Episode Transcript
Welcome back to Sort of Sophisticated People. I'm Pete and with me as always is Amanda. Hey everybody. And this is the podcast where we dive into topics that we think make you more cultured. Am I right? I don't know. But really it probably just helps to give you some cool conversation starters. It totally does. And, today, we're doing something a little different than usual. We're gonna do a little three part series on how to get more cultured and curious. I love that. Let's go a little ambitious though. I think we can you think we could pull off a three parter I mean it is totally ambitious, but we're gonna go for it. Let's do this And today we're gonna be chatting with a special guest about his exceptional story As a son of a russian couple who immigrated to argentina before he was time out Is it immigrated or is it emigrated? What do you think? Is it emigrated? Emigrated. You emigrate in, you emigrate out. Emigrated. Oh my god, that's so cool. Look at that. That should have been our word of the day. Yeah? Okay, anyway. So a son of a Russian couple who immigrated to Argentina before he was born, then subsequently raised their family of eight in Buenos Aires. With some pretty decent Russian influence and sorry, before he ultimately grew up and immigrated to the United States as a young adult. And we are thrilled to have him in the studio with us today. And I'd love to introduce the one and only Alex Krypczuk. Hello, Alex. Hey, hello. Alejandro! Como estas, mi amigo? Muy bien, querido, muy bien. It's also Alexey Petrovich Krypczuk. My bad, yo. Wow, we're going to have to get there. Como estas? Zdravstvuyte. Comrade. How do you say cheers in Russian? Is there a word for it? What is it? Na zdorovie. Oh my god. Okay, never mind. I don't even know how I'm going to keep up with you. I'm just fascinated. How many languages do you know? Five. Five?! Yeah, I know. I, I, I can speak five. I can find my way to the American embassy in about seven of them. He, hold on. Time out. I mean, he only knows the bad words in like five. Relax. He, like, it's bad. I don't believe that. Okay, wait. Full disclosure, people. Like, for all the listeners. Okay, so, before we go any farther. Like, Alex and I go back. Like. A long way. Like, I don't know, 30 years? 30, 32. Yeah, yeah. So if shit gets real people, don't worry, okay? It's all good. Uh, since we're diving into the whole, like, immigrant story a bit, I got a question though. No, but wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. What? I have to say thank you for having me here. Well, it's our pleasure to have you. Amen. Right? Absolutely. Um, okay. First, like, like, I'm just going hardcore at you right now. Like, first question right off the bat. Go for it. Like, because you've been around for a while because, um, Alex is not a young chicken anymore, people. Um, what's like the one thing that you think Argentina got right? I know they got a lot of shit right, and Don't go all on your soapbox right now about Argentina and everything. I mean just like, one thing that America should adopt from Argentina. A food, or a custom, or like, anything, I don't care, just what's the top thing? Well, no, for starters, there's so much in common, because they're very cosmo positive. Uh, they've accepted people from all over the world, so, as a, I guess as a consequence of that. Uh, they have a saying, saying that Argentines, uh, dress like British, um, are fresh like French, eat like Italians, and speak like Spanish. Huh, what is that supposed to mean to me? Break that down. So, from all of that, from all of that, right, you have all of these different, uh, I guess cultural nuances. That brought food or brought customs or brought, uh, uh, different ways of looking at society. So, yeah, it's a, uh, similar to America, but with, I guess, more of a European flair. I can talk to you about, they love beef because there's more cows than people. There is, right? Seriously. Is there really? That should be a fun fact. Is that a fun fact? We're going to get into the asados. Alright, so you're just basically saying Argentines are just badasses that, like, have a little bit of everything. And like have this massive kick ass influence. They do. Yeah, okay. They do. I get it. Is this where this whole episode is going to go? I just, you might as well just tell me right now. No, I know you're researching, I've talked to you for a lot of years, right? So, you have some facts about it and you know how big it is, how it runs Oh, we got facts, baby. Right, so, you start. How about this? How much do you know about Argentina? And then I'll correct you. It's what? Oh, wow. Really? I kind of like this. No, I'm embarrassed. No, no, no, no, no. No, I kind of like it. Remember when we had Evan on the other day and it was like, he had to like, knew a lot. Yeah, I know. About Australia. It's a good time. Yeah, okay. Puts you in your place. Yeah, whatever. Okay, okay, but before we do that though, can we do the word of the day? Oh yeah, you totally do the word of the day. Explain it to Alex. Okay. So, this is the part of the episode where we introduce a word that we then have to subsequently figure out how to work it into the episode somewhere without making it seem like we're forcing it. And the drunker I get, the more like I forget the word and Amanda has to remind me. I mean, in all fairness, Pete's usually the one who gets it because I'm not a linguistic person. Tell me the word. Okay, you ready? So the, our word of the day is histrionics. His histrionics. Like, does that, like, is that like relating to history? Um, actually, no, it means an exaggerated expression of emotion. So, like, theatrics. Oh, so kind of like hysterical. Precisely, yes. And the word histrionics actually is derived from hysterical. Okay, that totally makes sense. I got it right. All right. We'll figure out how it work. I mean, you got the hysterical part. You didn't get the actual meaning of it. Right. I know there's, and by the way, there's so much history behind that word. My brain is just trying to get the Russian or the, or the Portuguese or the Spanish translation to histrionic. But I think I know where you're going with this. Uh oh, are you? No, you gotta use the English version. Histrionic. Okay. Fine. Histrionic, however you wanna do it. I say write histrionic. Yeah, histrionic. Okay. However you wanna work it in. I don't really care. That's how this goes. All right, we got it. Alright, so, uh, can we get started? Yeah. So can we start with maybe Alex? Oh yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah. But wait, before we do that, I think we should give a quick backstory on Argentina, just so people have like context of Argentina, like where he is from period. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Good idea. Good idea. Alex, feel free to jump in if I do anything wrong. I just want listeners to have like a little info before we launch. Okay. So let's start with the name, Argentina. It comes from the Latin word, Argentum. Alex, what does that mean? Thank you. Plata. Plata. Silver. Thank you. Yes. Because when explorers showed up, they found a bunch of silver mines. Well, they just found silver, and then they made mines. They didn't like find silver mines. It wasn't like the indigenous people had carved out the Right. Exactly. Okay. You get the idea. Anyway. Okay. Um, so Argentina is this totally massive country located in South America, bordered by mostly Chile and Brazil, but also Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and runs almost the entire length of the Atlantic Ocean. Like, in South America anyway. Like, it's a long ass country. It's the eighth largest country in the world. I looked that up, I'm not wrong. Covering over a million square miles. Did you know this? Uh, yes, you're doing great. Okay, good, good, good. Okay, the capital. I can't even say this word. The capital Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires. Right. Also known as Paris of South America. There you go. There's that French influence, right? For its vibrant culture and European inspired architecture. Shit, dude. Alex, you're good. Okay. Do you know how many people it's got, mas o menos, or no? Yeah, about 35, 40 million. I looked it up. Under 50 million. Yes. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Counting all the illegals. Oh my god, I love it. Okay, mostly from Spain and Italy. But also has a bunch of indigenous communities as well. Mm hmm. It's known for its diverse landscapes. Am I right, brother? Yes. The Ande Mountains in the west. Yes. The glaciers of Patagonia and Ushuaia in the south. 180 glaciers. 100? Seriously? Seriously. Did you count them all? No, but that's what That's a lot of effing glaciers. We've been taught in school. Not only that Global warming, dude. I think there's only like 50 left. Dude. No? There's There's a lot. The biggest reservoir of fresh water is down in Argentina. Where is that? Like at the uh, Tierra del Fuego? Uh, actually, there's a water table, so all of the Amazonian water and everything else flows under. Shit, it all runs off. Uh, right. And under the, the pampas, that's why they call it the humid pampas. Oh shit, look at that. So there you go. So right, you got the glaciers, you got the mountains, you got the rainforests, and then you got the pampas. It runs from north to south. Yeah. So you have United States running east to west. You're running a country now from the equator to the South Pole. I didn't realize how big it was. Like, when I looked it up, it was like the 8th largest country in the world. In the world. Right. Right, right, right, right. Pretty badass. Right. Yeah. Holy crap. But, so, geographically, it's so diverse, right? You see east to west, but from north to south, east to west, you're changing all of these geographies to beautiful, wonderful, and spectacular. Compared to the United States. Because the United States has some pretty kick ass geography. Give me a sense. Yeah. Just as good, better, same, same, just different, but like, same concept? If I had to say it, God hangs out. In Argentina. Fuck yeah! Oh shit. I love that. Oh yeah, so good. Okay, I love the way he said that. Alright. Um, okay, I'm almost done. So, what are they famous for? So, famous for tango. Yes. Right? The classic. They invented tango. Tango. Absolutely. The tango. Um, asado. We were talking about asado. But first, tango is a side story. Someday we'll have to talk about it. Maybe we'll talk tango. do whatever we want in this. So remind me about tango. Because it's the most macho, dance that you've ever experienced. I figured, me and you, we could start a restaurant. We could start a restaurant called the Tango Grill. And we could have Argentine food and have tango music. No, he knows too much about it. There's a lot, there's a lot. I had a failed restaurant called the Tango Grill. He did. It was excellent. It was a good idea. Anyways. Talked about, we talked about Asado, right? Uh, empanadas, right. Um, and yba mate, Y mate, Amanda, right? He brought the yba mate. What is it, Alex? What's yerba mate? Oh my God. So, yeah, so it's a stimulant drink and you drink it hot or cold, mostly hot, right? It's carved from a gourd and then it's covered in leather because that's a fancy one. But then, uh, you, you put this, uh, dry tea leaves that only grow in the, um, uh, northernmost part of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, and it's called the yerba. Yerba is like Yorba. Same thing. Yorba Linda, Yerba Linda, it's about the same word. Hey, do you, uh, remember Indians, like American Indians, with the peace pipe? Uh huh. Smokin peace pipe. Uh huh. This is their version of smokin peace pipe. They pass that shit around. Literally. So, yeah. You can pass a gourd around. Yeah. Yeah. And you suck. You drink out of that thing. Yeah. You share it. It's about friendship. Oh, I love it. Literally, it's all about friendship and community. So, the only thing I know about yerba mate is that it now comes in a can. A yellow can. Yeah. Is that the same thing? It's a stimulant. It's got twice the caffeine of coffee. They're trying to bring it to America, but you lose the concept of the custom of like the community. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The cultural part the whole cultural context. Yes, you can put yerba mate in a monster drink or a stimulant drink or whatever and you're gonna get the kick. But unlike coffee It doesn't have any acid content, so it was not going to give you a heartburn and then also it's not going to give you GERD. It's not going to give you GERD. The GORD is not going to give you GERD. Oh my god, TM, that was hysterical. Okay. So, I mean, From my limited knowledge of Argentina, I guess I equate Argentina with Malbec because from what I've heard is that it's grown from the best soil in the world at the base of the Andes. It's true. And then there's all, all these, even Malbec tours now from here. When are we going? So let's go. Let's go. You're going to see, I mean, that's, there is a lot of, uh, um, Artisanal growers and, and, and small wineries. Yeah, somewhere like the boutique wineries. Alex, Alex, enough with the histrionics. Okay, put your hands down. Just get to your damn Malbec story. I do better. Histrionics, he got the word of the day. Let's go. I do better when I put some drama into it. Oh, you put in drama. Very expressive. Let's go. Right. I got this cool story about really. Um Argentines went to Europe to compete for wines and they thought they were bringing in the best Merlot. ever done, right? And Merlot is a wine. It's a variety, right? And the French started turning up their noses and they're like, uh, no, this is not Merlot. The Frenchies turn up their noses at everything. Seriously. Well, they're the best in the world at wines. Would my brother in law say that? Right? He probably would. How do you even deal with that guy? He's, he's Okay, subject for another part two. We'll put that in part. We'll park that in part two. Go ahead. Continue with Bobak. Okay, so no the French started Suspecting that this is not a Merlot that it was some kind of a different wine. The Argentinians of course were Insisting that they went to France to compete for the Merlot Long story short they had to do a DNA test. Yep on the grapes. Yeah to figure out what varietal What happened was totally outclassed right now that you guys know this I love this What happened was that about a hundred years ago there was a huge drought right in Southern Germany northern Italy and A whole bunch of, uh, wines were lost, extinct. But the Italians that came Pete was right, about 50, 60 percent of Argentinians came from Italy and, and, and, uh, Spain. They brought these, uh, Malbec sprigs and planted them on the volcanic soil of the Andes. So it resurfaced in Argentina. Ah. Mm. Mm. For the first time. So, now the Malbec that So wait a second, are you, are you telling me that Malbec didn't exist in like 1980? No, and whether So it wasn't until this all happened Right. 1995 or whatever you're saying, that they realized they found It was a different variety from Merlot. Right. And Argentines were mixing it with like table wine for years What, why, was this like, was this in the news and I just didn't know what the fuck, this is amazing. So Malbec just reappeared. Peter, how long ago have you started drinking wine? Not long ago. No, I'm like a wuss. Not long ago. So you're talking to an old wino here, right? When it happened It was huge. Oh, America took it by storm. Right. Now they're growing it in Napa Valley. Okay, so now I have a question. Is that the biggest thing in Argentina? Like, is that Like, is Malbec comparable to, like, Leonel Messi, or what? Oh no, Argentines have Maradona, right? The coke head. Yeah, yeah. They have Messi, they have Maradona, and they have Malbec. The three M's. They got the three M's. Hold on. No, they also have the Pope. The Pope is Argentine. Oh, the Pope. Oh, jeez. They have the Pope. Oh, heck yeah. That's right. Well, that's three M's and a P. So they have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Oh my God, I love that. Okay. Okay. Hold on, hold on. But go back because we always do this thing where we start from the beginning and I think we kind of have to start with baby Alex. So we need the backstory here. So maybe start with how did your parents end up in Argentina in the first place? Oh, yeah, definitely. Um, yeah, just like every other immigrant. Except that, you know, between Poland, Ukraine, and Russia, everything was taken by the Soviet Union. So, one half of my family was from Poland, the other one from Ukraine, which was the Soviet Union. So we were supposed to be Russian, because Russia took over. So this is why Alex and I are brothers. Because Belinsky goes all the way back to the Ukraine. If you're saying Russian Ukrainian Polish Latvian Uh, Slovakian, Romanian, they were all Russian because they're all Slavic. Just like Latinos speak Spanish, the Slavics speak some kind of a variation. And yes, there are different languages and different alphabets, but they can understand each other. It's almost like Spanish and Portuguese. Yep. So, yeah, when, you know, if you call me a Ruski when I was a little boy, okay, I accepted it. But I really wasn't. Dude, you still even sound like a Ruski. What's aki? Let's go A Russian right? Oh, totally. Is that, is that a bad name? Uh, is that a bad name? Is it like, like Aki? No, no, no, no, no. Pinko or Kami? No, that's bad. Ruki ruki. Oh com comrade, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, wait, well, okay, so, so I've gotta fast forward. We're gonna be here on that long. So your parents like basically pop out a few kids, and then after three years of famine by the Soviets into Ukraine and Poland. Right? And in the worst of World War II, between, you know, 1935 and 1940, they escaped. So they escaped. Your parents escaped. Yeah. Got it. So, and then they brought my grandparents along and basically Oh, it was a family affair. Well, yeah, basically There were peasants, so they were not, uh, you know, bringing any, you know, World War secrets or weaponry or anything else, like the ones that came here from Germany and Russia. There were, there were peasants. So Argentina They were hiding in Kripchuckville. There you go. You know what I mean? Wherever that was. That's how everybody was named back then. Argentina was the land of opportunity for them. Why? Because the corn grow like two feet long and, uh, the wheat was Past your tits and I mean, it's just you know, ukraine is fertile, right? Well, Argentina, they say that if you dig a shed in your backyard, It'll grow. No, the next, the next morning, it'll grow an asshole out of the wood. Okay, listen, can we get back on track? Okay, so now your parents are in Argentina. They pop out a few kids, and finally you're born. Okay, what number were you? Number four. Okay, so what was going on when baby Alex popped out? So, like, like, give me a, what were you born, what, 15? Because you fled, they fled. They fled, and then, and then, They, they, uh, they started popping kids, right? They built a cabin. They made a family. They built a cabin? I don't know. I'm making this up. No, it is. Believe me, yes. People, I'm trying to, I'm just trying to keep this on track, alright? So there they go. They're working the land. Alex comes out. And this is what happened, and I have to go back a little bit. Okay. The Germans after the war came to Argentina also, but they came with all of the loot and the gold that they took out of the concentration camps and the Jewish gold. Oh. Even though they lost the war, they came with money. The Russians and Slavics that came from the famine. They came to Argentina just holding their bag and that's it. So they sent those guys, us, right, all the way up to the jungle where it was hot and tropical. Yeah. And humid, not ideal, bad idea, bad idea. But the Germans, they went down south. Like I told you, Argentina runs, uh, north to south where it looks like Germany. So they have snow and, and, and beautiful places and lakes and everything else. And so there was a big separation. By the time I was born in a matter of 15 years, my dad had managed to move from those Russian colonies in the jungle. to Buenos Aires. Okay. So, yeah. He infiltrated the German He worked his way up the ladder. like security system. You bet. He, he, he, he was a shoe cobbler. He was a truck driver. Good for Mr. Krypczukowicz. Oh, oh. Worked his, worked his butt off. Cheers to your pops. Let's go. Yeah. Built a two story house with six bedrooms and raised a family over there. And, uh, and we're getting to the political side of it because that's when I was born in 1956. Uh, this demagogue, Juan Peron, the husband of Evita, I don't know if you saw the movie or the play. Yeah, totally. So, uh, he was a military man, very, very strong, uh, right wing, almost fascist, but he became a populist. So he started giving, uh, loans and, and, and, uh, facilitating business and everything else. My dad took advantage of that and he started building his own business in 1956. I was born in my house, in my mom's bedroom, and still with my mom and dad barely speaking Spanish. Culture, I would say until I was six years old, it was all Russian or Ukrainian or Polish Slavic. So I was born. under a military dictatorship or a military junta, born and raised. I mean, that must have been really hard and really difficult. You have no idea. And I'm assuming that that shaped a lot of you growing up because that was your formidable years and. How you viewed life in your future. How was your teenage years? So, very restricted, right? Very, uh, uh, police controlled state and society. There were things happening in uh, Cuba, right? So these military juntas said, we don't want any type of, communism infiltration or like Cuba and Russia and everything else. So they kept it, uh, pretty under control. Uh, I guess we grew up knowing for a fact that the police, uh, does not represent the law like here in the United States. The police is the law. So it was a police state. Very difficult. So then, is that why you guys chose America? Was it you? Was it your parents? Like, how did that decision come into play? I made the decision when I was 15 years old. You did? On my own, by myself. Oh my gosh! by myself. It was getting harder and harder and harder. Um, and, and also, I, I, I need to say this. I had, I had two lives basically, uh, in the Russian community. Right. And we're all, uh, uh, Christian Baptist, uh, coming from an Orthodox, uh, religion. But then as I got more into the Argentinian culture. I started to see that, uh, this wasn't right to live under oppression. So I also tried to, to create or, or lead some kind of a change there. At 15? Yes. Wow. Yeah. And, uh, so, uh, So wait a second. Tell me about the, the, uh, you, when we were researching this episode, when I was doing this with you, you, you told me about this, uh, what was the name of that movie? I watched the raging sea. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cry of the raging sea. Cry of the raging sea. Yeah. Yeah. So tell me a little bit about like, like how that whole thing happened. Cause I saw you in a video on YouTube. You were like 14 years old. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's like a 22 minute YouTube video. Yeah. Yeah. This is amazing. Yeah. So tell me a little bit about like how that whole thing happened. What was going on there? So you're growing up, you're pissed off at the military junta. You, uh, you want to come to America, um, you're in a Slavic community, and all of a sudden this Baptist dude shows up. Right. And so, um, this guy from, this missionary, right, uh, Russian guy from Wheaton, Illinois, comes to Argentina. And said, wait a minute, there is, there is, uh, different religions here coming from Europe, uh, or Slavics. Uh, we're all going to make you Christians. He said, okay, well, we're Christians already, but what do you mean Christian as far as doctrine? Well, we're going to make you Southern Baptists. Oh. So. Uh, you can imagine this in the middle of the jungle in Misiones, uh, we started, uh, uh, the only Russian church. And my dad, when he later on moved to Buenos Aires, um, contributed to the formation of a Russian Bible Institute to train missionaries. Uh, to try to get the word of God behind the iron curtain. So that was my, my formative years, right? Uh, I, I knew nothing about soccer or Malbec or, or this was my Sunday school, right? So, um, it was a little bit of an activism because everybody from the colonies, from the Russian colonies in Argentina would move to Buenos Aires, go through a three year training. And then, uh, the mission was to smuggle Bibles. Right, so, the mission was to prepare the sons of, um, immigrants, like myself, like two of my brothers, who did it, cause they were older than me, um went through this training just like many, many others, uh, you know, four or five years older than me at that time. They went through the Russian Bible Institute. That your dad started. That my dad contributed to the startup of it. Uh, obviously, uh, America had a lot to do with it because, uh, in America, everybody was against Russia and the Iron Curtain. In Argentina, they were just happy to be there. Being Argentina, they left Russia and they said, we want nothing to do with it. And uh, the Americans that came over there said, Hey, let's do something for your relatives that were left in Russia. So that was the movement that started. We did things that is unbelievable. I mean, I have another 20, 30 minutes to talk about. Oh, my God. No, tell it. Because you were telling me the story about the Russian, like, warship or whatever the hell that was. Sure. Tell that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We got to hear that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Three things. Amanda, this is nuts. Like just get ready like, to give you an idea, we, we said, okay, well we wanted to do something to, uh, get the Bible, uh, to Russia behind the iron curtain. And we'd read this book, uh, and he was. Are here. I mean, you know, when you're a kid, you have Spider Man and Batman and, and, and Superman and everybody else. We had brother Andrew. Did he have a cape? He, no. Was he a good brother? No, he was a great brother. Okay, he was a good brother. He was a, he wrote a book. You can still buy the book. Um, he had a Volkswagen. And he was from Denmark to Russia. He was Smuggling Bibles into Russia. The book is called, God's Smuggler. So, what kid doesn't want to be a pirate? Right. Or a smuggler? We wanted to be smugglers. Adventure. You're 15 years old, and you're, you're dealing with this guy, Brother Andrew, and you're starting to smuggle Bibles? Oh, you bet. All right, go. Ah, you bet. This is amazing. You know, not only that, but when you're 15, they scare you with the apocalypse and the end of the world or global warming or whatever it is, so you say, Oh, no, I got to do something to save this planet. You know, so I said, I better listen while there was a Russian scientific research vessel that went to Argentina and uh, because he was denied petrol in two other countries. Uh, yeah. Fuel. Gas. Gas. Gas. Okay, got it. No, they don't run on gas. I'm American. I'm a loser. What do I know? They don't run on gas. They run on petrol. That's why they smoke so much. Petrol is different than gas. Yeah. Got it. Okay, sorry. My bad. It's crude. They burn crude. Oh, it's crude. So, um, we knew that it was there. We wanted to practice our Russian language. So, we went to the port and started talking to these guys. These guys invited us into the ship. We saw a mini sub there. The Russian people? Yeah. Like the Russian military people? Well, we were, we were fluent in Russian, and they thought that we were sleeper cells. Oh my god, this is amazing. No, no, yeah, they thought that we were sleeper cells, planted by the Russians in Argentina. Because we spoke Russian fluently. So they go, whoa, so what are you doing here? And do you know Judo and Karate also? And do you know how to shoot and everything else? And I said, no, we, We, we do have powers. What powers do you have? And we peeled a little Bible, like a mini Bible in Russian. I said, this is the two aged sword. It can kill your old man and bring you a new humanity into you. And they're going, no, no, no, I can't accept that. And they would grab it from us immediately. So I said, they go, can you bring me more of these? So we went off the ship, nice visit and everything else is, huh, well tomorrow we're going to come back. And bring a few duffel bags. In, in your little Volkswagen with your, with brother Andrew. He was in Denmark. Whatever, okay. My bad, sorry. No brother Andrew, Andrew's gone. We're emulating. Andrew's gone, Andrew's already done. Okay, got it. We became God smugglers now, man. Alright, okay, got it. We got a covert operation going, right? Yeah. So we bought, I remember we bought Lee Blue Jeans, Levi Blue Jeans, Wrigley Spearman gum and all kinds of stuff that the Russians Can't have. Can't have. Contraband. Can't have, right? Contraband, brother. Right. And we filled it with about 50, 70 of these Russian Bibles. And they were, I'm not kidding you, the pages were like rice paper. They were not, not even bigger than a cigarette pack. You needed, you actually, yeah, you actually needed a magnifying lens to read it. But that's the way that we got Bibles into Russia. So we come to port and we thought, okay, well let's give these bags to the boys that they're going to go up and Put him away. Well, for some reason we didn't know what we're doing this lifeboat opens Hanging off the Russian ship the tarp opens and this guy goes. Hey What's going on? Toss him overboard. So we tossed about four duffel bags overboard and he hit him in and Busted sure they weren't allowed to have them. No, are you? So they were like trying to sneak this shit. They were helping you sneak this shit in Peter. This is amazing. The, the ones that were complete, I mean, now you see a guy with no hair on his head and you go, oh, okay, well, that's cool. By the way, if I didn't love you before, I have a whole new level of respect for you right now. Good part. When I was 15 years old, I would go to Disneyland and I would come home and I would have like, funny dreams. You were a different 15 year old, that's for sure. Sorry, continue. Not different than anybody else, uh, But, uh, yeah, so This guy, you know, grabs all the, all the bags. Um, you know, somebody told us when we were making the bags, one of the elders in the Russian church, they're going, you know what they're going to do with this. They're going to sell it. They're going to sell it. And we thought to ourselves, I don't care if they sell these Bibles in Russia for, for good or for bad, for profit or non profit. It's getting out there. It's getting out there. Right. No sooner we do that, then we're trying to go back and leave the port, right? The dog. And a military jeep pulls up. Now remember I told you before, it was under military dictatorship. With curfews. With police controls. And you speak Russian. And I speak Russian. Holy crap. And the guys in the Russian ship, you know, thought that we were sleeper cells in Argentina. So, all four of us, and two girls with us also because we wanted to be here in front of them. Guaranteed one of them was Katerina. In front of Katerina and Nadia. We wanted to be here. Let's go, right. You know, and, I mean, everybody. Just in trouble right white as a paper. I mean just froze and they're the guys are going well what's going on what contraband did you just put into a chip and Little Alex I got my box to go and say well You know what we did here is we gave him Bibles and the myth theory guy looked at me and goes He goes I have a son about your age and he were probably do A stupid thing, just like the one you did right now. Those guys don't deserve Bibles, they're communists, they're bastards, they're atheists, and we're looking at them going, uh huh, uh huh, uh huh, but they need Bibles. So he goes, I don't know if I should incarcerate you? Or let you go, but I'll tell you what, I'm going to go and ask the captain if he saw anything by the time I come back, I don't want to see you here. So he turned around, he took the jeep up to the ship. We looked at each other and booked it. I mean, as fast as we could, we had no cars. We have to wait for a bus to get home. This is amazing. It's wild. I love this. So then, so what happens, like, what, the Russian ship leaves, and you, you, no more Bibles into, into Russia, or you have like, you come up with some new plan? Oh, no, no, no. Oh, no, no, no. I didn't come up with any plans, but we have, we have a plan. Oh, yeah. So, the Slavic Gospel Association. Wheaton, Illinois. They still exist, by the way. Um, they made us write these letters, right, this is great because that's how we speak Russian. I can read it. I can write it because we were doing this. And so we write this letter to aunts and uncles that we didn't know we had, 10, 15 per kid in Sunday school. But then they give us this little rice paper sheet that had tiny little micro fish squares in it. And a piece of plastic about the size of a postcard that was, uh, uh, engraved kind of like a, vinyl, like a record, like a record, right? Super clear. And if you put it away from a page, it will, it would augment or you could see it, uh, just like a, just like a loop, just like a magnifying glass. So we'll put that piece of plastic, that rice paper with a Bible in it. In our handwritten letter and mail it off to Russia. So that's another way that we smuggled the word over there. Even though we had The word was written on all that little microfiche? Believe me, there were You were like, smuggling letters into Russia. In the trenches, right. Getting Bibles on microfiche into Russia. Oh yeah. God's, like, God's smuggler, man. You, seriously, dude. You weren't effing around. Wait, I told you that. I guess, to me, the best one because, yeah, that one's exciting. The one about the Russian ship is exciting and it happened to me. I have none of these stories. I need to figure it out. I need to make up stories. It's like a whole life. You've lived multiple lives. Okay, sorry, I have like a question here though, because like, don't get me wrong, I love all this Alex, but can you explain what this has to do with answering Amanda's original question, which was like, why did you choose to immigrate to the United States? Because we just got off on like 55 different tangents, which I thought were amazing. I mean, besides just being fearful for your life, I feel like there's, how did this all connect to the United States? So, and the last one about this. Uh, Smuggling Bibles and Smuggling the Word of God into, uh, Russia was that we also had a shortwave radio station in Quito, Ecuador. Now you know the equator is the half of the world. How did you have? Who did you know in Quito? We, the community. The Slavic community. The Slavic community, right. You were connected, dude. So, oh, yeah, and then we became a force, right? Everybody just got, got, uh, I guess excited about doing something. Yeah. To try to get the word into Russia. Yeah. Because there were Russian Christians over there suffering. So when is it? Sorry, this is 1970? Yeah, 69, Okay, yeah, yeah, gotcha. Okay, go ahead, yeah. So, um, they told us that short, you know what short waves are? Yes. Short wave radio. Before computers, before internet, before everything else, they told us that if you put a short wave transmitter On the equator, then you can balance off the short wave, uh, signals all the way six times on the crust of the earth, all the way to Siberia. Right. So that's how it works. And, uh, so these guys from the United States, from the, uh, gospel association would come in and I was, I mean, just so impressed because it would bring a Sony reel to reel recorder. They would give us a Bible and Russia. And they go, okay, we're 11 years old, start reading passages of the Bible in Russian, and they would record it. And just start bouncing that shit over to Russia. Right. And we didn't know why they picked us. Damn. But there's a twist to it, right? So the word was getting all the way to Siberia. I'm going to fast forward. And in the year 2000, 1999, actually three months before, uh, Y2K. I was already in the States, and I'll get to how I got to the States and everything else. Yeah. We were already best friends, but I was asked to go as an interpreter and translator for a group of to Siberia. I remember this, to Siberia. Oh my god. I remember when you went. Yeah. That's why you went. Yeah. So a group of dentists and from the Rotary Club in Corona and in Loma Linda, uh. Uh, uh, decided to go to Siberia to the orphanage there, uh, to work on, on the orphanages and, and give him portable dental equipment. And they needed people who spoke Russian. I was a Rotarian at the time. I went with them. Long story short, I'm with them, doing the thing and everything else with the kids, uh, that's another chapter, right, to talk about the, the, um, orphanages. Ah. Holy crap a noly. While I was there, I said, hey, is there a Christian church anywhere here? And they said, yeah, Wednesday nights they meet at this apartment house. So I went over there and they were having service. So I stand up, I introduce myself and they go, Hey, great, welcome, God bless you and everything else. And then after this service, I said, I looked at an old man in the back of the church, because remember I'm talking Yeah, you were, you were nine years old, you were translating shortwave radio in Argentina through Ecuador, all the way over there, I'm picking this up And now, right, and now it's Y2K, so everybody has a computer Yeah, yeah, yeah So I look at this old man, and he says, yeah, I'm one of the elders in this church And I said, hey, uh, Vladimir I go, yeah, do you remember? Do you, do you know who I am? No shit! He goes, how can I know who you are? You're half American, you speak with an accent, you come here, uh, uh, you know, you say greetings from California. How can I? Pour me a vodka. Well, I go, um. When I was a little kid, we had a shortwave radio station in Ecuador, and he went like this. He did the code letters for the radio. He went H C J B, the voice of the Andes. Every Wednesday night, we got the word of God in the dungeons. Alex, I have a question. Did he do that, like, in, like, all sorts of histrionics? Histrionics! HISTRIONICS! Yes! Let's go! That's two for me. He remembered. Oh, yeah. He says, we were lucky. We were listening to, to the message and then you kids. Couldn't read Russian fast enough or good enough, but we were handwriting What you were writing and correcting your mistakes in your pronunciation. Holy shit. It's crazy. Oh my god I can't even like that gives me chills. It's like full circle. That is the best story I've ever heard. Oh my god I love that. Okay. I have a question though. you have to explain what this all has to do with like immigrating to the United States because Amanda asked you about an hour ago, like, so why America? Wait shouldn't we keep this for next time because you're promising me episode two. We're gonna do episode two, promise. But before we end, can we do some fun facts? Are there even fun facts? How do I have fun facts about Alex? What are you talking about? I mean, not necessarily about Alex, but it can be like Argentina in general. Oh, I did say I saved some fun facts about Argentina. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. Alright, I'll do some quick fun facts about Argentina. Alex, tell me if you know these or not, okay? So this is where we like, sort of like, just do some crap that people can take away and have a little fun with. Alex, did you know Argentine immigrants make up one of the smallest portions of the Hispanic Latino population in the United States with only approximately 300, 000 people of Argentine descent here in America? And despite these smaller numbers, they have had a significant cultural impact because they are loud. AF. As you know, only 300, 000. Wow. I thought it would be a lot more than that. Did you know how many there were? Uh, no, but probably figured it's a small number. Yeah, mas o menos. I mean, I don't know. Maybe it's 500, 000 now, but yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Uh, number two, Argentine immigrants in the U. S. have higher levels of education compared to other immigrant groups. Many hold advanced degrees and are employed in fields such as, like you were saying, engineering, medicine, and business. Um, all right, number three. The largest Argentine communities are in Florida, especially Miami, california, Los Angeles, of course. Miami is sometimes called Little Buenos Aires because of its large Argentine population. And super fun fact, did you know that Miami hosts an Argentine Flag Day celebration every June 20th? Honoring Argentina's national flag and cultures food and music. When do you move to Miami, dude? Yeah, that's awesome. Or you should just start your own little Celebration of the year. That's why Messi went to Intermiami. That's why Messi is down in Miami now. That makes sense. They have that huge artsy community. I didn't even think of that. The whole economy boosted there. Oh yeah. I don't want to get off track, but the whole reason he's doing this whole thing is so he can own a new soccer club in the United States. Okay. Number four, Argentines have brought their super cool culture to the United States. That's what we were talking about earlier. Particularly through food. Empanadas, asado, dulce de leche. How did we not talk about dulce de leche? And music, like tango. Many Argentine immigrants in the United States are entrepreneurs. Thank you, Alex. Especially in the restaurant industry. I, I chachipitied that shit. And that is your life. That's hysterical. Alright, so apparently you started in the right place. And speaking of tango, did you know the Argentine Tango Festivals are held every year in both New York and Chicago? They're getting like really famous. I don't, have you gone to see one? I gotta go see one. I didn't go. I haven't there, but yeah, I know. I think we're gonna do. I think we're I think we're going. Yeah, let's go Um, and finally, okay Number five as we said earlier argentina is famous for its malbec wine And argentine immigrants have helped promote argentine wines in the united states leading to their popularity in American wine culture. Between 2004 and 2018, Malbec exports from Argentina to the United States increased 500 percent in volume and 800 percent in value. So, dude, get on the Malbec train if you haven't already. I love this. Let's go, right? Let's own some stock. Let's get some stock. I love that I've learned a little bit more about Argentina than I knew when we first started this episode. Um, but Pete, I really feel like we need to have some call to action. Or do we just say to be continued? I don't even know. Because, like, what's the protocol? No protocol. I don't even know. We're totally going rogue here. I did put something together for our listeners who might want to learn a little something more about Argentina before we get to the second part of the series. Should I do that? Yeah, yeah, why don't you do it with a little bow? Okay, alright, alright, okay. Okay, so first, go watch The Secret in Their Eyes, or El Secreto de Sus Ojos. Yes. Look at that, yes, came out in 2009. It won Oscars, people! It showcases Argentine culture, history, and the nation's complicated political backdrop, as Alex was saying during the 1970s. Or watch Argentina 1985. I just saw that one. It was frigging amazing. It's about how Argentina was returning to democracy and the whole trial of the military dictatorship before that. Which I was already here. Oh my god, excellent. Both of them, excellent, excellent movies. Um, okay, or if you're into reading instead of movies, uh, read Imagining Argentina by Lawrence Thornton. A novel set during Argentina's dirty war in the 1970s. It's a really good historical fiction novel that gives some context of the challenges immigrants faced during that time. Yes. Another movie I would recommend is, yeah, the Two Popes. Oh, unbelievable. Un uh, yes, absolutely. Have you seen this, Amanda? No. Add this to your queue. Okay. Just show that. Yes. Okay. Just know that, uh, it is, uh, oh my gosh. Who, uh, Anthony Pope Francis Anthony, Anthony Hopkins, yeah. Is Pope Benedict. Right. I, I forget who plays, uh, Pope Francis. Unbelievable, but yes, Francis, right? I'm going to watch it again. I'm going to watch it before I left Argentina. I had Uh, close proximity to Pope Francis because he was a ghetto, uh, missionary, a you knew Brother Andrew. I mean, might as well. But I was into God smuggling, right? But, uh, this guy was a ghetto priest. Huh. And so, just to understand what kind of a, you know, socialist ideas he brings to the Vatican today, you gotta watch it because he was Okay. It's excellent. Oh, definitely. So well done. And he's so humble. Um also, if you're in New York or L. A., visit a museum. The Tenement Museum in New York or the Museum of Latin America. Uh, m O L A A in California. Both have highlights of Latin American immigrant stories. Some specifically related to Argentine immigrants. While you're there, ask about Argentina's National Commission on Disappeared Persons. That's a real thing. 30, 000 people disappeared during this military dictatorship. Disappeared. Unbelievable. And if you watch any of the movies we're talking about, it's all in there. Always on that list. It's unbelievable, right? And here you are. Um, visit a local Argentine restaurant, try empanadas, asado, or dulce de leche. We can all meet at Patagonia and Orange. Let's go. Where this podcast was born. Or if you're super bold, take a tango class at a local dance studio or attend a tango night. You can find them almost anywhere. And finally, if you're really bold, just go visit Iguazu Falls. One of the world's most incredible natural wonders, way, way better than Niagara Falls people. And there you have it, fellow listeners, a heartfelt and fascinating first leg of the journey through the life of a dear friend whose story spans continents, cultures, and eras. From Growing Up in the Politically Turbulent 1960s Argentina as the child of Russian immigrants to boldly moving to the United States at just 18 to pursue college and a fresh start this episode has been a deep dive into resilience Identity and the pursuit of new beginnings. If we've done our job today, you're walking away with not just a glimpse into one man's extraordinary journey, but a broader appreciation for how history and personal stories intertwine, whether it's navigating the challenges of immigration, finding your place in a new world, or caring for the legacy of those who came before the message is clear. Life's path is never linear, but it's always worth the walk. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who appreciates a story that's equal parts inspiring and thought provoking. And remember, every life, no matter how far it travels, holds lessons worth uncovering. Until next time, stay curious and stay inspired.
