Sex, Love, and Migration

Abstract

The Modified Library of Congress system is used in transliterating Russian from the Cyrillic. Russian, Turkish, or Moldovan place names and spellings are retained, except when there is a commonly used English version. For instance, Bosphorus, not Bog ˘aziçi, Moscow, not Moskva, and Gagauzia, not Gagauziia, are used in the text. Another challenge is posed by places that have more than one place name widely used in the present. For Chis ¸ina ˘u or Vulca ˘nes ¸ti, in Moldovan, Kishinev and Vulkaneshty, respectively, in Russian, I have retained the word used by the speaker or source.All personal names used in the text are pseudonyms, unless a person was acting in an official capacity. I have made an effort to use pseudonyms that were not uncommon names among women migrants I came to know from the former Soviet Union. For names in Russian I have followed the Modified Library of Congress system, except in the case of two names, where for the ease of the Anglophone reader I have used the more common English versions: Olga (instead of Ol′ga) and Maria (instead of Mariia). The spelling of authors' names appears, for the most part, as in the original sources.When terms in Russian, Turkish, or Gagauz occur in the text, they are defined with the first usage. All translations from Russian to English or Turkish to English are my own unless otherwise indicated.For those readers unfamiliar with Turkish or Moldovan spellings and pronunciation, a few guidelines may be of use. The a ˘ appearing in Moldovan words is pronounced as "a" in a nnunciate. The c, ç, g ˘, ı, ö, s ¸, ü found in Turkish words (and the ç and s ¸ in Moldovan words) are pronounced as follows:C, c as "j" in j am Ç, ç as "ch" in ch uckle G ˘, g ˘ is usually silent, lengthens the preceding vowel I, ı a hard "i" as in fl ir t Ö, ö as in French eu , as in deux S ¸, s ¸ as "sh" in sh out Ü, ü as "u" in n ew Unless otherwise indicated, monetary values are in US dollars.