Miércoles, 30/3/2016: Landslides restricting highway traffic, Cuenca’s low murder rate, Volcano drill, Road workers dig up bones

Hola, Todos – 

I just recently realized that my newspaper is delivered around midnight or 1AM so I am going to see if I can translate it early in the morning (la madrugada – your word for the day) so CuencaHighLIfe readers can get the translation on the same day as I get the paper.  I’m not promising that I can keep this up since this will mean staying up to 3AM.  I will start this experiment tomorrow morning and see how it goes.

Pagina cultural – 

Bienal de Cuenca – is organizing activities for April including opening the Patio Alvarado on 9/4 and presenting the book by artist Eduardo Solá Franco.

Articles about –

Road workers – (I almost said street workers which could be misinterpreted as people who work the streets at night) in Chile ran into bones from cultures who lived in that area about 1,700 years ago.  This historic find is allowing archeologists to expand their knowledge of the lives of pre-Columbian Molle, Ámimas and Diaguitas peoples.  Before this find, knowledge of the Diaguitas people was mostly through their ceramics.

Learning English – (Are you thinking that this item is a waste of your time since you already know English?  Well, it’s on the culture page and past feedback has told me people want translations of everything on the page, so be careful what you ask for.) The program “English Exams with Nikki” launched Wed. at 19:00 at República Sur. Alex Quijada will also present his show “La vieja escuela” (The old school) which is a sad story, presented comically, about traditional teaching methods.

CCE – is calling for its members, collectives, and independent cultural managers in the province to attend a meeting tomorrow at 10:00 in the Sala de Sesiones (Luis Cordero y Pres. Córdova) to see how they can involve themselves in the activities that CCE is developing.  On Sat. at 10:00 is another event called “La Casa Territorio de las Artes” will be in the Vestibule of the Teatro Casa de la Cultura.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Frenazo de la Tricolor (frenazo – from frenar – to brake. It’s basically the slamming on of brakes.  So – the sudden stop to the Tricolor) Ecuador lost to Colombia yesterday 3-1.  It shares the same win-loss-tie record with Uruguay, but is behind on points.

The Superintendencia de Control de Poder de Mercado (Superintendence of Control of Market Power) – is defending its rental of the house that belonged to artist Oswaldo Guayasamín for $20,000 per month.  The Superintendent says it’s in a convenient location, there’s space for their 139 workers, and they can’t find anything suitable for less.  (It’s either a very, very big house or the workers have to climb over each other to get to their desks.)

The president  – of the national assembly, Gabriel Rivadeneira, is in Moscow to meet with the president of the upper chamber of the Russian legislature to talk about a bi-lateral trade agreement, Ecuadorian exports, and strengthening commercial and strategig alliance.  (Is this as a counterweight to the TTP? I don’t think either country will be part of the TTP if it goes thru.)

Volcano drill – Wed. in Latacunga.  Sirens will sound with the message “Attention, attention. This is a drill.  Please evacuate and go to the meeting point.”  Schools and other public and private institutions will participate.  (Who knows what the average José is going to do.  Probably keep milking his cows and hope the sirens don’t scare the cows and sour the milk.)

Paving stones – in San Francisco Plaza in Quito have been numbered ahead of construction of an underground metro stop. The 107,695 stones will be removed and replaced at their original locations to maintain the historic value of the plaza.

Violent deaths – there were 27 in Azuay in 2015, and 5 to date for 2016, including the two shooting victims on Sunday.  Since 2013, Cuenca has had one of the lowest homicide rates in the country at .36 per 100,000 residents for the first 3 months of 2016.  (I think I got something wrong there – the numbers don’t make sense.)  A police spokesman said there was a slight increase in house robberies this year. Plans to increase security include community assemblies and neighborhood brigades to increase direct contact between communities and the National Police. There is also a “security button” project in effect where pressing the number 5 on your cell will connect you with the local police unit.  (I think you have to go sign up for that.)

Guardía Cuidadana (Municipal Police) – 20 members of the department have finished 100 hours of training for certificates as “Expertos en Seguridad Ciudadana” (Public Safety Experts).

Street Workout – will have its first tournament this Sat from 13–19:00 in parque De La Madre.  The sport is also known as “calistenia” (calisthenics) and the picture shows kids doing supporting themselves horizontally from a pole.  (Not something a typical over 60 body is capable of.)

Street closures – starting today, for Tranvía work, Gran Colombia and Mariscal La Mar will be closed from Padre Aguirre to Tarqui. Work on La Mar will be from Luis Cordero to Hermano Miguel. (Sounds like going north-south will be a nightmare.  So what intersections will be open?  Better scout out some good parking lots.)

Road restrictions – The vía Zamora-Loja will only be open during the daytime due to constant slides in the San Francisco sector. At one spot, 200 meters up the mountain from the road, you can see a deep 2 m. wide crack that urgently needs stabilization. (Are you scared yet?)  The province provided a retroexcavadora y cargadora (backhoe and loader which seem undersized and redundant.  Have you seen one of those slides?  Some are huge and a backhoe wouldn’t put a dent it.  I bet the province sent a big excavator – on tracks.)

Banco Internacional – has moved from Gran Colombia to Remigio Crespo 1-82 y Remigio Romero.

Intercultural –

Cañari legends teach asking permission from nature when you remove something from nature.   If you take without permission, you’ll feel sick and can only be cured by a yáchac who knows how to heal these ailments.  (If this applied worldwide, there wouldn’t be a single member of any Big Oil Board of Directors who wasn’t on life support.)

Internacional – 

Brazil – the Partido Movimiento Democrático Brasileño (PMDP), the largest political force in the country,  broke with Pres. Dilma Rousseff and declared themselves “independiente,” (I won`t insult your intelligence by translating that) including with respect to possible impeachment proceedings.
Argentina – labor protests in different cities against the layoffs in the public sector, income taxes, and the absence of a minimum wage.  The protests coincide with a 48 hour strike by public employees.

Discuentos y compras –

CNT/Ultra Internet – I left off the contact info the other day so here it is. By cell-phone: 611 or at www.ULTRAINTERNETCUENCA.com.  (Needless to say, it will be in Spanish so it yours isn’t up to it, get your facilitator to sign you up.  Or try do it yourself and call it a learning experience and a challenge. Too many of us don’t challenge ourselves enough.)

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne