social space" which together encompasses the transnational location of "Boston." Thus the

migrants' idea of Boston, while it departs from our understanding of Boston as a geographical

space, reflects the creation of a transnational community in which ethnicity, gender, and class

can be redesigned, reconfigured, and occasionally, renegotiated (Hirsch 1999).

"There Are no Indians in the United States": Reproduction of Ethnic Structure in Boston

 While Ladinos originally migrated and sustained communities in other regions of the

United States, such as New York and Los Angeles, Boston is unique in the Guatemalan migrant

experience since both Mayas and Ladinos live and work in the same community. Yet does this

"new Pinula" represent the original ethnic and social structure of the home community?

Evidence from the migrant experience in Boston offers some support that the new social

structure differs from that of Pinula. The increased frequency of cross-ethnic friendships and

marriages demonstrates that Ladinos and Mayas can transcend the rigid social structure of

Pinula; even so, such ethnic transcendence remains the exception rather than the rule. Though

Maya and Ladino interactions occur with frequency in Boston, they often duplicate similar

interactions that occur in Pinula. They may work together, live together, and even play together,

but a recent increase in the amount of incoming Maya has shown that many Pinultecos prefer to

re-create the ethnic structures that exist back home.

 Table 3-1 reflects the survey of 80 Maya and Ladinos. The results reveal what qualitative

research has also shown; the order of major migrant destinations for both Ladino and Maya.

While Boston is a popular destination for both Maya and Ladino, Atlanta is an exclusively Maya

destination while New York tends to be more of a Ladino dominated migrant stream. While

these numbers reflect current migration streams, interviews illustrate that Los Angeles and New

York were more popular destinations for Ladinos in the 1960s and 1970s. Boston was also an