Viernes, 29/7/2016: Tranvía work to change bus routes, Photo radar, Food vouchers for quake victims, New OSC conductor

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Friday’s Agenda items –

Nuevo director – The new conductor of the OSC, Michael Meissner who is German-Mexican and resided in Mexico, was presented Fri. morning.

Festival Internacional de Artecalle – Friday’s activities in the International Street Art Festival include “El tesoro del aventurero” (The adventurer’s treasure) at CIDAP, and a jazz concert “Teatro Ritmico” (Rhythmic Theater) in Tarqui and in El Cafecito (sector mercado 9 de Octubre).

Música – The bandoneón concert “Aires de Bandoneón” Fri. night in the teatro Carlos Crespi at the UPS.  Free.Exposición – A photographic exhibit, “Azuay, personajes y naturaleza” (Azuay, peoples and nature) just opened in the Catedral Vieja.  It is organized by the 4th year journalism students at the U. Católica.

Danza – A contemporary dance work, “Hablando contigo” (Talking to you) (How often did you hear “I’m talking to you” as a child.   Maybe you said it yourself to your kids.) produced by the Colectividad en Movimiento was at  the Sala Alfonso Carrasco (Luis Cordero y Pres. Córdova).

Perú – As part of the International Week – Peru, there was a show of Peruvian ballads Fri. in the Mall del Río.

Encuentro – There was a meeting of music and dance with a fair trade fair at 15:30 in the Centro Cultural El Avispero (calle Carlos Rigoberto Vintimilla y Francisco Moscoso).

Articles about –

The legacy of Remigio Crespo Toral – Dignitaries of the U. of Cuenca and the City of Cuenca met last Wed. to honor Remigio Crespo Toral who was President of the U. of Cuenca when it was the U. of Azuay as well as a poet and an historian.  One of the items discussed was that the crown of gold laurel leaves given to the poet in 1917 be given to the Museum named after him.  (The article reads like a street map )  Crespo along with Honorato Vázquez and Carlos Cueva Tamariz were the 3 longest serving U. of Cuenca presidents.   Rafael María Arízaga and Manuel de J. Calle were part of the original ceremony awarding him the crown, and Luis Moreno Mora was a former mayor.)

Circo Social (Social Circus) – Through the Acción Social Municipal (Municipal Social Action), the Circo Social program will continue to work with 150 at risk youth who have experienced abandonment, addictions and other problems using the Cirque del Soliel model.  Mayor Cabrera will ask the Estado (feds) to give the structure built for the Circo Social to be used for the program.  (“As is” or repaired?  Right now the structure is just the structural trusses with the canvas draped around the perimeter. Amazing kids aren’t climbing all over it although I did see a monigote up on one of the beams last New Year.  I guess that’s one of the security guards duties.)

Theater – The Theater Company of the UDA has been invited to perform in Portovelo in El Oro to inaugurate the Mes de las Artes (Month of Arts).  They will perform “Sueño de una noche de carnaval” (Dream of a Carnaval Night), based on A Midsummer´s Night Dream tonight at 19:30 in the Parque Fátima.

Sinfónica – Friday´s symphony program in the Teatro Pumapungo will include works by 3 great Ecuadorian composers.  This is the last concert of the first season of 2016.

Otras cosas – 

Titular – Resistencia a peatonización de zona centro (Resistance to pedestrianization of central zone) – See Friday’s article in CHL for more details.

Tranvía – Work has restarted after 2 years on the platform in the Milchichig sector. (The photo shows nothing but a cut in the slope with some rebar cages lying around. Not a hint of track or anything else.)  Bus numbers 7, 10, 20, 26, & 100 will change their routes as they leave the city towards the northeast.

Fotorradores (photo radars) – The test period for radars installed along the vía Cenca-Azogues-Biblián at Vista Linda, Colegio Graricoa and av. Enrique Arízaga in the San Joaquín sector, will be extended another month until people learn how they work. (It’s simple – you go too fast, the machine clocks you, takes your picture, and you get a ticket or a visit from the police.)  The radars that are already installed catch about 2,000 or 2,500 speeders each month.

Arco de agua (Water arch) – The plane that brought the Independiente del Valle, Copa Libertadores vice champions, was greeted with an arch of water.  (I hope they turned that on after the plane was safely down.  Was the next flight cancelled because of a wet runway?)

Fiscal transparency – The US State Dept listed Ecuador as a country with insufficient fiscal transparency.  The Department reviews 140 countries receiving bilateral assistance from the US. This is the first time Ecuador has been on the list.  The reason is that although the budget is public information, there is incomplete information about the debts of the country including oil for loans exchange agreements.  There is also no basic information available about governmental contracts and licenses for extraction of natural resources.

Earthquake – Earthquake victims in Esmeraldas and Manabí will receive food vouchers of $100 per family until Oct.  There will be 13,500 “bonos” given to rural families from UN emergency funds and other sources.  This complements housing assistance from the MIES (Ministry for Economic and Social Inclusion).

San Francisco Plaza – The presentation of the prototype for the vendors’ booths will be delayed until the middle of August.

Mercado 12 de Abril – The City is in the process of contracting out the remodeling of the market which has a $5 million budget. It also has upcoming projects at La Gloria sports complex, the hospital de la Mujer y El Niño, and construction of a pedestrian walkway over av. De Las Américas at Humbolt.

Bridge collapse – A Bailey bridge over the Río Negro on the vía Sigsig-Chiguinda-Gualaquiza, km 51 in the La Pradera sector of Morona Santiago collapsed last Wed. A “volqueta” (dump truck) was on the bridge when it fell.  There were no injuries and the truck has been removed.  A detour through San José-El Portón-Gualaquiza is being analyzed.

Bicicletas eléctricas – At a plant in Racar, the Grupo Gerardo Ortiz is making electric bicycles.  The city version costs $766 plus IVA and the mountain version is $862 plus IVA.  The battery can be charged on a 110 outlet and will last an average of 1,200 recharges.  Each charge will take 4 hours and get you 100 km of riding at a maximum speed of 30 kph.  (No, I don’t know where you can buy one, but given the manufacturer, my guess is they’ll be at Coral.  Look at your receipt.)

Amenidades –

Movies – as usual, go to www.multicines.com.ec for show times and locations.  The following movies open this week.
2D Cazafantasmas – Esp y Sub.
2D Jason Bourne – Esp y Sub.
The following movies are continuing – all are 2D and in Español.
La vida secreta de tus mascotas
La Era de Hielo
Los IIusionistas 2
La Leyenda de Tarzán
12 horas para sobrevivir

Weekend Agenda –

Karaoke – today in the República Sur (Pres. Córdova 5-55 entre Mariano Cueva y Hermano Miguel) at 21:00.

Paz interior (Inner peace – we could all use more of that) – A 7 hour workshop on the use of “Mandalas de Bienestar” (Mandalas of Wellbeing) will be today and tomorrow (Sat).  More info at Centro Pascana (Escalinatas del Puente Roto) or at 282 4029 or 099 867 8360.   Cost: $30.00.

White Lots – The band will launch its new single “I want” in the Auditorio Más Música Cuenca (Borrero 7-47 y Pres. Córdova) tonight starting at 18:00.  The free event lasts 3 hours.

“Noches Futuristas” (Futurist Nights) – Tonight’s session with musicians from Quito, Cuenca and Cañar will start at 21:00 in the Sonora Club de Cuenca (12 de Abril y San Roque).   Cover: $7 for men and $5 for women.

Sembrando Futuro (Seeding Future) – This practical workshop on making a concentrated organic substrate for growing vertical gardens which occupy less space, take less water and energy, are economic, and don’t need chemicals or much work will be today and tomorrow in the Museo Pumapungo.

And that´s all for today so hasta I finish my other project – maybe August 10 or 11 or 12.

Jeanne