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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