relationships-in contrast to women from the villages, who experienced greater difficulties in

communicating with their loved ones abroad.

 Population Study: Sample

 The research for this section concerns some of the crucial aspects of life for transnational

couples. In some cases, the couples were both return migrants and both were present in San

Pedro Pinula during the interview process. In most cases, the men had gone to the United States

and returned, having left their wives in San Pedro Pinula during their trips abroad. In three cases,

the couple had both gone to the United States and returned together. Finally, some of the

interviews feature couples who were still apart, with the husbands in the United States and the

wives in Pinula. All the interviews were conducted without the other spouse present, except for

one case in which the couple chose to stay together for the interview.

 Remittances, Gossip, and Social Controls: Dealing with the In-laws

Post-Marital Residence

 In both the town and the villages of San Pedro Pinula post-marital residence is patrilocal

until the young couple can build their own house nearby. While some families may live in multi-

generational households, neo-local residence has become the ideal. Even with neo-local

residence, the young couple may be living near the husband's parents, often living on a

compound. This forced proximity to their in-laws impels many young men to go north in order to

build wealth so they may one day return and live independently from their parents. When they

migrate to the United States, these men often leave their young wives in the care of their in-laws,

a situation in which the home community wife becomes a source of extra labor for the household

or-perhaps more importantly-in which the husband's family is given the power to watch over

his wife while he is away (Georges 1990; Mahler 2001).