Use your seat belts or get fined, Haunted Inca cave, Cattle rustlers, 5k and 10k races, El Valle protest

Lunes, 19/2/2018

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Upcoming agenda event –

Conversatorio – There will be a conversation on the life and work of the Cuecano saint, Hermano Miguel el próximo miércoles a las 19:00 in the Museo de las Conceptas. Free.

Articles about –

Juan Cordero – The city’s “cronista vitalicio” (life chronicler/historian) will launch volumes 7, 8, & 9 of the Historia de Cuenca y su Región (History of Cuenca and its Region) mañana a las 18:30 en el teatro Sucre. He started in 2006 as part of his doctoral thesis and in 2007, published Vol. 3 on the Cañari/Spanish foundation of the city. Vol. 7, 8, & 9 cover the period from 1822 hasta 1957, starting with the epoch of Gran Colombia. <If you don’t know what Gran Colombia was, or can’t figure out what Vol. 1 & 2 and 4, 5, and 6 cover, you’re probably not ready to take the citizenship test.>

Asociación de Gráficos (Association of Graphics/Printers) – The Printers’ Association is 38 years old. The first printing press was installed in Ecuador in 1750 in Ambato by the Jesuits. After that, all cities wanted a press and in Cuenca, Fausto Socupe got one in 1810 to print church stationery.

Concierto – Guitarist Darío Torres will perform el próximo jueves, 22/2 a las 19:30 in the Centro Ecuatoriano Norteamericano Abraham Lincoln (Borrero y Honorato Vázquez in the La Merced Plaza sector).

Otras cosas –

Titular – El Cuenca remonta y gana a Liga de Quito (Comeback for Cuenca and a win over Liga de Quito) – <Sports – less work for me.>

“Movilízate” – A total of 38,760 transit cards have been issued in the city, and in a month and half, you won’t be able to pay bus fares in cash. <Do you think maybe this widespread use of cards by a less affluent segment of the city will move other types of transactions away from cash?> The goal is to have 200,000 cards issued by the time the system goes cashless on 1/4. So far they have issued 15,521 regular fare cards; 5,948 preferential cards; 7,617 student cards, and 426 tourist cards.

Galápagos – The islands celebrated the 45th anniversary of their becoming a province on 18/2/1973 with a parade.

Refugees – Delegates from Latin America and the Caribbean are meeting in Brazil to share experiences about refugees, mostly with regard to Central American and Colombia, but now including Venezuela. This will be part of a process to create a Global Pact on Refugees at the UN. The 36 participating countries hope that best practices developed in Latin America and the Caribbean will be part of the program for action in the Global Pact.

Seatbelt use – Drivers who don’t use their seatbelts can be fined $19.30 and lose 1.5 points off their license. The penalties for a passenger without a seatbelt will be applied to the driver. <Could get expensive if you’ve got 4 or 5 other people in your car. And do taxi drivers have a special dispensation to not provide seatbelts for their passengers?>

El Valle protest – The communities, neighborhoods and organizations in the parish have taken a unified stance against plans by the Prefectura to pay for the maintenance of recently improved roads with tolls. The parish says the plan was inadequately publicized. The plan calls for toll booths at the entrance to Chilcapamba with tolls of 50¢, 80¢ and $3.00 depending on the size of the vehicle. There would be discounts for seniors and disabled and those who use the road more than 5 times. <Like a frequent customer discount? Pay 5 tolls and get 6?>

Rustlers – Cattler Rustlers pulled apart a stone wall to a corral, bypassing the security on the gate, and stole two bulls early yesterday morning in Balzay Bajo. <Interesting juxtaposition here – a fairly cosmopolitan city with rural problems. Lattes on one hand and cattle rustling on the other – all within the city line.>

Business page – The article is about the labor rights of foreign migrant workers.

Paredones – There are archeological ruins in Molleturo Parish that are being slowly destroyed. Walls from an Incan city are still standing and part of the Qápac Ñan that runs through the ruins of Paredones is still distinct as are the meter wide drainage ditches to the sides of the 5 or 6 meter wide “Camino del Inca” (Inca Highway).

One resident told a story from when he was a child and 5 foreign investigators went to explore an enchanted site of the Incas. One went in the access hole and came back out after a few days, “casi moribundo” (almost dying). The foreigner reported that there was an opening inside the cave that went into an underground world where he saw a large market full of people and agricultural products ready for consumption. But he said whoever went into the world could not come back out. <Ecuadorian version of Brigadoon and Shangri-La? Is there a similar legend in African folklore?>

Sports –

Ad for Warmi Runner 5K – This is the last week to register for the race which will be el domingo, 4/3 a las 9:00 in the Parque de la Madre to celebrate Mothers Day. Register at Mi Boletería in the Mall del Río and Fybeca on Bolívar. Cost: $12.00. <I think this is a women only race.>

Circuito Pedestre – San Blas 10K – 25/2 a la 8:30 – register in CAS-San Blas (Portal Artesanal), CACPE Gualaquiza (Manuel Vega y San Blas), Subateria (Rocafuerte 2-17), Referee 1 (av de Las Americas 55-99), and Referee 2 (Remigio Tamariz Crespo 4-68).

Descuentos y compras –

Cuencauto – Chery Q from $12,990 – www.cheryinternational.com, www.cinascar.com.ec

Nissan – new Qashqai <That sounds Kichwa> – extended hours: 22& 23/1 until 21:00 and sábado, 24/2 hasta las 18:00.

Renault – up to $500 bonus, first payment in April, accessories.

Sana Sana pharmacy – up to 40% off on medicines for hypertension, migraine, gastritis, osteoporosis, cholesterol, diabetes, insomnia, flu and more; 20 & 30% off other products.

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne