Miércoles, 1/3/2017: ‘Lonesome George’ returns, Museum network, Pawkar Raymi

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Upcoming and ongoing agenda events –

Solitary George –  In consideration of George’s status as the last of his species, Geochelone Elephatopus Abingoni (Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni)  (the parenthesis are the paper’s.  Both of those are Greek to me – or Swahili or Finnish or Tagalog or whatever.), the Ministry of Culture and Heritage declared his embalmed body a National Cultural Heritage.  (Poor George – I wonder what he thought about being the last of his species – was he really lonely?  Or just horny?  Don’t let that testosterone tell you there’s no difference.)

Articles about –

Museum network – The Municipal Department of Education and Culture is proposing to create a network of museums and cultural centers.  Each location would have a specialty such as archeological or archival or sculpture.  The network will start with the municipal museums and galleries – the Economuseo del Sombrero (Rafael María Arízaga y Luis Cordero), Museo de Arte Moderno, the Remigio Crespo and the galería de la Alcaldía and are calling on other public and private museums to join. The goal is to promote tourism and the department is planning a “Ruta de Museos” (Museum Route) including the network members.

CCE – The new Ley de Cultura (Culture Law – can I stop translating this?  You’ve all seen it often enough to remember, plus one of those words is a cognate.) prescribes how each CCE nucleus is formed and run (in greater, stunningly boring detail.  And in order to do all this, CCE probably will have to hire a bureaucratic corps.).

Children’s book – The CCE has published “El duende y la lechuza” (The elf and the owl), a biography of Eugenio Espejo.

Juan Rulfo (1917-1986) – A centenary celebration of the novelist, photographer and editor is planned for 16/5, his birth date. (Seems like the celebration will be in Spain.)

New CD – Lyrical singer Diego Zamora has produced a new CD called “Latinoamérica an mi voz” (Latin America in my voice).

Library of Art – The Biblioteca Nacional de las Artes is under construction in Guayaquil.

Otras cosas – 

Titular – Viajeros retornan luego del feriado (Travelers return after the holiday)

Pawkar Raymi (fiesta del florecimiento (Celebration of flowering)) – This is one of 4 raymis in the year and is the time to start trying and sharing early crops.  From febrero until 21/3 the fertility of the earth is celebrated with rituals thanking Pachamama who is sacred and the giver of life in the Andean cosmovision.

Post-Carnaval – If you overdid it on the food and the sun during Carnaval, use a balanced diet plus moderate exercise to lose the extra pounds.  For the sunburn, drink plenty of water and use appropriate lotions.  (What about the cold you caught from catching water in the rain?)

Garbage – EMAC still doesn’t have a way to collect its fees. Currently, garbage collection shows up on your electric bill (or your landlord’s bill.), but that agreement ends in a couple of weeks.  In 1993, an ordinance was passed that made the Electric Company the entity that collected the garbage fees for EMAC which is a self sustaining municipal business.  To make the garbage company the fee collecting entity would require another ordinance.  (In two weeks?  Seems like someone was hoping that if the issue got ignored it would go away.  Empresa Electrica doesn’t seem to want to continue collecting for EMAC.)

IESS – The Cuenca hospital got a new flow cytometer that can test for diseases such as leukemia, lymphomas, bone marrow cancer and HIV with immediate results.

Earthquake – There was a 3.8 quake in Chimborazo Province yesterday.

Midwives – A group of 26 midwives from Chaucha, Molleturo, Tarqui, El Valle, Cumbe, Baños, Turi, Virgen de Milagro, San Pedro del Cebollar y Yanuncay attended a workshop given by the Ministry of Public Health to learn about risks that can occur in pregnancy.  They were trained to recognize emergencies and who to call when complications occur.  As core members of their communities, they can also alert health centers to anomalies in their patients.  The Ministry of Health has adapted its obstetrical services to the cultural needs of the people in rural zones.

Buenaventura, Colombia – The port on Colombia’s Pacific coast will shorten the time and distance (distance?) between América and Europe with the improvements it made to its facilities and its new “Eurosal” transhipment service.  Giant container ships can come from London or Hamburg and have the cargo reloaded onto smaller ships going to Guayaquil or Paita (Perú).  (All that fine European booze will be getting to you faster.)

Deportes –

American football – There are three teams in Cuenca, two of which, Club Cóndores and Club Troyanos, are getting ready for the Mitad del Mundo National Championships on 1/4.  The tournament lasts until noviembre with the 8 teams in the country.  Los Troyanos practice in the parque Miraflores M-F from 19-21:00 and Sa. & Su. from 9-11:00.  Call 099 231 7617 for more info.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne