Phone Calls, Love Letters, and Transnational Quarrels

 Virginia and Maria were Maya from the village surrounding the town; thus, their

communication was limited to letters written by relatives and phone calls made at communal

public phones. As discussed previously, until 2001, Ladino women from the town were the only

ones who had regular access to private phone lines and other mediums of communication

including photographs and videos. A woman named Olga often took pictures of herself and her

two children to send to her husband. Along with the photos, she would sometimes include short

romantic poems or words of love or encouragement, yet she told me that she only sends pictures

that convey the impression that she and her children are happy so that her husband will never

doubt that they seem content and always appear available to give him emotional support.

 Though they consistently sent each other letters and pictures, Olga and her husband

Mauricio also communicated regularly by phone, and they both credit this medium with helping

to maintain their marriage. Olga says her husband would often cry on the phone and tell her how

much he wanted to come home, but that her love kept him going while they were apart. Mauricio

told me that only the phone calls, which he would make every two weeks, kept him from

returning sooner. He and Olga also reported that his bi-monthly calls were a social event for the

family, and virtually all his relatives-parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews-would gather in

the home of his parents to speak with him:

 It was these phone calls that made me happy; we would spend hours on the phone with the
 whole family around when I called, and we would discuss everything. This made me
 content, knowing the family was united, and this helped me during my time away.

 A couple's ability to maintain consistent, private lines of communication increases the

likelihood of a more successful separation. Olga was able to write her own personal and intimate

messages, thus increasing her and her husband's perception that the marriage was going well.

Though Mauricio never commented on the letters, it did appear to him that their