“With the port nearby, it seemed logical to go to Rotterdam,” says Rafael from Argentina. He came to Rotterdam in 1968 for a temporary job. “Argentina bought a boat. My colleagues and I were supposed to inspect it and assess its condition; whether it was seaworthy or not. But the boat was in very poor condition. We first had to wait until Argentina decided what to do with the boat, and in the end we were instructed to renovate everything.” That took place in Schiedam and took a year.
During that year he went dancing regularly at the Stella Maris sailors’ house. There his eye fell on a Rotterdam woman. “I thought she was very beautiful from afar. So I asked her to dance, but the first time she didn’t want to.After that, she did. The next week we met again, and so it went on.” Until he had to go back to Argentina. “I couldn’t stay in Holland because of my contract. Otherwise I would have stayed.” He married his wife in Argentina.
Streetcars and birthdays
His wife did not want to stay in the country in South America. Together they wanted to go back to the Netherlands; it seemed logical to go to Rotterdam: the city of the port and the water, this was known for Rafael. Yet the port was not the only thing that impressed Rafael. “I especially liked the streetcar, which I didn’t know from Argentina,” he said. And the Dutch birthdays surprised him, too. “There they sit in a circle and you get coffee and a pastry,” he laughs. “In Argentina, you always have food.”
Adapting
Despite these surprises, he tried to adapt and think little about going back. “Because at some point you don’t come back, especially when you have children. If you can’t adapt, you get into trouble. You have to adapt anyway, because you live in a different world.” According to him, that happens much better in Rotterdam now than it used to. “The Netherlands used to be racist. Argentina too, you know. They didn’t want dark people either. But well, now there are so many people… now you have to accept it. Things are better now.”
Argentinean at heart
Still, he remains Argentinian at heart. “For example, I have a barbecue and I very often prepare meat on it. Because Argentines love meat. And dancing, I also like that very much. Tango, of course, really comes from Buenos Aires.” Today, Rafael is still with his wife. He also still dances – with a Colombian dancer in traditional costume.
Still, he would never want to go back to his country. “No, if you have to arrange something … pfoe! People behind the counter don’t want to help you either. They just stand around talking. And if you say something about it, you only get a harder time. Then they make you wait even longer.”