2012 Cuenca Perspectives Collage

2012 Cuenca Perspectives Collage
VIVA CUENCA

VIVA CUENCA!

My mission in publishing this blog is first to provide a living history of my settlement and life in Cuenca, and to provide myself and the reader with a journal account delineating my reasons for why I have chosen to settle in Cuenca. Second, the posts are my way of staying in contact with family and friends back in the states, and to provide them with an understanding of a country and culture that most North Americans have little knowledge and awareness. Third, the blog is open to one and all who wish to compare and contrast the experiences of expat bloggers living in Cuenca, so that you can determine whether or not from your perspective Cuenca is an appropriate move for you. Fourth, my blog provides another example of how expats view and interpret life in Cuenca. Ecuadorians and Cuencanos who may read this blog are especially invited to post comments that may enhance all expats understanding and appreciation of Cuneca and its people, or to correct any misinterpretations in my assumptions and perceptions of Cuencano culture. Finally, I hope I can convey the feeling of love and appreciation that grows within me each passing day for this heavenly city nestled in the Andes and its very special people.
Showing posts with label Official Guide to Cuenca Ecuador. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Official Guide to Cuenca Ecuador. Show all posts

Sunday, July 1, 2012

OFFICIAL GUIDE TO CUENCA, ECUADOR

It was recently brought to my attention by a friend, Al Bourassa, a professional photographer, (Shameless advertising for photos we have for sale:http://saccc05.tripod.com/)  that the city of Cuenca issues a monthly calendar of events produced by "Official Guide to Cuenca, Ecuador".  

"Gringo Tree", which emails one to three times a day to those who sign up for its email list, does a fine job of listing events, rentals, items people wish to buy or sell, or people just looking for particular services.  However, social and cultural events are often times not submitted to "Gringo Tree" until days before the event, which means people are not alerted until almost the last minute about such events.  A monthly calendar allows for people to plan their schedules around any particular event that transpires in any given month. The calendar also provides the user with a graphic web page of all events in one month.

The monthly calendar offered by the "Offical Guide To Cuenca, Ecuador" unfortunately is quite sparse in the events listed for the month of July.  Certainly major city-wide and neighborhood social, athletic, and cultural events should be listed.  Workshops and other things of that nature should be listed as the sponsors present them in the prior month to the officials responsible for the publication of the "Official Guide".  Since the calendar is a computerized web page, events can be added as they are submitted, and the viewer can click on a particular event and additional information is provided.  Nevertheless, it is the convenience of early listings at the beginning of each new month that allows the viewer to make ample use of the calendar.

Officials need to work closely with the universities, the Cuenca Orchestra, and other concert venues as examples of events which should be submitted to the Guide Office well in advance, so that the events can be placed on each monthly calendar in a timely manner.  For example, I would think the Cuenca's professional futbal team and those of its two major universities, as well as the venue for the season of the Cuenca Orchestra are set months in advance.  I would suggest that somebody working in this department should have the responsibility to follow-up on procuring the schedules for these type of events from these major venues rather than wait for them to be submitted.  The monthly calendar can be a valuable asset to residents and tourists alike, but only if the events are listed.  

I know from the last two years that this is the month where I believe it is called the Church of St Carmen on the square of the Flower Market, which will be having cultural and religious activities on the square each evening for a week.  Some of these activities involve music, traditional dance, plays, etc.  It would be nice to see what is being offered each evening and approximately the time, so people can plan ahead to whatever nightly program may appeal to them.  Tourists, for example, would only stumbled across nightly activities like these by chance, and I know people living in Cuenca who are unaware that such events are even taking place.

The "Official Guide To Cuenca, Ecuador" does a very good job of offering a number of informational tabs that once again can  prove of interest to both residents and tourists.  Below is a copy of just one example on Geography taken from the "Official Guide".  The Guide includes tabs that provide information about hotels, transportation, Carnival, Handicraft Basin, history, Basic Cultural Heritage, places to visit, other activities from churches to adventure tours, etc.  There is also a tab that deals with services from the consulate, to mail, to hospitals, to laundry, and a great deal more.

If you have not already visited the "Official Guide to Cuenca, Ecuador" site and live in Cuenca, or plan to visit Cuenca, or are seriously thinking of moving to Cuenca; I would encourage you to browse this site.  My congratulations to the officials responsible for putting such an attractive and informative site together.  Make the monthly calendar more useful and complete with events, and the site will be perfecto.
Here is the link to the site


 http://www.cuenca.com.ec/cuencanew/
 

http://www.cuenca.com.ec/cuencanew/calendar 



 

Geography