New amusement park in Cayambe, Billion dollar problem with projects, Pase del Niño Viajero

Miércoles, 25/10/2017

Hola, Todos –

Apologies for missing yesterday – computer stuff. The magic ceased to work last night and I had to call a genie to fix it.

Pagina cultural –

Today’s agenda events –

CCE – There was an informational meeting Wed. about the actions CCE will be taking on behalf of collectives, cultural managers and the citizenry with respecto to Azuayan culture. <I bet that audience was even smaller than the Donald’s inaugural audience.>

Upcoming and ongoing agenda events –

Concierto – “Reencuentro” (Reunion), by the Chilean group Altiplano, will be Thursday a las 20:00 in the treatro Carlos Cuevo Tamariz. Cost: $10.00. <Their performances are worth a Google.>

Call – the Municipal Department of Culture is calling for designers, artists and creators to participate in the first Diseño y Artes del Museo Fair on 2/11. The fair wants to show art, live painting, and concerts of various genres of music. Register at cuenca.ciudad-piloto@gmail.com. <There might not be a dash between ciudad and piloto because there was a line break which would also need a dash.>

Articles about –

Exhibit – A show of 40 paintings and drawings by Bayron Morejón Almeida and María Aulalia Corral Vega opened Wed. in the Galería de la Alcaldía. <The photo shows a painting that looks Georgia O’Keefe’ish flanked by a very studied couple. His pants have a very classic break and it looks like Italian tailoring.>

TitiriCuenca – “Mírame un ratito” (Look at me for a little while) <Who says it takes a lot longer to say things in Spanish?> was performed by Betsy Burgos Wed. in the teatro Pumapungo.

Teatro – “La Inmortal” (The Immortal) starring Pilar Tordera will play from hoy hasta el viernes a las 20:00 in the teatro Casa de la Cultura.

Chorus – There was a choral performance Wed. in the Museo del Monasterio de las Conceptas by the Chorus of the Private Technical University of Loja.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Medios públicos en quiebra; millones perdidos en obras (Public means in bankruptcy; millions lost in projects) The article is about the losses in government owned media. See Wed.CHL article for more information.

Government contracts – The administration revealed that it will need $956 million to “recomponer” (recompose) <like putting Humpty back together again> 640 projects contracted for during the Correa administration that are having problems. 65% have contractual difficulties, 4% technical faults, and 15% don’t have “contratos complementarios” <seems to be contracts for changes to the original scope of work> and there are payments outstanding. The government has paid $3.975 billion on contracts signed for $2.138, an 85% overrun. Most were awarded by Secob (Public Works Contracting Service), and fewer by the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Housing, and Yachay. <Now you’re all going to start drawing your own conclusions based on an amateur summary of a newspaper article.>

ETAPA – The Comptroller’s office issued a draft report saying it had found no influence trafficking in the contract for the Enlargement of the Tixán Water Treatment Plant. ETAPA is waiting for the final report to decide what legal action it might take against their accusors since it feels its good name has been impugned. <Time to get out the dueling swords.>

Child abuse interviews – A protocol for interviewing child and adolescent victims of sexual abuse is being prepared. The protocol is “escucha especializada” (specialized listening) in which the child is interviewed only once, by a specialist in a setting where the child is comfortable. Because repeat interviews by different entities are damaging to the child, one interview also insures the quality of the testimony.

Amusement parks – The Multiferia Comercial en el Cuartel Cayambe opened Wed. Parque Discovery is being installed at the Complejo Deportivo de Totoracocha. One of the operators said that Cuenca is the hardest city to get a permit in. <And this is for you civics junkies and trivia hounds.> The process includes presenting a Contingency Plan; getting reports from the Fire Department and the Azuay Association of Civil Engineers to guarantee the rides’ safety; getting a permit from the Police; and informing EMOV for traffic control.

Pase del Niño Viajero – The run up to the 24/12 parade included a blessing of the chicha and bread in the Carmen de Asunción church. 600 breads were baked and picking up the bread and chicha is an invitation to participate in the parade. <You’d have to store the bread carefully so no one makes a sandwich out of it.> The Pulla-Álvarez family has prepared the chicha for 5 generations, refusing to prepare it for any other event.

Pagina Intercultural – The article was about the ancestral medicinal knowledge held by the taitas. Tobías Falcón, a Cañari, and Rosa Cabrera, a Quitu-Cara, were interviewed.

Amenidades –

Concierto – The III “El Descanco” Festival will be on 4/11 a las 11:00 at the Cabello Campana with local, national and international bands and artists. Cost: $35.00 general, $45.00 VIP, including an after-party.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne