Miércoles, 24/8/2016: Strong seasonal winds will continue, Don’t walk on the train tracks, Opera, Legacy of Juan Bautista Stiehle

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Wednesday’s and past agenda events –

Cine – “Rabia” screened Wed.in the Teatro Casa de la Cultura as part of the retrospective to Sebastián Cordero.  The film is about a pair of Ecuadorians in Spain, one of whom becomes involved in an accidental death.

Teatro – Actor Pancho Aguirre presents “El loco” Wed. in the teatro de bolsillo del Sono (Borrero 6-83 y Pres. Córdova).

UDA , en Manabí – the play “Sueño de una Noche de Carnaval,” based on Shakespeare´s Midsummer Night’s Dream, was staged by the U. of Azuay (UDA) last Sat. in a refuge for earthquake victims in Canoa, Manabí.

Articles about –

Legacy – The legacy of Juan Bautista Stiehle, the German priest who designed the Catedral Nueva, will be remembered in a space that will be in the Mjuseo de la Cuidad (ex Escuela Central).

Ópera en Cuenca – Pepe Luna, coauthor of “Pasión, a Dolores,” an opera about the poet Dolores Veintimilla de Galindo (1829-1857) is seeking to stage the work on the 16-18/11.  He is seeking $70,000 to finance the project which will involve the OSC, the CCE and the Funcación Uchupamba.  In parallel, he has called for singers who are interested in participating.  The poet was in advance of the society that surrounded her. Hounded by social pressure and criticism of her intellect and for not meeting expectations for women of her time, she committed suicide.  (Sounds like she was born about 100-150 years too early.)

Conocimientos ancestrales – A conference “Soberanía Alimentaria y Producción Sustenable” (Food Sovereignty and Sustainable Production) was held last Mon. on the themes of care of agricultural production and recovering ancestral knowledge and identity in agricultural practices and daily life. Examples  of ancestral practices included cultivation in terraces with their drainage systems that avoided erosion, pest control using vegetation rather than “agrotóxicos” (pesticides – your word for the day – sounds like integrated pest management, a concept I grew up with), and cultivation of traditional crops such as la quinua, la maca and el amaranto.  It also warned against exporting good food and importing foods containing GMO’s which can alter the ecological balance and come with restrictions where farmers can not use the seed for next year’s crops. (Seems like someone’s wise to Monsanto’s schemes to control the world food supply.)

Otras cosas – 

Titular – Se ofrecen hacer estudios mineros (Offer to do mining studies) – the Consejo Universitario de la U. de Cuenca (Regents (?) of the U. of Cuenca) made an offer to the City to perform hydro-geological studies of the Río Blanco and Loma Larga (Quimsacocha) mining projects for $1,612,931.25 with results due in 18 months.  The two institutions had signed a previous agreement in April.  The current offer was made after the government authorized the Río Blanco mine, but some city council members and other Cuencano organizations opposed to the mine have doubts, especially over the existence of aquifers.

Bridges – 3 bridges along the vía rápida Cuenca-Azogues-Biblián are almost finished. Two are over the Río Cuenca in the El Descanso sector and one is over the Río Deleg.

Bomberos – After more than a year, the Ministry of Public Health hasn’t paid the “bomberos” (fire department) over $25,000 for pre-hospital services which include the roll out of the ambulance, transporting the patient, and supplies used to treat the patient. The MSP said those costs were part of the the normal duties of the department.  (It’s actually more complicated, but too hard for me to figure out.)

Airport transfers – There was a meeting yesterday to evaluate the contingency plan for the closure of the Mariscal La Mar Airport. (Any user would tell you the plan sucks big time.)  The Director of ATRAIN which offers transport between the Cuenca airport and the cities (mark that – cities, not airports) of Guayaquil and Quito said it will open a ticket sales office in those cities.  (He did not say that the ticket booths would be at the airport so be warned.  To me, the contingency plan will still suck if the ticket booths won’t be in the airport.)

Public information – The Proyecto Tranvía has reminded people to not walk on the Tranvía platforms in El Centro which are delineated with yellow lines and that cars not drive or park on the platform which can damage the work.  (It would be a shame if someone’s container delivery truck parked on and squashed something vital in the Tranvía and delayed opening even further.)

Feria escolar – There will be a back to school fair from Fri to Mon of this week in and around Parque Calderón from 10-20:00 with school supplies, uniforms, backpacks and more.  Local merchants will participate.

Forecast – El Instituto Nacional de Meteorología y Hidrología (INAMHI – sounds like a new flu variety) predicts strong winds will continue to Sept.  What is considered normal in Ecuador is 10 knots or 10 km/hour.  Currently winds have reached 50-60 knots which affected Loja where a TAME EP (remember that airline?) couldn’t land. (Probably a good thing considering what happened when a TAME jet tried to land in Cuenca in less than ideal conditions.)  In Quito, strong winds have blown down walls and blown away roofs.

Internacional –

Colombia – The government and FARC have concluded the peace process to put an end to more than 50 years of armed conflict.  The official announcement will be made tomorrow in La Habana, Cuba.

Brazil – The President of the Supreme Court denied an appeal from the defense for the suspended President, Dilma Rousseff yesterday to void one of the phases of the impeachment proceedings.  (Too much complicated legal stuff for me to understand.) Authorities have erected a kilometro of barrier in front of the Senate where the final vote will be held on Thu.  (The picture shows an 8′ plywood barrier braced with diagonals that look smaller than a 2×2, and incapable of withstanding a mass of people or one NFL lineman.)

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne