Miércoles, 21/6/2017: Solstice celebration, Odebrecht corruption case, Imports increase 70%, Hernán Illescas exhibit, Bus cards

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Today’s agenda events –

Premier – “Ciudad Esmog” (Smog City) premiers tonight at 20:30 in the teatro Pumapungo. Cost: $8.00.

Upcoming and ongoing agenda events –

Exposición – An exhibit of work by Hernán Illescas will open tomorrow at 19:00 in the Casa de la Provincia (Tomás Ordóñez y Simón Bolívar – sector San Blas).

Teatro – “Tres porciones de cumpleaños” (3 helpings of birthday) will be presented from mañana to sábado in the sala “Alfonso Carrasco Vintimilla” in the CCE. The story is about 3 guests at a birthday party who are waiting for the birthday boy. <At my age, I don’t need any more helpings of birthdays.>

Articles about –

VI Festival La Orquídea – the 7th Orchid Film Festival kicked off Tues. with a call for submissions in several categories. The festival itself will be from 24/11 to 1/12/2017. The films will be in 3 sections: Competitive, Non-competitive and Documentary. This year a new section on Climate Change and Water will be introduced.

Documentary – There will be a documentary on Ecuadorian literature mañana at 19:00 in the Sala Comunitaria at the Museo de Pumapungo.

Childrens’ stories – “Llovía y llovía” (It rained and rained) <Just like last week, yesterday and right now.> by Susana Moreno Ortiz will be presented today at 19:00 in the Museo de la Ciudad. Copies of the book with 5 short stories were given to kids who visited the Museo Remigio Crespo last week.

Ancestral celebration of the Solstice – The Summer Solstice is being celebrated in Chobshi in Sígsig canton with the lighting of a fire for the Pachamanka at 10:00. This is a ritual of cooking under the earth in which hot rocks are placed in a hole with cooking pots on top. The pots are covered with dirt and the heat cooks the food like a natural pressure cooker. Each item put into the pot is accompanied by a wish. At noon, there was a ceremony to receive the rays of the sun without shadows. <Wonder how the ceremony works on a day like today?> At 17:00, the taitas and mamás hold a ritual of farewell to the sun, and at night there will be a temazcal which unites the elements of fire, air, water, and earth.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Renuncia Pólit y entra en reserva una investigación (Pólit resigns and reserves an investigation <I think reserve is used in the sense of scheduling>) – The Comptroller General who went to the US a few days before a raid on his house, sent a his resignation to the National Assembly from the US. 6 people, including an uncle of VP Glas, are being investigated for the crime of unlawful association in the Odebrecht corruption case. <Think Pólit’s coming back to Ecuador any time soon?>

End of school year – Kids are going through the end of term tests with the academic year ending on 5/7.

Parque Miraflores – A restoration project for the park has been approved and will include new bicycle and walking paths, a multi-use building with a cafeteria, administration offices, and gym.

Cajas – ETAPA announced that the entrance and exit of the Parque Nacional Cajas is being patrolled to avoid the transportation of dangerous materials that could put Cuenca’s water sources at risk. Heavy vehicle traffic through the park has increased due to slides on the road that unites Alausí canton with Cañar Province.

Bus fares – The Cámara de Transporte de Cuenca (CTC -Cuenca Chamber of Transport), has two companies interested in providing the electronic payment cards, equipment and software for bus fares and the Tranvía should that system be integrated into the transport system. By the end of the year, only electronic cards will be accepted for bus fare. Preliminary quotes have the cards priced at $2.20, although this is not final. The cards for priority groups, those receiving the 50% discount, will be subsidized. It is estimated that 80,000 to 10,000 <maybe there’s a missing 0?> riders receive discounts.

OLX – This world wide digital market for used things is in Ecuador. There are 3 million users with 11,000 transactions per month. Rafael Portilla, the general manager, said that in Ecuador, 505,000 tons of CO2 are saved by not throwing out the goods listed on the site. <This might be where you want to look for apartments that aren’t gringo priced.>

Imports – Between 1-14/6/2017, imports grew by $120 million or 72% compared to the same period last year. A foreign trade specialist said this reflects bottled up demand that was released with the ending of import duties. But he warned that there are risks. If imports are of machinery and primary materials serving national manufacturing that’s one thing. If all the imports are of finished goods, that will hurt local manufacturing and cause dollars to leave the country.

Amenidades –

Alberto Plaza – The Chilean singer will perform on 8/7 at 21:30 in the Parque Central in Nabón to celebrate 30 years of cantonization. The festivities will be from 7-9/7.

Internacional –

Bolivia – A forum held in Tiquipaya, Bolivia named Donald Trump the biggest enemy of migrant rights in the world.

Discuentos y compras –

Cuencauto – Chery Tiggo 3 – $19,990, 5 yr. or 100,000 km guarantee – av. España 8-31 y Barcelona – (07) 280-3861 & 286-3035. <Car ads for Fathers Day>

Almacenes España – 45% off on Black España, no import duties and the store will pay half the IVA – 22/6 from 9-21:00 – major appliances, furniture and motos.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne