Road restrictions, Muslims in Cuenca, International theater festival, Nutritious Andean tubor

Lunes, 18/9/2017

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Upcoming and ongoing agenda events –

Taller – the Zoológica Amaru will have a workshop on illustrating Amphibians and Reptiles. <Does it involve holding frogs and snakes? Did that idea throw a scare into some of you?>

Teatro – “Los Durmientes” (The Sleepers) will be performed on 29-30/9 a las 20:00 in the Prohibido Centro Cultural. Cost: $5.00.

Libro – “Rostros Solares” (Solar Faces) by Nelson Serrano will be launched el próximo jueves a las 18:00 in the Auditorio de la Escuela Central.>

Concierto – Jaime Martínez’ band, “Bajo la Lengua (Under the Tongue),” will perform el próximo viernes a las 19:00 in the Rizoma Plataforma Disidente. Cost: $3.00.

Articles about –

XI Escenarios del Mundo – The 11th Stages of the World theater festival opens on miércoles a las 18:00 and runs until Sept. 30 with free performances in 4 spaces – plaza de La Merced, Escalinata, parque de La Madre, y parque Víctor J. Cuesta. For the full schedule, see www.escenariosdelmundo.com

Film – “Si yo muero primero” (If I die first) is a documentary by Ecuadorian Rodolfo Muñoz about Julio Jaramillo, one of the most well known Ecuadorian singers. It will premier el próximo viernes in commercial theaters and national chains including Supercines, Cinemark, Multicines and Ochoymedio.

Paco Godoy – The Ecuadorian pianist will be part of the 12th International Chamber Music season in Colombia.

Otras cosas –

Titular – El Cuenca, codo a codo con el Delfín (Cuenca, elbow to elbow with the Delfín) – Fútbol.

Maca – This nutritious tuber which is native to the Andes in Perú and Bolivia, is being cultivated in Nabón. The farmers will be bringing their harvest to the fair in the plaza 9 de Octubre este jueves. The 25 families cultivating about 10 hectares in Nabón are the first to plant maca in Azuay. The plant is nutritious and said to “aumentar la fertilidad y mejorar el libido” (increase fertility and improve libido). It is also very good for women in menopause. <Am I hearing a stampede to score some maca?>

70 year old Eulogio Uyaguiari in the community of Hermano Miguel, Nabón canton, was the first local farmer to plant maca. In addition to providing food for his family, he sold maca flour. As part of an experiment, he put a small 800 sq. m. plot into maca with encouraging results. The maca is much like a radish that comes in red, yellow and black. Seeds from the same plant will produce different colors.

<No news is good news> – Experts are predicting that there will be no El Niño el próximo “verano” (summer – your word for the day). The likelihood of normal weather, depending on the predicting agency, is 48 or 60%, a La Niña event – 45 or 24%, and an El Niño event – 7 or 16%.

Mining – Arcom (Agencia de Regulación y Control Minero) <If there was anything in that name you couldn’t translate yourself, I’m ashamed of you.> temporarily suspended 47 mining concessions to comply with a 60 day state of emergency in Zaruma and Portovelo. Arcom technicians placed 110 seals prohibiting extractive activies. The 60 day suspension will allow inspectors to identify those responsible for illegal mining under Zaroma. <Sounds like a job that should have danger pay – there’s a history of soil collapses and are these workers going into the tunnels?>

Road restrictions – Hoy y mañana, there will be restricted traffic in the El Tahual sector. The road will be closed from 9-12:00 and again from 14-17:00 to install a “dynamic barrier” to prevent rocks falling on the road.

Muslims in Cuenca – There is a community of Muslims in Cuenca composed mostly of foreigners from Egypt, Algiers, Pakistan and other countries. They feel judged and discriminated against because of the actions of the few who are not practicing what the Koran says, which is a prohibition against violence. The Facebook page “Llamamiento al islam Cuenca Ecuador” has 11,200 followers.

“Jahuay Cañari” -This was a song sung during the grain harvest during colonial periods. Last Saturday, there was a harvest minga in the Quilloac community, 15 min. from Cañar. The harvesters dressed in traditional clothes and were called to work with the blowing of a conch shell. <It’s an interesting article.>

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne