First things first. To my late mom. She did not have the opportunity to ever set foot in a classroom, but if I managed to finish this PhD, and wander the academic path that led me to this point (and why not, any other future adventure), it was because of the infinite wisdom and love she nurtured me with. Tomy biologic mother. We have shared very little butshebroughtmetothisworld... sowhatelsecanoneaskfor? Muchasgraciasmama(s), todo lo bueno que tengo para ofrecer lo aprendí de sumercé. A toda mi demás familia cer- cana, todos ustedes en algún punto de sus vidas contribuyeron de una otra forma en mi formación y educación. En especial mi hermana Claudia, quién suplió el rol paterno; a mi hermano Alberto, el cuál siempre que pudo me apoyo economicamente; y a mi tía Car- men que me quiere como si fuera hijo propio. A Tomasín “pingüin”, José, Tito, Nelson, Luz, Omar, Henry, Ángel, Janeth, mi tío Matías, Frank, mi madrina Ofelia, mi padrino Jorge H., Laura, JorgeIván, JanethR., señorasRebecayAnaLucía, donVicenteydonJoaquín, Joaco, y a aquellos que ya no están con nosotros (mis tías Emma y Ursulita, Ricardo y Enrique): a todos ustedes siempre los tengo presente, palabras más palabras menos, gracias mil. Second of all, and not less important, to Sara Porras Gutiérrez. Not a single vowel (or con- sonantornumber)thatwaswritteninthisthesis,couldhaveexistedwithouttheencoura- gement, support, help, an love of my only one and beautiful wife Sara. If I have to write all that she did (or maybe sacrificed) for me, for following me to the Netherlands and to any part of the world, I would have to print an equally large thesis-book like this (but we all agree that one is enough, isn't it?). For now, all I can say is that she's everything to me, and as long as she stays by my side there is no paper, thesis and/or research I can't get done. She is the power and most of the motivation that propels me to face the daily routine. BeforeandduringmydaysasPhDcandidateintheNetherlands,Ihadthefortunetomeet quiteremarkablepeople,butIcouldnothavesurvivedwithoutthehelpandsupportfrom Koen Siteur, Sija Francisca Stofberg, and Lieke Anna Melsen. Coincidentally, all of them are Dutch and Doctors (double D's - happy-face emoji goes here). Koen and Sija, whom I became friends with during my MSc studies, helped me to (literally) survive the Nether- lands. In many occasions they provided me with a place to crash [in/at], nutritive and de- licious Dutch food (to the extend of whatever that means can be true and wholesome), Dutch circle parties, and tons of advice of what to do, how to behave, and how to correctly pronounce the Dutch-godforsakenU. I failed them in all of the last four aspects; and for
that I'm very sorry but I'm pretty sure they still have some room for forgiveness in their he- arts. Koen, for lack of a better word, you're a brother (broer, frère, fratello, hermano) to me.
every step of this road, from A to Z. She guided me inside and outside my job, and hadn't she taken responsibility for dutifully filling out our taxes, thebelastingdienstwould've al-
ready kicked us out of Holland long time ago (don't you worry, I perfectly know the dif- ference between Holland and the Netherlands). More than the nerdiness she embraces, what I learnt from her is to always reply with a smile no matter what crap situation you're in. I never ever met her angry. Special mention goes to my roomie Tjitske Janelle Geert- sema (also a future double D - wink-face emoji goes here). She was very kind to me, only had positive comments, and the only one who always understood my silly humor, I think. I will surely miss forever the fist-bump greeting we learnt to cherish. Within her precious blue eyes, inspiration never was difficult to find; but if you ask her, she'll tell you that I'm just beingslijmbal.
Special acknowledgements to my teammates from one of the oldest football clubs in the Netherlands, the Go-Ahead Victoria Combination (GVC). They brought me into their “di- nosaur” category, and allowed me to spend some energy on the training days and on the match-weekends. They even allowed me to captain them on the battlefield, I mean, the football pitch. To all of you guyshartelijk bedanktfor giving me a space to show my foot-
ball talent (almost none), score some magnificent goals, and step aside from academia to breath some inspirational air. Special mentions go to Reurt Boelema who is a very good and noble friend, despite his temperament; Rick Breg, Jeroen Veraart, and Joost de Jong (maybe to his amazement). Acknowledgements should also go to my Colombian friends Miguel Angel Hernandez Fuerte, Sergio Porras Gutierrez, Dayron Fernando Valencia Gue- rrero,MartínPaezMora,yCanyica. Despiteallthedistancebetweenus,ourlong-standing friendship, comradery, and chatting was the best medicine in those recurrent times of procrastination. Wherever you're, you're the best comedians and coolest friends a guy like me can have. Martín, amiguito, cumplir el sueño de ir a “La Grande Boucle” (2015) fué
la mejor experiencia y divertimento que tuve durante los casi cuatro años de Doctorado! Finally, I want express my infinite gratitude to my supervisors Aart Overeem, Hidde Leijn- se, and Remko Uijlenhoet, whom I like to refer to asLes Trois Mousquetaires(me far from
being the equivalent of d'Artagnan, of course). More than to the knowledge I gained from them, my gratitude is meant for the insurmountable patience they had to put up with every single time I was against their guidance. To Aart, I thank him because every Friday hewastheretosacredlycomplywithhissupervisortasksandtoaskforresultsIneverhad. I'm pretty sure that any coming PhD student he'll supervise from now on will give him less than half the trouble I did. To Hidde, the most intelligent supervisor I had. I still can't find any argument I had with him in which I wasn't wrong. To Remko, he did what he could to make me feel at home, and propitiated a very amicable work environment. I think the only issue I really struggled with while doing the PhD was to consider him as my boss and not as my friend; and if I really learnt something from him, it was to be a Calvinist. My wife and I will always be grateful for the gamble he took in hiring me to commit to this endeavour. Thank you so very much... and see you next time.