most young men leave to the United States with the goal of returning to buy their own land and

build their own homes. Men leave their wives and fiancees to be taken care of by their in-laws,

male relatives, and the community-at-large (Georges 1992; Mahler 2001). In cases where the

male has already built a house on his own, his wife may stay in that house or abandon the house

to live with her in-laws. If there is no house, the wife and children will move in with his

relatives. This living situation secures the wife's fidelity and controls her movements and actions

while the husband is away.

Remittances as Social Control

 This living situation also provides the method by which remittances are distributed and

controlled. Maya men in the United States tend to send money to their parents, while Ladino men

are more likely to send the checks directly to their wives. Sending checks directly to their wife is

not a clear indicator that Ladino men trust their wives more than Maya men, since most checks

usually amount to a single month's allowance. They may send larger amounts separately for a

specific purpose that they've agreed upon ahead of time, usually for purchases of land, cows, or

appliances. Women of either ethnicity consult their husbands for large purchases or any

expenditure outside the realm of regular household requirements. Men in the United States are

free to spend their money as they like (on drink, other women, etc.), but women's expenditures

are more highly scrutinized. Also, Ladina women who are receiving remittances tend to be older,

as young Ladina women are more likely to already be in the United States.

 In cases in which the home-community wife is exceedingly young, the Maya migrant will

not send the remittances directly to her, but to the in-laws instead. The in-laws then divvy out

money to the daughter-in-law as her gasto (allowance). Allowances range from as little as Q400

a month to almost Q5000 ($50 to $800). In one rare case, an older Ladino woman whose

husband was in the United States received, on average, Q10,000 a month. Even though she