Megan D. Daigle - From Cuba with love : sex and money in the twenty-first century

There isnt space here to thank everyone who has helped me at some stage of this project, but I can at least name a few. To begin: I want to thank my family for their understanding when I came up with this hare-brained idea in the first place. They get it, and I appreciate that.

I could never have predicted, when I arrived there nearly seven years ago, that the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University would be such a transformative place for me. The intellectual community I found there was warm, tight-knit, and challenging. I owe a debt of solidarity and a lot of memories to the friends I made in that funny little town at the end of the train line. And of course, the funding: Aberystwyth supported me through this project with an E. H. Carr Doctoral Fellowship and an Overseas Research Scholarship, which together kept me housed, fed, computered, fieldworked, and buried in chapter drafts for three good years.

The Cuba Research Forum at the University of Nottingham also proved indispensable. Its conferences and graduate seminars gave me a place to bring new ideas, vent frustrations, and assemble the building blocks of this book. Tony Kapcia opened doors for me in Cuba, and Kris Juncker provided me with contacts and insightbut more than anything, I thank her for sending me to Marlina.

While I was in Cuba, my way was smoothed by a number of people and institutions: the University of Havana helped me obtain my research permit; the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes gave me access to El rapto de las mulatas, a painting that inspired much of my thinking for this book over the course of many afternoons in the Cuban collection; and the Centro Nacional de Educacin Sexual and the Federacin de Mujeres Cubanas were both very gracious with their time and resources, allowing me access to archives and granting me interviews.

My Cuban family and friends kept me whole over the course of what turned out to be a difficult field experience. Carmen and her family gave me a place in which to retreat from the world. In a moment when I needed it, Rachael and Tanja showed me the sort of kindness I would expect only from lifelong friends. And Marlina and Rafael truly became my family. With every birthday since, Ive looked back fondly on the flowers, fresh fruit, hot coffee, and presents that awaited me the morning of my twenty-sixth. I will never forget their warmth and generosity.

Upon my return from the field, Jenny Edkins and Lucy Taylor prodded me into writing something far more interesting than I otherwise might have done. They supported and defended my work from the beginning, and more important, they encouraged me as a writer of storiesfor that, I am extremely grateful. I also want to thank all of those people who gave me feedback on my writing at various stages: Marysia Zalewski, Jenny Mathers, Edith Villegas, Erzsbet Strausz, Maria Stern, Tony Kapcia, and Naeem Inayatullah. Andrew Slack deserves special mention for dropping everything five or six times to read chapters, ponder theory, edit images, and run interference with my nerves. Naomi Schneider, Chris Lura, and Dore Brown at the University of California Press have been nothing but helpful throughout this process, and I also want to thank the Gothenburg Centre for Globalization and Development for giving me the time to dedicate to the final sprint.

Of course, it bears noting that without Andrew Priest, I would have long ago disappeared under a sea of chapter drafts, ramen packages, burnt-out hard drives, and stress. He has been there for me even when there was tennis or snooker on television, and for that, I am so very grateful.

And finally, my biggest thanks are reserved for Yakeln, Nadia, Lili, Ricky, Andre, Ana, Evan, Karla, Olivia, Cristina, Isabel, Ral, Hayde, Natalia, Mariela, Rigoberto, Taim, Sarah, Natalia, and Yoan. I am grateful for their trust and their frankness, for the ways they pushed and challenged me. They are so much the soul of this book, even if many of them may never see it, that it feels absurd to see just my name on its cover. I hope they would be pleased with what I have done here.

A version of chapter 2 previously appeared in the journal Alternatives: Global, Local, Political under the title Love, Sex, Money and Meaning: Using Language to Create Identities and Challenge Categories in Cuba. It appears here, in substantially altered form, with permission that is gratefully acknowledged. I also wish to thank Nicole Mcdougall and Dave Iggers, whose photographs appear in chapter 5, and Professor Agnes Lugo-Ortiz, who provided me with a digital copy of the lithograph El palomo y la gabilana.

Map of Cuba by Bill Nelson.