Es cuba : Life and love on an illegal island / Lea Aschkenas

Es Cuba -- Only the moment -- Revolution lessons -- We were promised socialism -- The poolside affairs -- Los cubanos son candela -- Who we are without names -- Una vida plástica -- The real Cuba -- El bombo -- Idioma ruso, profesora -- The latino lover -- The legal illegal -- Living history -- El bloqueo internal -- The Cuban Cinderella -- Departures and returns -- Hasta siempre -- Apprentice to a housewife -- Imagining Cuba -- It's called happiness -- What's changed? -- What would a capitalist do? -- Other types of wealth -- Como ser negro y no morir en el intento -- Invented identities, imagined lives -- Leaving Dinora -- The real, real Cuba -- Un socio me pregunto -- The Cuban goodbye.

Es Cuba is a poignant and passionate travel memoir about falling in love with a country and one of its compatriots. Aschkenas never strays from her acute awareness that there is no way to separate her foreignness (intensified by U.S.-Cuba relations) from the complex mix of emotions, devotion and rejection, enrapture and apprehension that she develops toward the country. Her tale is filled with beautifully woven descriptions of Cuba and the customs and habits of its people. Aschkenas is a discerning observer, taking in the innocence, isolation, contradictions, and resolute optimism of a people who have persevered against the collective disappointment bestowed upon them by a government that has been unable to deliver the utopia promised by socialism.