“In another country, you often start idealising your own country, but you have to let that go. For example, in Guatemala people just cross the road as usual. So when I saw a zebra crossing here, I didn’t get it. But still, I learnt to cross the zebra crossing here, because you have to integrate. It just makes your life easier.” Speaking is Monica from Guatamala City. “I like travelling. I had already lived in Croatia for a year and when I went back to Guatamala, I wanted to live abroad more. I had a friend who lived in Paris and with that I wanted to start something together.”
From Paris, she regularly visited her current husband, whom she had met at a conference in Poland but lives in Rotterdam. They got into a relationship and wanted to build a life together. “We decided together to do that in Rotterdam.
It’s a nice city; old and modern at the same time. And here you can find work if you only speak English. France is a country where everyone speaks French and you have to be able to do the same 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 never really going to become a Dutch person.” In fact, 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!”