Women’s shelter opens; Digital driver’s license offered; Airport escalators are planned; Cuenca Symphony in concert; Paute offers holiday events

Jueves, 5/10/2023

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Sinfónica tiene repertorio para seis conciertos (Symphony has repertoire for six concerts) – The Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuenca (OSC) has prepared 6 concerts to be performed in different venues in the city. The first was Thursday with contemporary jazz musician Samy Thiébault. The 2nd concert is Friday a las 20:00 in the Teatro Sucre in honor of the Congreso Ecuatoriano de Ortopedia y Traumatología. On el 13/10 the OSC will perform in the Teatro Casa de la Cultura with singers Diego Zamora, Mónica Mendieta, y La Toquilla. On el 20/10 a las 20:00, also in the Teatro Casa de la Cultura the concert will be directed by guest conductor Andea Vela. El 27/10, the concert will be in the iglesia de San Roque a las 20:00. The last performances will be el 31/10 and el 1/11 by the Cerati Sinfónico in the Teatro Carlos Cueva Tamariz. These are the only presentations with an admission fee. The others are free.

Because of the high levels of gender and family violence in Azuay Provinces, the first Centro Violeta (and 5th nationally) has opened in Cuenca. It is open 24 hours a day. (El Mercurio)

Proyecciones en biblioteca (Screenings in library) – There was a showing of the movie, “American Mary,” today. El 12 de octubre <a las 19:00?>, the movie will be “Una chica regresa sola en la noche,” in the Biblioteca Daniel Córdova Toral (calles Benigno Malo y Sucre).

U de Cuenca arranca hoy eventos culturales gratuitos (U. de Cuenca kicks off free cultural events today) – The October agenda from the Dirección de Cultura de la Universidad de Cuenca kicked off Thursday and includes talks, concerts, and exhibits. Today’s talk, “Movimiento, Cuerpo y Territorio,” will have a follow up mañana a las 18:00 in the Casa de los Arcos (Paseo Tres de Noviembre). This will be followed by a concert a las 19:00 by the Orquesta Nacional de Jazz de Alemania in the Teatro Carlos Cueva Tamariz. An exhibit called “Una visión de caravaggio” will open el 19/10 a las 19:00 in the Museo Universitario. At the same museum, a series of childrens’ illustrations will run until el 13/11. Lastly, the Compañía de Danza and the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad de Cuenca will present “Pedro y el Lobo” (Peter and the Wolf) el 28/10. <No location or time given.> All activities are free.

Titular –

Un refugio para las mujeres que sufren violencia (A shelter for women suffering from violence) – Because of the high levels of gender and family violence in Azuay, the first Centro Violeta (and 5th nationally) has opened in Cuenca. It is open 24 hours and is the first stop for victims of gender violence with comprehensive attention in 3 areas. Clients will receive a legal, psychological, and social work assessment and will be accompanied during their recovery process. Services include emergency food, hygenic services, and play spaces for children. There is a multidisciplinary staff of psychologists, doctors, and attorneys.

To understand the scale of the situation, in Azuay, Cañar and Morona Santiago, 600 victims of psychological, physical, and social violence are seen each month. This safe space will have National Police officers there 24 hours as security for the women and their families. There are also soundproofed rooms to protect the privacy of the women. <And if this problem is ever solved, those rooms will be rented out to heavy metal bands who have been evicted from their apartments for making too much noise.>  If the victim arrives at the center con agresiones (with aggressions – injuries?), personnel from the Departamento de Violencia Intrafamiliar (DEVIF) of the Policía can file a report for legal proceedings.

What can you do if you’re a victim? You should file a report at the Unidad de Policía Comunitaria (UPC) to start the process at the Juzgado de la Mujer y la Familia (Women’s and Family Court). You should also make a request for injunctive relief, which is equivalent to an injunction and leading to the arrest of the aggressor. When the complaint is made by a family member or acquaintance and states that at that moment a person is a victim of another person, the police are obliged to arrest the aggressor in flagrante delicto.

Cuenca –

Escaleras eléctricas se instalarán en aeropuerto (Escalators to be installed at airport) – <World shaking news! Wow – escalators at the airport.> This is part of the improvements planned for the airport so that it can become an international airport. The project will cost $300,000 and take 6 months, but there is no start date yet. <At this pace, I’m not betting that I’ll live long enough to enjoy an international flight from Cuenca.>

Sucesos –

Los conductores pueden obtener la licencia digital (Drivers can obtain a digital license) – In order to simplify its services to the citizenry and to optimize controls in the streets, the 56 offices of the Agencia Nacional de Tránsito (ANT) have a free process for a digital license. You can apply for a digital license at the time you are about to renew a physical license, or get one for the first time at whichever office you want. The digital license has the same validity and legal standing as a physical license, and has the same security elements which allows it to be validated by transit authorities.

To get a digital license, you have to have your own email account, a mobile device with internet access <And what Ecuadorian doesn’t have that although there might be some gringos who refuse to give pocket or purse space to a smart phone. The same gringos who couldn’t pass a written test in Spanish to save their life?>, and download the “Gob.ec” app. A previous requirement is to register your data at an ANT office in person. Entities that conduct control operations on the streets can verify the legitimacy of the digital license with mobile devices that have image capture and can read the QR code which is visible on the digital license.

ANT has updated the bank of questions to simplify the process with a real life situation based questionaire to reinforce the knowledge of drivers. Given that each type of license has its own special features, the test has deleted or replaced questions reducing the bank of questions you need to study from 600 to 300. <Now is the time to apply for your license and take the test since you never know when ANT might decide increase the bank of questions back to 600. Who knows, you might have to drive a dump truck in an emergency one day and be glad you had dump truck questions in your study materials.> The test consists of 20 questions randomly picked from the bank of 300 questions, and you need to answer 16 correctly to pass. The new test has been given at all ANT offices since julio and drivers need to prepare themselves in the following areas:
Traffic infraction of all types considered in the COIP (Código Orgánico Integral Penal).
Road Safety.
Street, road and highway signage.
Knowledge required for each type of vehicle. (I think, basic mechanics. Like the difference between a spark plug and an oil plug?>
Safe mobility.

Regional –

Paute, opción para el feriado (Paute, an option for the holiday) – Paute is promoting an extensive agenda for the Independence of Guayaquil, 9 de octubre holiday. The program starts viernes a las 18:00 in the av. Luis Enrique Vásquez with a night of lights, camiones y cabezales (trucks and headers) <whatever those are – did I just flunk the basic mechanics part of the driving test?>, as well as an “expo tuning.” Activities for el sábado include a paragliding show in the parque Los Cañaverales a las 10:00 and a agricultural producers fair a las 11:00 in the parque Lineal. There will be a classic car show a las 12:00 on av. Luis Enrique Vásquez; Free Style a las 18:00; and the Bajo Sueños band a las 21:00. On el domingo starting at 10:00, along the riverbanks, there will be a “1/4 de milla” (“1/4 mile”) competition with 4×4’s and a show of paso fino horses. <I hope those 4×4’s don’t wind up falling off the riverbanks and getting stuck in the river. Paso finos aren’t a breed you’d hitch to a vehicle to drag it out of a river.>

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne