Friend and colleague Ana Maria G. Landeta is “Mexican by birth but Dutch by choice”. Ana embarked initially on the challenge of going through the stringent Dutch Naturalization process, which lasted four years in total motivated by love. She had met a charming Dutch man in Washington DC during an Entrepreneur leadership conference. The connection was inevitable and before long they were inseparable. For the relationship to grow, however someone had to compromise. Mexico or Netherlands? In the end it was Ana Maria who took the plunge and relocated her entire life to the Netherlands. Aside from the cultural differences the biggest challenge was the language barrier. While Ana initiated self study of Dutch 6 months prior to departing for the Netherlands she confessed that it was a steep and frustrating learning curve to move beyond basic Dutch into a more sophisticated language essential to discuss relevant topics at VIP dinners with her partner’s social network or simply to be able to work in communication & marketing, her passion. The appropriate accent was critical but also the understanding of slang and innuendo’s, which can only be mastered after being exposed to the culture for a significant amount of time.
The love story that catalyzed her move to the Netherlands ended but her Dutch identity remains. While Ana Maria is Mexican to the core, she always travels with a bottle of chilies (it is true!). She is, as she likes to say, Dutch by choice, an accomplishment she is most proud of and one that changed her life forever.
*Ana Maria G. Landeta pictured above the day she was naturalized as Dutch
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