Diana was born in Santa Marta, Colombia, in , the third of four children. Her father was an electrician who worked on construction projects that often took him away from the family for months at a time. Diana was a bright girl, though she often got into fights with other children who teased her because of her dark skin β her father was black; her mother, white. After graduating from high school, she went to Bogota to live with her older sister and work in an electronics store, where her vivacious personality made her the top saleswoman.
One of her customers was a young British expat who introduced her to a new world of posh restaurants, expensive presents and foreign travel β an idyll that lasted three years. When he abruptly broke off their relationship, she was devastated, but found a new job as a greeter at a large night club.
The job paid well, but Diana wanted to earn more, both to support her lifestyle in a trendy Bogota neighborhood and to help her mother, who was now living with her younger brother in Santa Marta.
Her father, who had had numerous other women over the years, was now only an occasional visitor. One day a friend told me she knew someone who could take me out of the country, to a place where a I could make a lot of money, enough for jewelry and other kinds of luxuries.
It was the fantasy of every woman who had been born poor and had never had anything. I had seen some Japanese tourists and businessmen in Santa Marta, and I had met others at the club in Bogota, including some who worked at the embassy. For me Japan was much like China β I mean, the faces of the people were alike.
