210,784,287.  (Does this mean property taxes will go up?)

Houses collapse in San Blas  – Two patrimonial houses in the San Blas area of Quito (thought it was in Cuenca, didn’t you) collapsed early Tues. morning.  The moment the main wall went down was captured by ECU-911 cameras.  4 families were affected and no one has been reported missing.  A policeman and a fireman were slightly injured in a second collapse.

Niño Viajero – The Niño will wear the every day green military camouflage uniform in the parade on 24/12.  He will carry the rank of an Army general.  (Does anyone else find it ironic that a religious icon would be appearing in military garb?)

Lights and nativity scene – The giant nativity in the Plaza Otorongo and other Christmas lights were lit on Tues.  In total, there are 500,000 points of light (more or less one per resident of Cuenca) made from 10,000 meters of LED strips. The lights will continue until 5/1 and cost $1,200 per month. Because of the LED, the energy consumption is about the same as 3 induction ranges.  (That calculates out as $400/month to run your stove 12/7 assuming the lights don’t stay on during the day.)

Bus lanes – Drivers who invade bus lanes will be fined $73.20 (20% of the Salario Básico Unificado).  (That’s assuming you’re caught.  Traffic cops don’t look like they write a lot of moving violation tickets.)

Amenidades – 

Desfile de Modas (Fashion Parade) – About 22 beauty queens will hit the runway on 9/12 at 19:00 in the hostería “Caballo Campana.”  The show will benefit #YoSoyGuerrera, a project helping women with cancer.

Internacional – 

Brazil – A Supreme Court Justice temporarily suspended the Senate president, Renan Calheiros for taking a bribe from a contractor to pay child support costs for an illegitimate daughter. Another contractor implicated in the Petrobras corruption scandal, presented information about a cartel formed for bidding on Mundial projects.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne