Martes, 9/2/2016: Cell phone app to verify taxi fares, Ceramics courses, NY Times Español site

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Festival de dulce – the first Festival of Sweets will be at the Cento Cultural Tomebamba during Carnaval. (And what more did you want to know? Would you have gone if the missing information had been included?)

Sol de Talentos – A traditional Fiesta de Dulce will be at the Centro de Desarrollo Infantil Sol de Talentos (the Sol de Talentos Child Development Center – like a nursery school, I think.) on Fri, 19/2 at 10:00 for the children and youth.

Teatro – students in the 9th and 10th cycles in Language and Literature at the U of Cuenca will present a term project in the sala Carrasco de la Cassa de la Cultura.

(It feels like the writers of these notices really don’t want anyone to come.)

Articles about –

Courses on ceramica (beginning ceramics and Rakú for the more advanced) and growing medicinal plants and vegetables in small spaces at the Centro Cultural El Alfarero in the Casa de la Chaguarchimbana. Classes will start on 15/3. Register at the same location by 15/2. The Center also has a ceramics exhibit that started Sun and runs to April.

The Nicaraguan poet, Rubén Darío who changed the Spanish language.
Communities such as Tarqui, Nabón and Cumbe express their identities during Carnaval.

Otras cosas –

Titular – La fiesta carnavalera se vive por el mundo (The carnaval fiesta lives around the world) – with pictures from Rio’s Sambadrome.

EMOV (Empresa de Movilidad) – will be looking for software developers to write a application to check on the correct use of taximetros. (Sounds like taxistas have invented new tricks to overcharge – and don’t think they only victimize gringos.) The app should track your ride, be able to take a picture of the plates, and send a complaint if needed. Quito already has an app. A rider who was interviewed said that in case of disagreements, the amount shown on the phone (or tablet or watch or whatever) should govern and not the meter amount. (That statement implies that the meter is never going to be less than the app.)

A new Subdireccíon de Delitos Informáticos (Subdepartment of Cybercrime) – has been created with 200 investigators. Common crimes are illegal money transfers, stealing personal data, stealing information, child pornography and sexual harrassment.

Police page –

Two workers – who were injured in the Austro gas explosion were airlifted to Hermann Memorial Hospital in Houston for treatment.

The Bomberos de Cuenca (Firefighters – that’s a good word for the day, coming from bomba which can be a bomb, or a pump which applies to firefighters.) are strategically covering the city to prevent accidents and for security. (Pictures of a truck parked next to a river, an airplane, and an ambulance somewhere in the Cajas.

Intercultural –

An article about the Taita Carnaval that symbolizes abundance and la fiesta. Each community picks a taita who wears a hat with lots of ribbons hanging from it. The taita goes back to prehispanic cultures although now he carries a cross along with the small drum and traditional wind instruments. (There’s obviously a lot more to it and I hope your Google search is more successful than mine.)

Internacional –

US – The NY Times has launched a new project to attract Spanish readers with a site in Spanish. (Not for you? Well, maybe some day.)

Colombia – ELN, a guerrilla group attacked government troops in Arauca leaving 100 families affected. Pres. Santos responded that it would be a mistake for ELN to think that attacks are the way to peace and that the zones now occupied by FARC would not be guarded after the peace agreement.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne