JJortlanh (Dbseruer
September 20. 2006
PageA7
O bservador
el
Ancient Mayans Explored in ‘Road to Xibalba’
Miracle Theatre Group production
G rad u ates o f Plum a N ueva,
the M iracle T h eatre G ro u p 's
bilin g u al w riting and p e rfo r
m ance p ro ject serv in g teen s
from eco n o m ically d isa d v a n
ta g e d n e ig h b o rh o o d s in th e
greater P ortland area, w ill p e r
form in “T he R oad to X ib alb a”
at the M ila g ro T h e a tre, 525 S.E.
Stark St.
T he M iracle T h eater G ro u p
has been ded icated to bring the
vibrancy o f H ispanic th eater to
the N orthw est co m m u n ity and
beyond for m ore than 20 years.
“ X ibalba is an E nglish lan
guage p roduction about the a n
cient M ayans and their m astery
o f a rt, a r c h ite c tu re a n d a s
tronom y.
T h e d e sc e n d a n ts o f th e se
great p eople, w ho still speak the
old languages and w o rsh ip the
old gods, are ch allen g ed on all
sides — from the E u ro p ean ized
L atinos w ho w ant their land, the
P ro te sta n t e v a n g e lic a ls w h o
w ant th eir souls, the M arxist
rev o lu tio n aries w ho w ant their
m uscle and the an th ro p o lo g ists
beliefs — and those o f the a n
cient M aya — are real? W ill he
call on the gods to help? O r will
his students succum b to fears o f
gangs, pregnancy and the m ili
tary ?
T he R oad to X ibalba is a
m agical look at how tw o gen
e ra tio n s o f M ay an -A m erican
descendants connect to redis
co v er the p ow er o f spiritual b e
lief, ra isin g the q u e stio n o f
w hether this pow er is contained
in the deities that populate the
M ayan pantheon, or in the m inds
o f the believers ... or both?
T he production is scheduled
with a special preview on T hurs
day, Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m . and
opening night is on Friday, Sept.
22 at 8 p.m . Perform ances co n
tinue each T hursday at 7:30
p.m .. each Friday and Saturday
at 8 p.m. and S undays at 7 p.m.
through O ct. 14.
w ho w ant th eir stories.
In this w orld prem iere from
Joann Farias. M ex ican -A m eri
can an th ro p ology student Je ff
O rd o n ez travels to strife-filled
G u atem ala to research M ayan
healing rituals. T h ere he m eets
a native sham an w h o leads Je ff
on an unforg ettable in doctrina
tion to the m yth cy cle o f the
Popol Vuh, introducing him first
hand to the indom itable pow er
o f the M ayan deities. But J e ff's
sh am anic training is interrupted
by civil w ar, and he returns to
the U .S. w ithout finishing the
rites that w ould co m p lete his
apprenticeship.
T hirty years later, J e f f s skep
tical son Jo e, a high school
te a c h e r, leads th ree stu d e n ts
am ong the ruins o f C hichen Itza.
In the cen ter o f this sacred ball
court, the youth are threatened
w ith th eir ow n e n c o u n te r w ith
M ayan d eities, each tem pted
to w a r d th e u n d e r w o r ld o f
X ibalba. A re they hallucinating
in the M exican heat, o r will Joe
now accep t that his fa th e r's
The Miracle Theatre
Group brings Hispanic
theater to the stage in
‘The Road to Xibalba.'
Female Immigrants Earn Less, Give More
They help fight
poverty back home
(A P ) - A U n ite d N a tio n s P o p u la
tion F u n d re p o rt sh o w s th a t fe m a le
im m ig ra n ts g e n e ra lly e a rn less than
m en, but ten d to se n d h o m e a la rg e r
p o rtio n o f th e ir e a rn in g s, p la y in g an
im p o rta n t ro le in p o v e rty re d u c tio n
and d e v e lo p m e n t in th e ir c o u n trie s o f
o rig in an d u p e n d in g m any tra d itio n a l
m o re s.
A b o u t 95 m illio n w o m en aro u n d the
w o rld h a v e left th e ir h o m e c o u n trie s
to live an d w o rk in a fo re ig n land; they
a c c o u n t fo r n e a rly h a lf the w o r ld 's
im m ig ra n ts. But u n til now little r e
se a rc h had b een d o n e on how m e n ’s
and w o m e n 's im m ig ratio n ex p e rie n c es
d iffe r.
A ccording to the report, titled “ A
Passage to Hope: W om en and Interna
tional M igration,” they send up to three-
quarters o f th eir incom e hom e, c o n trib
uting substantially to the approxim ately
$232 billion the W orld Bank estim ates
w as tran sferred last year to im m ig ran ts’
countries o f origin.
“ I t's a tre n d w o rld w id e , and r e
fle c ts th e in v e s tm e n t p r io r itie s o f
w o m en in g e n e ra l,” sa id M aria Jo se
A lc a la , the r e p o r t's p rim a ry a u th o r.
"W o m e n w ill a lw a y s p rio ritiz e fam ily
and ch ild re n and th e ir w ell-b ein g . M en
w ill s e e k m o re c o n s u m e r ite m s .
W om en tend to be m ore re lia b le , and
send hom e la rg e r a m o u n ts .”
I n d e v e lo p in g c o u n trie s , th is stead y
stre a m o f fu n d s can be su b sta n tia lly
la rg e r th a n o ffic ia l a ssista n c e , an d is
the se c o n d la rg e st so u rc e o f e x te rn a l
in c o m e a fte r fo re ig n d ire c t in v e s t
m ent.
Mexico City Street Protests End
(A P ) — Supporters o f le ftis t
Andres M anuel Lopez O brador
have ended the street protest that
clogged the heart o f the capital fo r
n e a rly seven w eeks, but they
vowed to find other ways to resist
the incom ing conservative presi-
Andres Manuel
Lopez Obrador
dent.
The form er M exico C ity mayor,
who claim s that his narrow loss in
the July 2 presidential election was
fraudulent, said he planned to travel
across the country to meet w ith his
supporters.
Traffic already was (lowing along
Reforma Avenue, w hich had been
blocked by tents, ears and buses
sineeJuly 3 0 in a n unsuccessful bid
to force a fu ll recount in the presi
dential vote.
Lopez Obrador and his support
ers refuse to recognize the slim v ic
tory o f Felipe Calderon, the candi
date o f President Vicente Fox's con
servative N ational A ctio n Party
who is scheduled to take o ffice
Dec. 1.
David Diaz
Hispanic
Heritage
Exhibit
Illustrator
schedules
library visits
“The Many Faces of David
Diaz,” a new exhibit featuring
otiginal artwork by the Caldecott
Award-winning artist, is on dis
play through Oct. 12 in theCollins
Gallery at Central Library, 801
S.W. 10th Ave.
In conjunction with the ex
hibit and in honor of Hispanic
Heritage Month, Diaz will visit
the Gresham Library on Satur
day, Sept. 23 from 10:30 a.m. to
noon and at Central Library from
2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. to speak about
his work along with collaborator
and Portland author Carmen
Bernier-Grand. A book sale and
signing will follow each presen
tation.
Diaz is the winner of the 1995
Caldecott Medal for his illustra
tions in Smoky Night, by Eve
Bunting. It was only the second
children's book he’d ever illus
trated. Since then, he has illus
trated more than 20 books includ
ing Going Home ( 1996) by Eve
Bunting,WilmaUnlimited( 1996)
by Kathleen Krull and The Pot
That Juan Built (2002) by Nancy
Andrews-Goebel.
His work incorporates a vari
ety of techniques and materials
including oil paint, pen and ink,
watercolor paints, woodcuts and
collage.
Self-guided tours of the ex
hibit are also available.
Congress Votes for Border F enee
(A P ) — T h e U .S. H o u se o f
R e p re se n ta tiv e s v o ted for the
se c o n d tim e in a y e a r to e re c t
a fe n c e a lo n g a th ird o f the
U .S .-M e x ic a n b o rd e r, but d id
not c o m e up w ith a w ay to pay
for the m u lti-b illio n d o lla r c o n
stru c tio n .
A new 7 0 0 m iles o f d o u b le
la y e re d fe n c in g w on a p p ro v a l
on a 2 8 .3 -138 v o te T h u rsd a y , a
b ig g e r m arg in th a n last D e
c e m b e r w h e n th e H o u s e
p a sse d it as p art o f a b ro a d e r
bill th a t a lso w o u ld h av e m ade
b e in g an illeg al im m ig ra n t a
felo n y . T h e n early 2 ,0 0 0 -m ile
b o rd e r now has a b o u t 75 m iles
o f fe n c in g .
R ep. P e te r K ing, R -N .Y .,
said th e se p a ra te fe n c e bill
w as n e e d e d to sh o w A m e ri
c a n s "w e can take m e a n in g fu l
a c tio n to se c u re the b o rd e r."
D e m o c ra ts a c c u se d R e p u b
lic a n s o f p la y in g upon v o te rs ’
fe a rs to sc o re p o litic a l p o in ts.
R ep . L lo y d D o g g e tt, D -
T e x a s. said R e p u b lic a n s w e re
try in g to c o n fu se A m e ric a n s
in to th in k in g " O s a m a B in
L ad en is h e a d in g n o rth in a
so m b re ro ."
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