No change for Social Security retirement age, Tram tests to begin (again), Paragliding in Paute, 42 die in traffic accidents, Bus route changes

Viernes, 27/12/2019

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
Del cuerpo del periodico –

Destinos para el fin de semana (Weekend Destinations) –
San Fernando – martes, 31/12 – 17:00: show of monigotes and comparsas; 18:00: comparsas parade; 19:00: comparsas and monigotes contests; 21:00: stage show with Los Lideres and dancing; 24:00: fireworks.
Paute – sábado – morning: paragliding flights; afternoon and evening: horse show with Peruvian pacers and arabians, mariachi festival.
Paute – 31/12 – Band contest between 24 de Mayo and the Los del Río orchestra, midnight fireworks.

Otras cosas –

Where can you buy New Year’s Eve dummies?

Titular – Vehículos tranviarios volverán a pruebas (Tram vehicles will return to testing) – See Friday’s CHL article.

Traffic accidents – So far this year, there were 752 traffic accidents in the urban areas of Cuenca leaving 42 dead and 763 injured. <And we haven’t gotten to New Year’s Eve yet.> Causes of the accidents <besides cars, buses, and trucks> were drivers on cell phones, drunk drivers, speeding and zigzagueo (zigzaging – your word for the day, and can you guess what language that came from?) between rows of vehicles. <That sounds like accidents involving motos.> The number of accidents is less than in 2018 when there were 979 with 42 deaths and 763 injuries.

Loans – Ecuador has received only about 70% of the loans it was offered for this year by multinational organizations. The money is expected to come in next year, but the delay has increased the deficit. The article lists who promised what, and who paid how much.

Años Viejos – The theme of the Año Viejo contest this year is the paro (strike, protests) and political clashes in octubre. The El Vergel barrio, last year’s winner, and El Vado are preparing their scenes. The last day to enter the contest was today. The photo of the workshop for El Vergel has heads that are recognizably Cabrera (ex-mayor), Moreno (pres.), Salazar (AG), Nebot (ex-mayor of Guayaquil), and Carrasco (ex prefect of Azuay). <I really shouldn’t have to tell you who those people are if you’re a regular reader of CHL.> El Vado’s exhibit will be about mining and is titled Sigue Cabando tu Tumba (Keep Digging your Grave).

Monigotes – The 16 approved sites where you can buy your monigote (dummy) opened yesterday and they can have hours from 8-23:59. The most requested dummies are from TV such as Dragon Ball, Paw Patrol, and Avengers. Also popular <or not, since the intent is to burn these effigies> are Pres. Moreno; ex-pres Correa; Jorge Glas, ex-VP; Jaime Nebot, ex-mayor of Guayaquil; and Jaime Vargas, pres. of CONAIE. Prices can run from $3 to $50 with an average mask costing $2. <Every year I wonder if those dummies are dressed in clothing sent down by charitable organizations in the US for all the poor, barefooted, threadbare people of Ecuador.>

Project by the blind – La Sociedad de No Videntes del Azuay (Sonva – The Azuayan Society of the Blind) thinks there are about 4,500 blind people in Azuay. They have trouble getting jobs spite of a requirement that 4% of a company’s work force should people with disabilities. Because of the reluctance of companies to hire blind workers, a group of workers has started their own business packing dried fruit. The group has received help from the U. of Cuenca and employees of the Jardín Azuayo cooperative. They have asked the Department of Mecatrónica (mechatronics) to design a scale adapted to their abilities. They found a scale with speakers in Spain but it was very expensive. The group is hoping to get their products into supermarkets early next year. They are also training 3 people for a massage business.

Garbage collection – EMAC announced there will be no garbage collection on 1/1/2020. Instead the crews will be collecting the remains of the burnt años viejos and washing ash off the streets starting at 5 am, and finishing about 4 hours later. Regular service will end on 31/12, 2019 and resume on 2/1/2020. EMAC asks that you remember not to put your garbage out for collection on the 1st.

Bus route changes – On 2/1/2020, the 200 and 22 lines wlll change. The #100 will run on calle Núñez de Bonilla and the #22 on av. Primero de Mayo from the Tres Puentes redondel instead of on Don Bosco.

Retirement – Paúl Granda, pres. of IESS <Remember him? The ex-mayor of Cuenca who started all of this Tranvía business and who appears to have landed on his feet.> said that there are no plans to change the retirement age which is currently 60. He said it would help the IESS system if people chose to retire later – at 62 or 63. <Which is early retirement in the US?> He also debunked the social network rumors that said the new retirement age is going to be 80. <Which leads me to believe that social network information is just as unreliable in Spanish as it is in English.>

And that’s all for today so Hasta la próxima semana.

Jeanne