A couple of years ago, I had lunch with a New York-based Mexican friend. She introduced me to her mother, who was visiting. As we shook hands, I was immediately struck by a sense that I had seen the woman before in Tajikistan, a corner of the former Soviet Union, where I once worked as an anthropologist.
We chatted and I decided that my mind had been playing tricks on me. Cecilia Romo has spent much of her life in Mexico, where she has built a long career over four decades working as an economist, model-agency owner and actress. She has never been to Tajikistan.
But a few months later, I met Romo again and learnt that she had appeared in Mexican telenovelas, such as Los Ricos También Lloran (The Rich Also Cry). Suddenly, things fell into place.