Lily Gonzalez, Events Team

I grew up in the northern part of Mexico (Baja California). Since I was young, I was really interested in other cultures just by listening to people talking in their own language (even though I did not understand a word) or reading books where the story was somewhere in Europe. This gave me the idea that it would be nice to live somewhere outside Mexico, somewhere in Europe.

It was in August 2016 when my dream to live in Europe came true and I had the opportunity to do my Masters in Geo-Information Science at Wageningen University (NL). During my studies, I learned about other cultures, taste traditional dishes from those countries and I discovered more cities in the Netherlands. Moreover, I realized how easy it was to travel to other countries close by and “just like that” I felt in love with the country (although not with its weather but that is another story) and I have lived in the Netherlands since then!

After my master’s I found a job at a start-up in Den Haag and the next move was to find a house close to the office but as you can imagine, it was really difficult to find a decent and affordable place. It was a day of a BBQ where “luck” was on my side and by talking with some friends living together in Tilburg they offered the opportunity to transfer their rental to my partner and me. That’s how I started to officially have a place in Tilburg in November 2019.

Being more settled in Tilburg made me realize that I really wanted to be part of a group/association where I could meet more people. Back then, I felt that my Dutch was not so good and I barely spoke a word so I decided to search for a more international environment, and then I found tíc. I started following them on social media but I didn’t dare to join any event initially because I felt shy about just showing up. A few months later, I saw a post on their social channels where they were looking for volunteers to help organize and host events for the club. It was after the Welcome Event 2020 that I officially joined and I’m really happy to be able to meet new people and enjoy events together.