Miércoles, 11/5/2016: Adopt a family, Expats support U of C orchestra, Latest plans for San Francisco Plaza, Tango recital

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Upcoming events –

DJ show – DJ Fanesca Sound mixes anglo and latino sounds such as Hip-Hop, Reggae, Dance Hall, Disco-Dance, Salsa, Cumbia and more. The show will be Thurs. at 21:00 in the Zoociedad Café (Bajada del Padrón y Benigno Malo. Cost: $1.00. (Can’t complain about the price. Wonder if they make it up with the drinks?)

Tango – “De Gardel a Piazolla,” a recital by Avivate Tango Dúo will be this Fri. at 21:00 in the República Sur (Pres. Córdova 5-55 y Hermano Miguel). Call 098 770 6450 or 2844 634 for reservations. Cost: $5.00.

Probably irrelevant announcement – If you are a primary or secondary school teacher and interested in forming a Consejo de Profesores de la Bienal de Cuenca, go to www.bienaldecuenca.org before 00:00. (Goes without saying that you also speak Spanish pretty fluently.)

Ongoing or finished event –

Clown show – “Brocoli. El mejor mago del mundo” (Broccoli. The best magician in the world) with the Clowndestinos group was Wed. at the centro cultural Imay (Batán y El Oro).

Articles about –

Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad de Cuenca – The university symphony is the laboratory for its students. The symphony is composed of 70% U of Cuenca students, 20% students and professors from other institutions, and 10% local musicians and retired foreigners. If you are interested in joining the symphony, call William Vergara, Conductor, at 099 966 9870 to arrange for an audition and to attend a rehearsal. A student who was interviewed said it would be good if more local people showed up since she sees many more “extranjeros” (foreigners) at performances.

Book launch – “La Canción de Mario Benedetti Musicalizado” by Guillermo Pellegrino and Jorge Basilago will be presented Thurs at 19:00 in the Sala de Conciertos de la CCE. The book is a historic review of the music-literature interaction in the “musical” work of Benedetti. And something about musicalizing his poetry. (Way too confusing for me – a lack of both Spanish and the cultural references. Google says that Benedetti, whose full name was Mario Orlando Hardy Hamlet Brenno Benedetti Farrugia, was an Uruguayan journalist, novelist and poet.)

Recitals – Students at the “José María Rodríguez” Conservatory give public performances to graduate (I think). Guitarist Kimberly Toledo will play on Fri. at 19:00 in the Sala de Conciertos in the CCE.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Reto es mantenerse en la A (Challenge is to maintain the “A”) The U of Cuenca regained its category A rating and according to the rector, Pablo Vanegas, the challenge is to keep it.

Diá de la Solidaridad” – April 16 was declared the Day of Solidarity by the National Assembly to remember the victims of the earthquake and to make society aware of the importance coordinating forces against natural disasters.

Guayaquil – Mayor Jaime Nebot announced the donation from the Fundación Teletón of 50 container houses for quake victims.

Panama Papers – Mossack Fonseca is suing the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (If I’ve got that wrong it’s because I’m translating from Spanish back into English.) for publishing its database. The ICIJ has made some 11.5 million documents available to the public which can look up information on more than 200,000 companies, foundations and individuals who may or may not be complying with the law. Over 140 politicians and high officials, including Pres. Macri of Argentina have been named.

Alcohol sales – Hours for alcohol sales and consumption have been extended. Sundays are no longer dry. (So if you got invited to dinner on Sun. and want to bring a bottle of wine, you don’t have to plan ahead anymore.) See today’s CHL (Wed.) article more details.

Your sliver of life article today – is about chocolate and coffee. MAGAP is proposing to improve the production of ” café y cacao nacional fino de aroma” by providing technical assistance to growers and rehabilitating 590 hectares in Azuay. (I think these are the varieties being made into gourmet chocolates and coffee.)

CRS – José A. is the first prisoner to attain a masters degree while in jail. He received a “maestría en Auditoría Integral” (Masters in Comprehensive Audit – don’t know what the equivalent degree is in English. And I wonder if he was in jail for creative accounting to begin with and decided to make his skills official.)

Adopt a family – A family that left Pedernales after the quake, came to Cuenca hoping to find work and rebuild its life. Damián Cuenca, his wife and 4 children lived on the street and slept in the terminal terrestre for 9 days until Inés Largo offered them help. She is a recycler with 2 children and now is supporting Damián’s family as well. Damián is a bricklayer and looking for work. If you want to help, call Sra. Largo at 093 924 8085.

Other earthquake aid – MIES (Ministerio de Inclusión Económica y Social) of Azuay is still collecting donations.
The Prefectura del Azuay is collecting donations at the Mikuna food bank in Turi.

San Francisco Plaza – Three prototypes for the mobile stalls for SF Plaza have been presented. The Comisión Municipal de Áreas Históricas y Patrimoniales will select one today. This is the last item pending. (What do you want to bet the venders in the plaza won’t like it.)

Pasaje Artesanal – The crafts fair which was held for the first time on 6, 7, & 8/5 was a success and will be continued on a weekly basis starting in June. It will be in the edificio central de la Prefectura (Bolívar y Vargas Machuca) on Fri., & Sat. from 9-19:00 and feature products made in Azuay.

Amenidades –

Clothing designer – Jessie Ochoa, a clothing designer, is opening a new store for her new brand, “Polka Dot,” a line of women’s swimwear and underwear. The opening will be Thu. at 19:30 in calle Baltazar de Calderón 2-80 y Miguel Heredia. She also has a line of exclusive designs called “A la medida” (To measure).

Internacional –

Bolivia – Pres. Morales was exculpated of accusations of influence peddling in the matter of contracts worth millions with the Chinese firm Camce where his ex-girlfriend was a director.

Brazil – The last recourse in the defense of Pres. Rousseff is the appeal of the General Advocate to nullify the process which has suspended Rousseff from office for 180 days and leads to impeachment. His appeal is based on the actions of Eduardo Cunha, an adversary of the president, and President of the Chamber of Deputies. According to the Advocate General, Cunha acted out of revenge and negated the votes that would impede the advancement of the process in the Chamber of Deputies towards impeachment. (So if you don’t like the way someone votes, you just throw the vote out? Modern democracy in action.)

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne