“In another country, you often start idealising your own, but you have to let that go. For example, in Guatemala, zebra crossings do exist, but cars usually don’t stop, so people just cross wherever they can. When I first came here, I had to get used to use the zebra crossings. I’ve done that – you have to integrate. It just makes life easier,” says Monica from Guatemala City.
“I love travelling. I had already lived in Croatia for a year, and when I went back to Guatemala, I wanted to live abroad again. I had a friend who lived in Paris, and with her I wanted to start something together.” From Paris, she regularly visited her current husband, whom she had met at a conference in Poland and who lived in Rotterdam. They started a relationship and wanted to build a life together. “We decided to do that in Rotterdam. It’s a nice city — old and modern at the same time. And here, you can find work even if you only speak English. In France, everyone speaks French, and you really have to speak it before you can join in.”
Learning Dutch with Spaniards
Nevertheless, she quickly learnt Dutch and participated in Dutch society. “Because contact with institutions is in Dutch, so I had to. And people appreciate it when you learn the language.” Funny enough, she learned Dutch from Spanish-speaking people. “I am Catholic and I like to go to church on Sundays. So my husband looked for a Spanish-speaking church to make me feel at home. There, I saw many Spanish-speaking people who have been here much longer. So they understood where I was coming from and could give me good advice. With them, I then learned Dutch. Every Tuesday, for instance, I learned Dutch with a Spanish woman. First we listened to cassettes in the library and then we bought something on the market. There everyone shouts Dutch, then you learn it quickly,” she laughs. She also did volunteer work. “That way you can show who you are and you can get to know people. It also allowed me to write on my CV that I had worked in the Netherlands.”
Guatemalan
This is how she built her own network. Despite having lived in Rotterdam since 2003, she will always remain a Guatemalan. “It’s important to keep your own identity. That makes you stronger. Because you’re just different, you’re a migrant, i embraced that. You’re never really going to become a Dutch person, but you can become a ‘Dutchie’ with a different flavor,” she laughs. “When my son was little, he was crying and I spoke Spanish to him, my love language, and he answered in Dutch, his love language… that is one of the moments you evolve, and when you dream in Dutch for the first time.”
She sees migrants becoming extra attached to their identity once they reach their destination. “People change during the journey. In your own country, you want to leave to discover something bigger. And in the destination country you want to speak the language and wear the clothes of the country you came from, very crazy!”