and re-affirmation of how the ethnic divisions from Guatemala are reproduced in the United

States.

The Case of the Ambulance: Hometown Associations and Maya-Ladino Relations in the
 United States

 The Guatemalan migrant community in Boston exhibits not only the familiar ethnic

conflicts between Maya and Ladinos but also the discord between Mayas from the town and

Mayas from Pinula's outer villages. As more Maya from country villages arrive in Boston, some

decide to try their best to avoid Ladinos and, though they may work with either Mayas or

Ladinos from the same municipality, they choose not to live or associate with Ladinos.

 One example of how these Maya migrants often attempt to avoid Ladinos involved the

transnational fund-raising efforts to acquire an ambulance for the municipality of San Pedro.

This effort was an instance of a local development project (or "Hometown Association")-a

popular way for migrants to use their time and money in order to help their home communities.

As illustrated in Rivera's film (2004) on Mexican hometown associations in New York,

development projects funded by migrants in the receiving community can provide for

government services lacking in the home community, such as ambulance services. Thus, when

San Pedro Pinula was offered the opportunity to acquire an ambulance from an American-run

organization, the Ladino community in Pinula jumped at the chance. Though the ambulance was

supposedly free, the community still needed to pay thousands of dollars to transport the

ambulance from the U.S., in addition to organizing volunteers and raising additional money

required for maintenance.

 The attempts by Boston Ladinos to organize Pinultecos in Boston to raise money for this

public project gave impetus to the separatist inclinations of certain Maya migrants who had come

from the villages outside Pinula. While the indigenous men from the town were enthusiastic