Under the Peruvian Sun | Growing Up With Parents from Peru feat. Jason

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Hello and welcome to Culture in Between, a podcast that explores unique experiences of people

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who grew up in a culture outside of their parents' culture. We are your host, Alessa Ambriana,

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and in today's episode, we are joined by Jason, who has Peruvian parents. Jason, welcome to

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the show. Thank you for joining us.  Hi, good afternoon. How are you guys doing?  Hello.

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Jason, do you want to  introduce yourself first? Sure.  My name is Jason. I've known Alyssa

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for  many years. went to middle school and high school together. We were both in band together.

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I like reminding her. I know it's been years, but I do want to remind her that I did beat

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her to get into coral reef. That's true. She got in the year after.  both of my parents

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are Peruvian. I was actually born here in Miami,  but I,  one and a half, I went to live in

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Peru because my brother still lived over there. And I was there until about five years, until

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I was about five years old  and then came back to the U.S. So Spanish is actually my first

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language, even though I was born here.  So you mentioned that you are from Miami  and grew

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up in Miami. But  can you tell us where in Peru your family is from and maybe where you live

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too? So my parents are from Lima. I grew up in Lima.  My mom's family. Her dad was from

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a city called Chiclayo and her mom from a city called Trujillo, right? Both in the Northern

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part of Peru,  but not like any, you know, height wise, was normal, not  very like the climate,

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very similar to Lima,  not,  you know,

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Gotcha. Okay. Lima is the capital. Yeah.  Okay. So the capital. Yeah. Yeah. So is that pretty

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populated, I guess, or pretty, pretty big city that you're up in or if you remember? Yeah.

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It was a big city. Um, my grandparents lived,  um,  in, you know, it wasn't, obviously it

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wasn't a rich neighborhood. It was, uh,  you know,  uh, I guess if you want to call it a

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poor neighborhood,  uh, they grew up there. They had a house there. Um, my dad lived here.

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Right. But we stayed near my grandparents' house as my mom wanted to be near them.  Um, so I,

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I pretty much grew up in that, you know, close to the soccer stadium. I'm a huge soccer fan.

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sure you remember. Oh yeah. The jerseys for sure. You know, yeah,  exactly. So I, I, you

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know, grew up going to the stadium very, very close to the stadium and you know, I base everything

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off, you know, all my life experiences when I was a kid, everything, you know, growing

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up in that neighborhood,  which is it's called, um, la Victoria, which is in Spanish and English,

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the victory. That's the name of the neighborhood that I grew up Gotcha. Yes. Now that you mentioned

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the house, like, oh, yeah, the use where the soccer jerseys all the time. It's all coming

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back to me. And thank you for reminding me about, um,  or if,  uh, I should have mentioned that

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I knew I knew you from so long ago. So yeah. Okay. Very, very cool. And so, okay. So you

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still have family over there or like you've.  My mom's family is over there. Okay. Um, yeah,

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only my direct family is here. Like my brother is my mom and me. But, you know, my mom, cousins,

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aunts, uncles, everything is... I have a couple cousins here, but the majority of my family

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is in Peru. I do try to go at least once a year because I grew up with them. I'm very, very

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close to that family over there, so I try to go at least once a year. Okay, cool, cool.

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Yes. I think I remember you visiting... This is the part we can maybe cut out if you want,

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but I remember you visiting, I think during the school year or something, and people would

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joke and be like, Jason got deported. that's because it's... That was because of Shintaro,

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right? But it wasn't his fault. It wasn't his fault. So  my brother was getting married.

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My brother was getting married. So I was leaving school. Like I left school before winter break

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started.  OK, yeah. And then Shintaro was the only one that knew. And he asked me, he's like,

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oh, what do tell the teachers? I oh, just tell them I got deported. But I said it as a joke.

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Right.  But then. What ended up what ended up happening, what ended up happening, I know,

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you know, with everything going on, getting deported is not really a joke, but yeah, that's

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at times. And I didn't know that what was going to end up happening after where, know, because

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of personal issues that happened in my family, I ended up staying a prolonged period of time,

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but it was a very long time. Like I left in December. I don't think I came back until February.

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And I remember I almost got kicked out of core. I was like two days away from being kicked

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out of core. But Shintaro kept saying that, that it got to the point where was like people

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started believing that it was true. Oh my God. That's exactly what happened. Okay. I never

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actually got clarity on that story because I knew it wasn't true, but I was just like...

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Yeah, I was born here. Yeah, I knew it wasn't true,  but it just was, was like, why are they

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making these jokes about poor Jason? So anyway,  okay. That  was sophomore year and that like

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stuck through senior year when I graduated. Which honestly I didn't mind.  It wasn't really

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a big deal. Yeah. That is a long time  to leave from before winter break and then come back

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in February. That's crazy.  Wow.  But OK, so you mentioned that you kind of lived in  Peru

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until you were five. Can you describe what growing up there was like and then how different was

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it when you came to Miami? How much of a shock was Definitely. One of the things I remember

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the most is how clear the sky is here. And I know it sounds kind of dumb, like, you know,

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you can see the, you know, the stars at night and all that. can't see that at least in, you

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can see it in other cities, but in Lima you can't because it's like smug, I guess you can

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call it. It's very like that a lot of smug and you can't, you know, the climate is very different.

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And just, you know, the culture as well, like In Peru, I could literally walk, you know,

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two blocks or a block and, be able to buy anything here. It was different, right? I think that

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that was also a huge shock and. You know, like going to Publix, you know, it wasn't as easy

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as like, you know, going to the corner store. I'm not sure if you guys have been to, you

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know, what countries you guys have been to, but in that America, it's very common where

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like people that own houses or apartments have like, they make part of the house into like

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little stores. Right.  So you can just you know, you want soda you literally have to walk ten

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feet or whatever and you're able to buy anything. Yeah  It was things like that. Yeah Gotcha

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And did you know  any English when you moved back to the US? I mean  in when I was in Peru

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like in I guess kindergarten or pre-k all those things  They taught me like a little bit of

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English, but it was like I came directly into ESOL  You know, like I started starts going

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to Because when I came back, I went to first grade, but I didn't like I knew very basic

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words, but nothing that I could actually communicate with people. So they put me in ETHOM. Got you.

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Got you. Funny story, guys. Now this is going to be a fun episode because now we're just

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going to Jason and I are just going to probably dig on each other. I think I don't know if

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you remember this, Jason, but I remember. OK, so yes, since I did get into core of my second

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year, I think it was my sophomore, sophomore, junior year. And I was in my Spanish class

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and I think you had tried to get into my Spanish class. don't know. don't know how you got in

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there for some reason, but they kicked you out early after because they found out  very quickly

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that you  knew how to speak Spanish. But anyway, I always thought that was kind of funny. Not

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that the. Last name gives you away or anything, but I  just. Yeah, yeah, she told that story

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and I don't remember. don't remember who's she told that story in an episode and she used

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your full name. I cut it out. I cut it out. I didn't say, my gosh. So it was just that

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is funny, though. But he's not I will say for our listeners, he is not the only person to

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do that in Miami. Like, there's so many  like. Spanish speaking kids in Miami who try and

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get into I mean, I don't know how it is now, but at least when I was growing up to like

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so many Spanish speaking kids trying to get into Spanish class for an easy a. Oh, my gosh.

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Didn't work. Me, no, but it's like we're all like saying it all the Jason's are you probably

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can't even pronounce it poorly if you wanted to anyway. No, that's where that was But I

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guess right. I guess on that note, like. Speaking Spanish and writing Spanish, are two different

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things, all right? Like I've heard it's easier, like just because you speak it well doesn't

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necessarily mean you know how to write it, right? Or is that- I actually do know how to write.

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I have some  very few grammar issues and  things like, you know,  like the accent. A lot of

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words have accents on the word, like on the- because  some words will have an accent like

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on the first vowel versus the last vowel, and that'll actually change the word.  I know how

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to say it and, you know, to differentiate, but I don't necessarily know where the accent goes

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sometimes.  But like the very basic writing I can do. Gotcha.  Yeah.  And, and  I'm sorry.

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on. Go on. No, no. Because  I did go to Peru each year afterwards. So I would go during

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summer vacation. So that like, I never really forgot Spanish because I obviously I spoke

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it at home, but  While I was there in Lima and Peru, I would always speak it during the summers.

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sure.  And we've talked about a lot on the show because obviously we've had a lot of guests

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from Miami. Miami is obviously a very heavily Cuban  city and that's kind of like the main...

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It's  a very Spanish speaking city, but it's also like it's mostly like Cuban Spanish. So

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like, have you felt as someone who's like Hispanic and grew up in Miami, but not Cuban,  Like,

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did you ever feel like,  I don't know,  like, you didn't fully fit into like the Cuban  side

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of things, like how we personally did as like completely non-Spanish speaking, but like also

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having immigrant parents.  That's kind of a convoluted question. But yeah.  How did you

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feel about that? I mean, not necessarily. I wouldn't say yes. I'm very adoptable. don't,

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you know,  I  at least in at Reef  or even childhood.  really think that was an issue. don't know

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if you ever noticed that, Alyssa, but I  mean,  did do some jokes.  I would do, and I don't

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know if we have to this off or not, but I would do something like I would wear shirts that

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would bother Cubans at school. I did that a couple of times.  I'm not going to say what

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it was because I don't want  to get in trouble. But I did, and it really would upset some of

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them.  And some people even came up to me and say it  say it was inappropriate and all that,

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but I didn't really care about any of that. But yeah, but as far as like, you know, feeling

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awful or anything like feeling I didn't belong, I never really had that issue. I've always

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I've always just wondered that because, you know, like I said, so many Cubans in Miami.

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And I think it's easy for us as like non Spanish speaking to feel a little bit left out. But

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then I wasn't sure how other. non-Cuban Hispanic people. Yeah, I think the gap between like

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Spanish and  non-Spanish speaking in Miami is a big difference versus like people from different

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Latin countries, think. And  I tend to get well with almost everyone. I mean, don't necessarily

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like all of them, but I  Yeah. And I mean, in general, not just the specific like type of.

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Yeah. mean, people in general. Yeah, that's fair.  And then staying on kind of the topic

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of like language,  obviously  there's so many different types of Spanish speaking countries,

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so there's different types of Spanish accents and all of that.  Is Peruvian Spanish much

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different from  other types of Spanish? So  it's...  How do I say it?  So for Latin America

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specifically, so I'm talking about South America, not Latin America, excuse me, South America.

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So countries like Columbia, Venezuela, all those,  very similar, but the accents do change, especially

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within Peru itself. Like the Lima accent is completely different from like the accent maybe

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in Cusco or, you know,  or Ica, which is farther up or any of those kinds of places or the jungle

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they have. know, different accent there as well. But I think within countries, it's very similar,

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very  easy to kind of understand each other. But there are some specific words that like,

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have different meanings in different of those countries. But it's usually more slang. It's

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not necessarily like the actual Spanish.  Sometimes you'll say things that are like, Oh, why are

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you saying that? Right? Like, it's actually an insult. But in Peru, it's not an insult.

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It's like a normal thing.  I can't think of anything right now off the top of my head,

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but That would be the only thing. in general, Gotcha. Very cool. Yeah, it's interesting because

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I at least the way we learn Spanish in school was very like what they call it, like textbook.

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Like,  I don't know. And I would ask my friends to help me with stuff. They'd like, nobody

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talks like that. Really, like very formal, I guess, maybe very  and all that. So it is interesting

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to hear that. And I think remember  one had commented about like how Each place has like

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popcorn is like you can say it and like, I can't like so many guests. There's like so many different

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words for popcorn. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.  Yeah. But even so, but  even like that, there's

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still like, there's usually one word  that's kind of universal, even for popcorn. Like there's

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still a way to get to it because there's a word that everybody will understand. Okay. That's

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popcorn. Yeah. Interesting.  Or maybe I'm just smarter than the rest. So I know you were only

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in school for like a limited time in Peru, but can you maybe tell us some of the differences

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too with like coming to school in the US? Like how  we mentioned earlier, like you were involved

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in  band and music when you came eventually when you came to school in the US. Like. Did

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you  how is the school system, I guess, a little bit different? So  the only school that I did

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in Peru was like I said, pre-K and like everything before that and like kindergarten.  I do know

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that  I wasn't a private school over there because the difference between public and private school

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is not like here, right? Where you can get a very good education if it's public. Over there,

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it's not the same, right?  Public schools are not very good. There's usually a lot of issues

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and things like that. most people try to send their kids to private So I did go to a private

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pre-k kindergarten and not me. That was what they call it over there.  And I mean, other

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than that, it felt kind of,  I do feel like it was more advanced  because I  came to first

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grade knowing a lot of stuff that,  you know, teaching, even though it wasn't ESL, they were

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teaching stuff that I already knew.  I do. And just from like when I've spoken to my cousins

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and in Peru and things like that, it's always felt more advanced. their curriculum was, you

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know, how many periods did we have like in school? Like six classes in total, right? Or per year.

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Like their curriculum over there was insane. They were taking like nine, 10 classes,  you

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know, per year or something like that.  So I definitely think it's a lot harder from what

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I've heard and seen compared to what it is here. And  I think that's probably the biggest difference.

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Yeah, I've heard that a lot actually from people who like have lived in a different country

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and then like come to school here and stuff. They're always like, yeah, like school in America

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is so much easier. yeah, I don't know. And like even like the the multiple choice questions,

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people are always like, what do you guys have multiple choice questions? They're like, that's

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not a thing. Yeah. And I was like, oh, I didn't. Yeah, I did not realize that our school is

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apparently much easier than other countries schools. So, yeah, interesting, So since you

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like Traveled back and forth a lot. A common question we like to ask is like you have family

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over a lot of family over there. Like when you would visit, did any of them like make any

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comments on your Americaness or like, oh, Jason, you've been living, you you sound different

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now or whatever. Like with the cousins or whatever we that's a common thing we see in these interviews.

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mean, they would they would actually ask me to speak in English when I was over there.

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OK, because they they want to know how how it sounded. I didn't really I wasn't a big fan

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of it.  Um,  only because I'm,  I feel like I'm, um, I've always been very attached to

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like my Peruvian heritage. Yeah. I was like, I'm Peruvian. What am going to speak in English

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for? But honestly,  um,  just  as a kid, I didn't really see it. Maybe as I got older, you know,

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like I want a couple of years ago, I went to Peru in the summer and I absolutely hated it.

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Cause there's no AC or anything like that. was one the worst experiences of my life to

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be completely honest. But. As far as with my family, not like not really. There are small

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things like, you know, I would say, oh, I want soda, right, in Spanish, but I would use the

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word soda, which they don't really use. Right. So it was just like, especially living in my

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because I feel like if I would have been somewhere else, like in another city here in the US,

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it might not have been as strong because I'll speak Spanish thinking that it's Spanish, but

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it's not really Spanish. It's like Miami Spanish. It's words that kind of like  formed here in

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Miami that like Hispanic people use that are like basically English words that are now being

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used in Spanish with like a Spanish accent. that is probably the biggest difference. Gotcha.

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Or what they  would call out because I'd be like, oh, that's a Spanish word. Like, no,

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that doesn't exist. not a Spanish word. It's Spanglish, huh? We talked about that with David

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too.  Yeah, it's a Spanish word or is that just like a spang? I never actually knew. Is that

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actually the one I want?  Chancletta. Is that actually a Spanish word or is that just like

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a?  I mean, I'm not sure because in Peru, we don't use it. OK, OK. OK, OK. Yeah.  Yeah.

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Well, yeah, it's hard to know because Miami kind of has its own. Yeah. Yeah.  Its own language

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kind of thing. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and I guess because you visited so frequently, probably

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still kept a really good tie  with, you know, and you having family over there because, yeah,

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you definitely seem to be the guest that we've interviewed that's like been able to go back

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and forth the most frequently. And I guess that helps,  you know, being able to fly out so

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easy from Miami or something. But yeah, that's good. So I think that that probably helps to

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mitigate some of those things for people who don't get to go back as often. Mm hmm. Yeah,

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but. Wait, but I kind of want to hear a little bit more about this last time that you want,

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because this is a pet peeve of mine as well. think AC is like the greatest invention ever.

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I just  like I get the environmental stuff about it. And like, know a lot of countries have

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some.  Well, know, like, because I look so I've I've traveled  to Europe  a few times and like

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they a lot of people in Europe seem to think that  AC is actually like bad for your health

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and all this stuff. And  that part I don't get. I don't know.  I'm a big advocate for AC, but

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can you  tell us kind of about this last time or like any trips that you've taken as an adult?

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Like how have your trips to Peru kind of changed as you've gotten older than when you were younger?

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So  I definitely think that the length  of stay, like  I enjoyed it more as a kid than I do

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now.  mean, I went through last time I went was in September, but I went like for four

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days for a nephew's birthday. It was a quick visit, but  the longest I've gone in  the past

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five years, I think was maybe like two weeks, I think.  And by like the seventh day, was

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like,  I  like seeing my family, but I kind of want to go back already.  Just because especially

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in Lima, the traffic is horrendous.  Whenever you guys get a chance, like there's a video

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on YouTube about this guy that like explores traffic of like all the countries in Latin

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America.  And it's horrible.  You know, you have three lanes, but no, it's actually seven.

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Like  people are driving like if there were seven lanes, it's really bad.  The AC thing,

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I don't like going in the summer. I never want to go back in the summer.  It was  horrible.

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It was really, really bad. I'd rather go in this like in the winter and like get sick than,

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you know, have to go in the summer. Yeah. But yeah, it just felt like, you know, you get

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used to a different lifestyle here, like getting in your car, going wherever you want anywhere.

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And There is traffic here in Miami, but it's not as bad as it is over there. then even simple

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things like Wi-Fi, they have Wi-Fi over there, but it gets so slow and I get so stressed out

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and it bothers me because you get adapted, right? And I think as a kid, it doesn't really hit

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you because you're kid, you're focused on other things. But now I don't think I could go to

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Peru for more than two weeks. You know, I enjoy seeing my family over there, but more than

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two weeks. I'm like, all right, I have to go back. Yeah, that's that's a that's a long stay.

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I don't think I've ever that's that's a good amount. And that was actually because I lied

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and I said I had covid. This was this was a years ago. So that I could stay. But I actually

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did get covid. I did get covid. This was this was actually one of the worst trips that I

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ever had going to Peru. It was in twenty. 22, right? Where COVID wasn't really a thing anymore,

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but you could still catch it, right? And there were still like some airlines still had like

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certain restrictions. So I actually, went for my birthday and Peru, you guys know I watch

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soccer a lot, Peru was playing the World Cup qualifier to finally, to be able to go to the

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World Cup at the end of the year. The day of my birthday, they played, they lost. didn't

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qualify for the World Cup and I got COVID that same day. Dang. Oh no. So it was, was a terrible

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experience, but I had only asked for a week off from work, right? Or maybe like a week

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and a half, but  technically I didn't lie because I did have COVID. I just told her,  I let

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my boss know  that I didn't have COVID  after I know that I did have COVID, excuse me, after

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I no longer had it because I felt like I had lost so many days and that like, stuck at home

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not being  able to do anything. And I wanted to make up for that time, so I lied. Right?

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I know it's not okay to lie, but...  At least you're honest.  He's now.  Yeah, honest now.

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I guess that's a good way to put it. Oh my gosh, that's funny. Honestly, I don't think I lied

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because I didn't say I did have it. Gotcha. I had it. I didn't have it at that moment,

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but it was very close. Yeah, I'm sensing a pattern here where he's like ends up staying longer

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in Peru and then there's like a lie around it like What's the team? What's the have no idea

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how many times I've killed my grandparents. Oh my gosh Oh my gosh. Oh lord. What's the

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name of the soccer team? I actually don't know. It was the national team. It was the national

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team. Peru national team. Okay. Gotcha. Interesting. Well, I mean my parents didn't grow up with

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AC and I think that might be why my dad kept the house so dang hot in Miami. He keep it

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at like 77, 78 and would like not. And we thought that was normal. I know we thought it was normal.

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Then I was like, wait, this is not normal. My dad is kind of cheap, though. Yeah. No offense.

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Sorry, dad. But  it's,  you know, when you grew up in a poor country, think it's different.

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Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So did your parents do any like immigrant parent things, anything

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that would be weird to people who didn't grow up with immigrant parents.  No,  actually,

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I would say the opposite because my parents never hit me.  It's like a very big thing in

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Hispanic, like, know, the chancleta throwing and all  that. They never hit me, which I think

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was a huge mistake.  I think I could have used a little bit of that to be honest. That's funny.

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Wow.  That's funny. Even our parents hit us. Well, I don't know about you, but at least

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for me, a little bit, they would deny it now. But I definitely remember as a kid a time or

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two. Why would they hate you, Alyssa? You were so well behaved. know. Something about I think

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grades or something. don't know. Or I used to get I used to I used to mess with you. And

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I think when I mess with you, get in trouble or something. That must have been. That makes

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sense. I was the youngest one, though. OK. Yeah. Yeah. I was able to bounce in anyway.  Honestly,

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I feel like I could have used a little bit more discipline.  You're the first person I've ever

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heard say  that. So funny.  I'm very honest, as Alyssa knows. I'm very, very honest. Very

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true.  He's on good behavior so far. Yeah, yeah.  That's fun. That's fun. Did your parents have

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any, like, expectations of you?   As far as like what they wanted you to do for your career

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that kind of  No expectations with career, but they wanted me to you know get  Get a diploma

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from a university right because none of them neither of them went to university in Peru

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My parents are divorced, but my dad was a musician, you know all his life  My mom was  a stay-at-home

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mom for the majority of her life  So it was just like, you know, go to school get good

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grades graduate  and  you know that that was the only expectation  I'm the first, you know,

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first generation to graduate from from university from college  Okay, I think we'll go to our

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kind of like fun questions now  Yeah, we need to think of a name for that. I keep we keep

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saying that every time but  All the questions are fun, but these are especially fun  So my

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first question is, do you have a favorite expression or saying that your parents said that's kind

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of specific to Peruvian Spanish, maybe? Maybe. I keep telling her that's a hard question.

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I know it's a hard question. It might be a bad word. It might be a bad word. Maybe we'll skip

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that one. He did ask me before if he could cuss. Before the interview. And I haven't. I haven't.

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It's true. I'm surprised. We've had guests before. it's not. I'm trying to show that I've changed.

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All right. Let's we'll we'll skip that one. What's your favorite celebrity from Peru? My

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favorite celebrity from Peru. It could be a Peruvian American too. I don't think I know

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any Peruvian Americans. Actually, I do know one. You know what? I'll mention him only because

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it's so recent. His name is Donnie Sucar. He's Peruvian American. And he actually just won

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a Grammy for best tropical album for an album that he did with his mom. That's cool. Okay,

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okay. Okay, what about food? What are your favorite foods in Peru? okay. You guys are gonna have

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to look these up, but... Palladines Verdes, which is basically like pasta with a green

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pesto sauce. That's usually eaten with chicken or steak or whatever, but the most important

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part is the pesto sauce. Then Lomo Saltado, which is...  Um, like,  like beef, like sauteed

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beef with onions, tomatoes,  hate tomatoes. I take those off, but tomatoes,  um, rice and

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like fries, right. And then ceviche, which is probably something you guys have heard of before,

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which is,  um, fish with, you know, onion and  all the spicy stuff.  Uh, and it's basically

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it's cooked with lemon with,  yeah. Cooked with lemon and, you know, they kind of just put

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it on and wait for it. It cooks on its own. It's great. Those are my top three. Nice. OK,

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OK. OK, so you can think of a here in celebrity, but do you have like any music? Oh, that's

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true. He But could you think of do you have any like music recommendations that you have

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just proven artists maybe that you enjoy or just kind of, don't know, just curious. So

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I'll give you a couple. The first one is this guy that I mentioned, Tony Succar.  He did

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a Michael Jackson tribute a few years ago,  but in salsa.  It's  insane. It's so good.

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But that's not typical Peruvian music.  And as far as typical Peruvian music, there's a

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couple of artists called  Eva Young  and Pepe Vasquez who  are the type... Peruvian, Afro-Peruvian

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music. Right? It's Afro-Peruvian music and it's called festejo in Peru. call it festejo and

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it's just very upbeat type of music. Awesome. whenever you get a chance to go listen to that.

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Very cool. there something that you do when you're in Peru that you don't normally do in

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the U.S.? I was going say something funny about that. I was saying you could say like... It'd

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really hot from not having AC. I think my favorite answer was Alex's when he said he smokes weed.

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Yeah, we said one time. That was funny. So, yeah, it doesn't have to be legal. Over here.

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Oh, no, no, I don't do I don't do anything illegal. I'm trying to think. Oh, I know this is a big

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one, actually drinking in the street, like drinking alcohol in the street. when whenever I've gone

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to, you know. the neighborhood where I grew up, where my grandparents houses,  um,  and,

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just any places like that, they, what they'll do is the bottles, the beer bottles are not

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like single. They're like really big ones. And then you'll take one cup, right? And you'll

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serve it. You'll drink, you'll throw the, the, the thing out and then you'll give it to the

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next person. So everybody shares one cup  and it's usually done like at the corner of, of

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like these like neighborhoods. Yes, it's kind of weird. It sounds weird, it's custom over

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there. Okay. That's something I've never done here and probably never will, but it's custom

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over there. can't say no because it's disrespectful. Yeah. That's another thing that I've heard

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some people talk about abroad is that like, because like here there's like a lot of laws

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against like drinking in public in the US. So I guess, yeah, you like really can't do that

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here. Or at least drinking outside, I should say. You can drink in a bar. I never really

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thought about it, but that's true. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right. I think this might be our

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last question, unless we have another one, Alyssa. Do you have a happy place in Peru? Like a place

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where you feel most at home there that makes you feel the best? My grandparents'  It's still

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there. My both my grandparents already passed away a few years ago or more than a few years

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ago, but  you know, that's where I, where we grew up.  The family would always go there

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a couple of years ago. Actually I got everyone in the family to go over there, you know, and

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it hadn't been like that for so many years, you know, they, cooked and then we were there

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and then we were drinking and just having fun. that's, that's definitely  cool.   Yeah,  that's

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a common one that we get, but it's always nice to hear though. It is. Yeah.  That would be

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one of my happy places in I guess so. Yeah, we've been so  seldom. don't know if I really...

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Yeah,  I have fond memories of our  grandparents' house in Jamaica. They actually had to... Yeah,

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our grandparents also have passed away now and they had to sell the house.  And sort of funny

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anecdote at the end of that is that in Jamaica... If you leave a house unattended that you're

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trying to sell or for whatever reason,  people will start stealing stuff.  So people straight

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up stole some of the windows.  Really? I didn't know you could steal windows like that. Apparently

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people were stealing windows and stuff.  But anyway, yeah, they sold the house eventually.

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No windows at all. So, yeah. Well, in Peru, people will go and live inside the house. And

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then nobody can kick them out. They're like, well, nobody's inhabiting this anymore. OK.

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Yeah, man. Hey, that's you got to do, guess. That's crazy. OK, I think I I think that's

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it. Yeah. Thank you so much, Jason, for. Yeah, we appreciate you taking the time. Of course.

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Thanks for the invite.  Yeah, thanks for being on Your Best Behavior.  I tried.  I tried really

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hard. Thank you.