Moreno orders more austerity, Building starts drop, Small quake near Cuenca, Enlarged symphony begins new season, Vestment exhibit, Pope in Colombia

Jueves, 7/9/2017

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Upcoming and ongoing agenda events –

“Plush” – Performance #200 will be Saturday, 15/9 a las 10:00 in the teatro Casa de la Cultura.

“Festival Internacional de Artes Callejeras: Arte Calle 2017 – The organizers of this street art festival will present the program for the festival which will be from 10-16/9. The festival will include groups from Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, y Argentina performing theater, puppets, music and urban art.

Articles about –

Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuenca (OSC) – The second season of 2017 for the symphony has a special component. The symphony will increase to 45 members. It is planning 28 concerts “hasta deciembre próximo – un récord.” (until this coming Dec. – a record <although just about all of that is either words you’re supposed to remember or cognates. So shame on you if you couldn’t translate that on your own.> El viernes, a las 20:00, the OSC along with the Orquesta Sinfónica de la U. de Cuenca will perform its 58th concert in the teatro Carlos Cueva Tamariz. The program will include the Ecuadorian premier of Mahler’s 9th symphony.

Casullas (chasubles) – “Vestimentas Sagradas” (Sacred Vestments) will include a collection of these garments, other religious stuff, and textiles. The exhibit will be in the Catedral Vieja until 20/12. Chasubles were the top layer of clothing a priest wore to celebrate mass and are not much used these days. <The rest of this is for you trivia buffs.> They are also worn in the Anglican “High church,” and by Scandinavian Lutherans. The collection has chasubles going back 100 years. The color of the garment indicates when it should be used – white for Christmas, Epiphany and Resurrecction; purple for Lent and Advent; red for Pentecost, Palm Sunday and Good Friday; and green for other days. Often highly decorated, the embroidery was done by the cloistered nuns of the Madres Oblatas and Carmen del Asunción.

Exhibit – “El legado de la Familia Machado” (The legacy of the Machado Family) opened Thurs. in the Galería de Oficios de la CCE. The exhibit includes the metal work of 3 generations. The family started with jewelry and has added other things.

Youth workshops – There will be 10 recreational art workshops in rural parishes in the next 4 months. They are directed at youth from 16-24 years old. <Is there anyone out there who would want the schedule? If not, I’m not going to waste time and energy retyping schedules for things like this.>

Otras cosas –

Titular – Papa trae mensaje de paz (Pope brings message of peace)

Executive decree – Yesterday, Pres. Moreno issued a decree to strengthen austerity and optimize public expenditures. The decree also eliminated vacancies in all State Institutions <does that mean if a job is unfilled, it will remain unfilled?>, set a maximum of 30 hours per month of authorized overtime for public servants, and something about travel expenses. Employees with income over grade 2 started receiving 10% less as of 1/9. Some sort of military efficiency bonus was suspended, cars were sold and car purchases is frozen.

Extradition – Jorge Blum, a judge on the National Court of Justice asked that Pedro Delgado, ex president of the Banco Central and cousin of ex-president Correa, be extradited from the US where he has been living since 2012. In 2015, he was sentenced to 8 years for embezzlement. The judge also issued an indictment against Delgado, ratified an order of imprisonment against him, and ordered the retention of his accounts.

Foreign trade – The Foreign Trade Minister is on a country hopping trip to China, US, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway to attract foreign investments and build commercial relationships.

Vía Cuenca-Azogues – The contractor Hidalgo&Hidalgo has asked for a 3 month extension from 22/10 to the end of diciembre. The reason for the extension was an increase in the number of pedestrian overpasses and the addition of a vehicular overpass.

Natural products – ARCSA (Agencia Nacional de Regulación, Control, y Vigilancia Sanitaria – National Agency of Regulation, Control, and Sanitary Surveillance) is reminding people that natural products that have been processed for medicinal use can only be sold in locations authorized by ARCSA. The products should have a sanitary permit. For more info go to www.controlsanitario.gob.ec.

Earthquake – The National Geographic Institute (IGN) reported a 3.7 magnitude earthquake that struck about 7:00 yesterday, 36.25 km. away from Cuenca in Azuay, with a depth of 10.00 km. <Anyone feel it?>

Your “what in the world were they thinking?” article – 3 people are accused of stealing money from one of the exhibit pits in calle Santa Ana. Two guardias ciudadanos were patrolling on Padre Aguirre when they noticed 3 people removing the glass cover from the “Pozo de los Deseos” (Wishing Well). The guardias found change that appeared to be from the well in the miscreants’ pockets. The penal code allows for a sentence of 1-3 years for damaging national heritage sites.

Fall in construction projects – Official statistics for construction projects both small (under 50 sq. m.) and large (over 50 sq. m.), showed both decreasing from 2014-2017. Small projects decreased 36.82% in the last 3 yrs. and 8 mos., at an accelerating rate. The number of large projects has fallen by 46.68%.

Internacional –

Pope’s visit – The Pope was welcomed by Pres. Juan Manuel Santos on Tues. at the Catam military airport in Bogotá. People came from all over Latin America to see him.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne