Miércoles, 31/5/2017: State of the city, Opera, Bus fare, Charangos festival

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Upcoming and ongoing agenda events –

Serenata (serenade) – “Serenata a la Virgen” will be performed Thurs. at 19:30 in the Museo de las Conceptas by an instrumental and vocal group from Cañar.

Concierto – “Brundibar,” an opera performed by the Coro Infantil del Conservatorio de Música and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuenca (Children’s Choir of the Conservatory of Music and the Cuenca Symphony Orchestra) will be jueves y viernes at 9:00, 11:00, and 20:00 in the teatro Pumapungo.

Instalación – “Espacio para los Sentidos” (Space for the Senses) is a project that will allow people with visual disabilities to know the Museo de la Catedral Vieja through audio.  The installation will last until 18/6 and will also allow sighted people to know and feel the reality of the blind.  <Might be a good experience for some of you who seem to lack basic empathy for other people.>

Teatro – “Amor de Don Perimplín, con Belisa en el jardín” (Love of Don Perlimplín, with Belisa in the garden) will be performed on sábado, 10/6 at 20:00 in La Guarida centro cultural (Mariscal La Mar y Luis Pauta)  <I don’t translate place names – see how far you get with your taxi driver if you tell him you want to go to The Lair Cultural Center.>   Cost: $5.00.

Articles about –

“Cuenca es Joven” – The scenic arts competition in which 13 schools are presenting theater and dance works opened.  The winners will be announced today.

“Tradiciones Vivas” (Living Traditions) – This performance is the result of ethnographic and cultural research.  The Wayrapamushkas Dance Group, Wayra Express, and Huahua Wayra which counts 40 children from 6 to 11 years old will do traditional dances mañana at 20:00 in the theater of the Casa de la Cultura.  The performance will be preceded by face painting for kids at 19:00.

III Festival de Charangos – The festival will be on 8 & 9/6 in the teatro Carlos Cueva Tamariz.  <No time given so don’t ask.  For those of you who insist, the concert will start between 3 and 4 am.>  The concert will feature Argentinean Jaime Torres, one of Latin America’s most prominent charanguistas.  There will be an orchestra of charangos and the program will include melodies from Bolivia, Ecuador, and Perú as well as ancestral and traditional dance performances, and an exhibit of Andean chord instruments and works of current luthiers in the lobby.

Libro – Mónica Almeida and Ana Karina López have authored “El séptimo Rafael” (The seventh Rafael).  It is about Rafael Correa, aspects of his life, and his presidential term.  <If the sentences from the prologue are an indication, this will not be friendly to the ex-president.>

Otras cosas – 

Titular – Piden amnistía e indulto de más de 150 procesados (Amnesty and pardon for more than 150 defendants asked for) – Conaie (Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenes del Ecuador) and human rights organizations have asked the Asamblea Nacional for amnesty and pardons for 177.  Most of the accusations arose from protests against mining projects. Assembly President, José Serrano, said he would form a team to work on analyzing the detentions case by case.  Many of the cases are of people who had not committed common crimes, but were from humble families and exercising their right to resistence <and clean water>.

Gold – The Fruta del Norte mine in Zamora Chinchipe is going ahead and should be producing by the end of 2019.  Lundin Gold anticipates extracting 300,000 ounces of gold a year for 15 years.

State of the City – Mayor Cabrera presented the “rendicion de cuentas” yesterday.  In 2016, the city invested about $20 million in road work.  EMUVI EP built 98 housing units with a second phase of 116 coming.  EMAC EP rehabilitated 13 parks all over the city.  On the health front, the enlargement of the hospital for La Mujer y el Niño should be done by noviembre, and the Farmasol EP administration building on 10 de Agosto was finished.

Cost of bus service – The study done by the Business arm of the U. of Cuenca does not establish the fare which must be set by ordinance.  It does provide information which will be used to set the fare.  800 students surveyed thousands of riders over a week long period.  <Did any of you get surveyed?  Or did you not know what those young people asking questions were doing and so shined them on?>  The study included the costs of providing bus service including salaries for 2 drivers per bus which would allow for longer hours.  It studied demand, kilometers driven, and attitudes about the quality of service.  It also analyzed the economic situation of its passengers.

San Francisco Plaza relocation – Assembly of the temporary stalls started over the weekend and will run until the middle of junio.  They will be on Padre Aguirre between Juan Jaramillo and Pres. Córdova.  There will be 132 modules including places for the guard, an information booth, and an internet stall.  The vendors who don’t need fixed stalls will be placed in the surrounding streets.  Work on the plaza should start in the 2nd week of junio.  Pres. Córdova will be kept open for as much time as possible.  <Another way of saying be prepared for street closures.>

Tranvía and correction – Expressions of interest are due on 28/5 and the results will be announced on the 3/7 <julio and not junio as I originally misread.>  The CCRC contacted for $72 million and completed about 60% of the work.  The new contractor will have about a $32 million budget.

Braille menu – Restaurant Corvel with branches in Paute and Cuenca, is the first restaurant to print its menu in braille.  <Handy for those of you who forget your reading glasses.  All you have to do is learn how to read braille – in Spanish….Easier to tie the glasses around your neck.>

Misterioso caso (Mysterious case) – Workers at a sandmine in el Tahual were surprised yesterday when they spotted a man in the Paute River using containers as floats.  They tried to give him help by throwing him a rope and a life vest.  He refused with a smile and said he was going to the dam.  The workers were alarmed thinking that the idea was “descabellada” (outlandish – a good word for the day) and called Transit cops stationed at the rockfall, and the fire department.  The last the workers saw of the man was his arm as he was apparently sucked into a whirlpool.

Economic page – 22 cooperatives in Azuay, Cañar, Loja, Morona Santiago and Zomora Chinchipe were liquidated this year.

Deportes –

Bicicrosistas – The president of the Comisión de BMX del Azuay announced that two Azuayans will compete in the Campeonato Panamericano de Bicicross 2017 and the Copa Latinoamericana on 3 & 4/6 in Santiago del Estero, Argentina.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne