Sábado, 22/12/2018
Hola, Todos –
Actividades –
Pagina cultural –
Artesanías – The show of Nativity Scenes will continue at CIDAP until 6/1/2019.
Bordados – The Embroidery show will continue in La Galería de Oficios in the CCE until 29/12.
Taller – El “AtrapaSueños” is continuously holding theater workshops for children.
Artistist’s conception of new freeway around the city.
Nacimientos – There is a seasonal show of “Nacimientos de la Época Republicana Siglo XIX – XX” consisting of sculptures.
Eucarísta – There will be a mass mañana a las 9:30 in the church in the Monasterio de las Conceptas with special music. The Coro de Villancicos de Voces Blancas and children will sing Christmas carols.
Otras cosas –
Titular – Abundancia de candidatos (Abundance of candidates) – As of the deadline of 18:00 ayer, 47,000 candidates on a national level had registered to run in the elections in marzo. In Cuenca, some did not turn in their paperwork in time. <Pictures of the inscriptions of well-known candidates look like a party. And you know how late Cuencanos show up to parties.> The election, which is for local offices such as mayor and prefect as well as seats in the National Assembly, is seen as a the first test of Pres. Moreno since he took office in 2017. <The 2018 referendum didn’t count?> As of midday yesterday, 35,000 candidates had registered with 17,725 men and 17,040 women. Offices to be filled include 23 prefectos and viceprefectos and 221 mayors.
Gas for taxis – The Federación Nacional de Taxistas with 60,000 members, and the Government signed an agreement yesterday to compensate taxis for the $.37 raise in gas prices. They will get 270 gallons of extra and ecopaís each month at the previous price. Drivers also have the option of pumping 9 gallons/day for 30 working days with the federal subsidy. This replaces a proposal of compensating drivers $50/mo. in cash.
Suppliers and gas stations along with SRI, ANT, The National Hydrocarbons Agency, and the President’s office are working to create a national network of stations and reprogram their prices. Technical studies showed each driver produces and average of $250-$260 per 12-14 hour day. <Now that you’ve done the math are you going to quit tipping cabbies?> Drivers who do better than that are urged to show patriotism and will pay for the additional gas at the current rate. These subsidies are available to only legal taxis and not to informal taxis such as Uber, Cabify, Easy and others. <Now what do the taxi unions have to complain about? Don’t worry – they’ll think of something.>
Paid announcement – A Jimmys Express Courier S.A. truck was assaulted in Guayas on the vía Durán Boliche on martes, 18/12. If you sent anything that day, check at their office on calle Mariano Cjueva 8-70 entre Bolívar y Sucre or call 07 283 9160, 07 283, 7462 or 096 969 8154. <Not that I expect a whole lot of gringos to use a service which probably needs to be conducted in Spanish.>
Circunvalación Norte – This proposal for a northern bypass would generate better connections with the urban areas and rural parishes and take traffic off Av. Las Americas. It has advanced to the study stage. The estimated $500 million project would be 50 km long with elevated overpasses, underpasses and toll booths. Just to acquire land for the right of way would cost $150 million.
Couriers – Ecuadorians are shipping stuff to families overseas. <Hey, it isn’t just gringos who go live overseas.> One fellow was shipping a cuy and 5 lb. of humitas to his kids in the US. <I wonder how fast it gets there and what it looks and smells like when it arrives. Or if there’s refrigerated courier service?>
And that’s all for today so Hasta la Próxima Semana –
Jeanne
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Editor’s note: Jeanne’s Periodico is a translated digest of news from the Cuenca daily newspaper El Mercurio. If details, such as event dates and times, do not appear in the translation, they did not appear in the newspaper. The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.
