Interview with Javier Calleja
Introduction:
For this interview, I decided to interview my Spanish 232 Professor, Javier Calleja. The reason he came to mind was because throughout the semester he has talked about his story to the class, usually in short instances during his lectures. One story that stood out and made his story significant to me was that he told us during the first years after he came to this country, he was an undocumented immigrant who worked construction, but he is now a JMU professor. That possibly minute-long story is the inspiration for why I just knew he would be the perfect person to interview for the Immigration Project. Javier Calleja instantly agreed to do this interview and was very passionate to share his story with me. Throughout this interview, we converse about various topics from how this country differs from his homeland to how he manages to keep his culture. Recounting on his time immigrating, he reveals a remarkable story to me and how much character it takes for a person to willingly endure it.
Methods:
interview was conducted at 2:00 pm on December 2nd, 2022. This interview was recorded in the office of Javier in Keezell Hall at JMU. I had previously written out some questions that I wanted to ask in the Interview to keep it in a more organized format. But as the Interview was being conducted, the questions would change to keep up with the topic as it was constantly alternating. The audio was recorded on an audio recorder I had rented from the Carrier Technology Center. Even though I had already heard some of his immigrant stories from what he had told us in the classroom, I still asked him questions that resembled what I had already known and expanded on them.
Immigration:
Immigration is a journey that no one can truly predict the path of. This is very prevalent in the story of Javier Calleja. Born in Montevideo Uruguay, Javier was not born into a rich family but; quite the opposite. Growing up in the neighborhoods of Montevideo, there is not a ton of room for economic growth while living there, so it started to push him to look for opportunities elsewhere. The opportunities that were presented to Javier in Uruguay did not quantify those that were available in the United States. So, like many immigrants who choose to go to the United States, he came for the opportunities and jobs that America has available. In correlation to the coursework covered this semester, the push factor at play is the need for new opportunities to make money that is not capable of being achieved in Uruguay. Resolutely; the pull factor that contributed to Javier choosing the United States over other areas such as countries in Europe that he had also considered, was the United States labor market. The United States of America is a very popular location for immigration due to the rich labor market that is stricken with opportunities that immigrants travel all around the globe to come seize. He made the decision to leave Uruguay for the United States at the young age of 18, he decided that he would come here initially with the main purpose of making money but along his journey, his primary drive shifted. He decided he could also use this country to achieve an education as well as help others, in his way, teaching children. Driven by the determination to achieve his dreams, Javier Calleja came as an undocumented immigrant and started his career by working in a variety of industries. Javier began working as a housekeeper as his first job in the United States. The company that Javier worked for just happened to be the company that cleaned the freshman dorms at James Madison University. Javier fell in love with the beautiful campus but was harmed by the reality that he would not be able to attend school here since he was undocumented. That is the moment that he found out his dream was to not come back to JMU as a student but to come back to JMU and work as a professor. So, Javier may not have had a typical immigration story but it has been one of various ups and downs. He went from being homeless and working as a housekeeper to being a determined professor who wants nothing more than to teach his students, but not just teach but to leave an impact on them for the rest of their lives.
Culture:
Javier has never strayed from his home roots after being here for 22 years. He recounted to me how he continues to keep himself surrounded in Uruguayan culture such as how he will watch Uruguayan television, listen to Uruguayan music and eat Uruguayan food. Javier even meets with the local Uruguayan communities from time to time. He also told me how he continues to visit his small apartment that he has had since he was a young man, and that he will visit with his children and wife because it is very important to him, for his wife to know where her husband is from and for his children to know where their father is from. But also so they know where their roots are. A very humble man, Javier Calleja stressed throughout our interview the importance of remembering where we come from. Even though throughout our lives, things may change and we may end up with a nicer house or more expensive car, it is always best to stay true to who you are. The best way Javier has found to stay true to yourself is by remembering and continuing to honor his culture.
Adapting to America:
During the interview, I asked a question that I believe shows how hard immigrating can become. I asked if he had already known and spoke English and if he did not, how hard it was to overcome the language barrier. He told me that they were required to take English in high school and despite having taken it for six years, he only knew very minimal English. It ended up taking him 6 months constantly working around fluent English speakers to grasp and learn the language. Not only was learning the language essential for him working but he was also homeless at the time, so in order for him to break through in society he had to learn the language or it would be very possible that he would remain homeless. This is a testament to how hard it is to break through the language barrier in America. But he was able to overcome and even though it has been 22 years since he immigrated to America, he is still learning more about speaking English to this day. While language is a tough barrier to adjust to, there are other hurdles an immigrant must overcome on their journey, such as simply adapting to the new environment. A question I had asked Javier was, what was the biggest shock you had when you came to America? He told me that it was just the sheer size of everything. All objects from houses and buildings to cars and supermarkets were ginormous in size compared to what he was used to in Montevideo, Uruguay. This is testament to how these two countries can be seen as two separate worlds, and this is exactly what I was imagining as Javier was telling me how the size of things in these countries differed so drastically. But by far, the biggest hurdle is not in front of you it is trying to get past what you left behind. Javier recalled to me how missing his family is the thing he misses most about his country. For him, it was the simple things, things that everyone regularly takes for granted; such as having Christmas with your family which Javier has only done once in the last 22 years. Also, something he misses most is drinking an Uruguayan drink called maté with his grandmother, because he could feel her hand which is very big for them. But even though it has not been an easy journey he does not regret it one bit.
Conclusion:
Immigration has been the foundation of this country and many great Americans are immigrants, including Javier Calleja. His story is nothing more than magical, an undocumented immigrant at 18 who did not understand a lick of English works his way from a construction worker to a professor at a top university in the state of Virginia. All while staying true to himself and maintaining his humility throughout the whole journey and still to this day being humble to who he is. This interview provided new incite for me into how immigration truly affects someone. Before the interview ended, I asked Javier if there was anything he would like to say before the recording stopped and he asked me a question. This question was if you were to immigrate, what would be one reason why you would? This question, while it may sound simple, opened up a new look for me when it came to immigration. I was instantly stumped as it was extremely hard for me to come up with a reason. I think Javier turning the tables was the perfect way for us to conclude the interview. That question alone caused me to seriously look into how hard it would be to give up your entire life and just have to be driven by nothing but determination to make a better life for yourself. Due to the way this interview ended, it made me ponder about how truly strong Javier and other immigrants must have been to have gone through that experience. In accordance to his final question, after the interview had concluded, I asked if he could send me any pictures and that is when he told me what happens when you immigrate undocumented. You leave everything behind, even a picture could have been enough cause for them to deport him. So, by the time he had returned home all of his pictures were unusable. This is just testament to how difficult, and strenuous the trial that which is immigration can be.
Grayson Updike: [00:00:00] Hi, this is Grayson Updike. I’m interviewing
Javier Calleja: Javier Calleja . I’m from Uruguay .
Grayson Updike: And when did you immigrate?
Javier Calleja: 2000 yeah.
Grayson Updike: And did you come to Virginia or. Where did you originally come?
Javier Calleja: So I came to, I was originally coming to Maryland and I ended up in Washington, DC for a period of time, and then I came to Harrisonburg, Virginia, but I wasn’t coming here at all. I didn’t know the Harrison board existed. . Yeah. But I’m glad I ended up here though. Yeah. Yeah. So I ended up here by accident.
Grayson Updike: Yeah. All right. Um, what would you say. The biggest shock to you when you came to America compared to like, to uraguay?
Javier Calleja: The biggest shock.
Grayson Updike: Yeah.
Javier Calleja: How big everything was. You know, like the buildings, the cars, [00:01:00] even the, the stores, the supermarkets. Uh, you know, that was the biggest change for me. You know, Montevideo is a pretty advanced city. You know, it’s, it is, you know, the biggest city in the country has a large population , there is a lot of wealth in Montevideo, the surroundings of the Montevideo you can see a lot of poverty too, obviously. So, but uh, when I came here, the size of everything, it, it amazed me, you know, the buildings are, they were huge. The cars were so big. I looked like Hong Kongs and there, you know, and then the size of the houses, like the apartments. The apartments were big. They had, um, closets to put your clothes in. And, you know, growing up we only had like a little. Yeah. You know, a dresser for the clothes and here you have closets that you can walk in. You can actually fit a bed in them, you know? So that was the biggest shock for me, I think. For sure. Yeah.
Grayson Updike: Um, [00:02:00] have you like, been able to find any, like, uh, uruguyaun communities since you’ve been up here? Like that share the similar culture you had?
Javier Calleja: Oh yeah, for sure. Cause. , it seems like when somebody moves then they help someone else and then someone else. And someone else. So actually here in Harrisonburg, in the surrounding areas, there is a lot of people from uruguay um, I went to a place in, um, New Jersey that there was a large Uruguyuan community. So I used to go there on the weekends after work. And then came back here to work and then I spent a lot of time there. And then after, after a while, I’ve been here for 22 years. So I came when I was 18 and I have spent more time here than I did in Uruguay so inside of my house, I, you know, I eat uruguan food, I watch uruguan tv, listen to uruguan music, and so I had never lost the culture. [00:03:00] But yeah, there is definitely is a lot of people around here from uruguay in the surrounding area.
Grayson Updike: Oh, I never knew that. Um, if you do not mind me asking? Why did you come to America?
Javier Calleja: Wow, that’s a very, that’s a deep question. Well, um, so I was 18 in, I wanted something different for me, you know, I love uruguay and I always tell everybody that I’m very proud of have been born in Montevideo, Uruguay. That would never change. I share that with my kids, with my wife and my friends. But I felt that, um, there were some dreams and things that I wanted to accomplish, that they were gonna be limited by my current condition, by my past current conditions in uruguay they were gonna be limited by my economic, [00:04:00] uh, and social circumstances. And so because of that, I left. It wasn’t an easy decision. I was 18. I had plenty of friends, family, and I was the only, and I’m still pretty much the only one here. And so it was a tough decision and for me it was a one-way ticket. So I came and I didn’t know when was I gonna be able to go back. But I think the, the primary factor was like everybody, well, I’m not sure if everybody else, but as a kid I wanted to come and make money, and then I realized that my dream kind like shifted. Then I wanted to go to school, then I wanted to make a difference and I wanna help others, help kids get educated. And so my primary reason has shifted over time. But obviously I wanted to come and get a job, make money, help my family, you know, and help myself succeed.
And those were, uh, those were living conditions that I did not [00:05:00] have. At that moment in time. Yeah.
Grayson Updike: So what you’re saying that just the opportunities that you have here, kinda just quantify?
Javier Calleja: Oh, for sure.
Grayson Updike: Yeah.
Javier Calleja: Yeah. I mean, I share this with everybody, you know, I know that, I don’t want to diminish that. The fact that a lot of people have to work very hard to make their dreams come true here, cuz I, you know, I had to work very hard. But it is a lot easier here than around the world. And I also don’t want to diminish the rest of the world either, you know? So, uh, but I think that I had a broad understanding of the opportunities that you can have in the United States then in other places. Um, they’re either not present, or they may, they may, are they. They maybe are, they may, [00:06:00] they might are there, but they’re very hard to achieve or obtain because of your economics, economic situation, maybe political, social situations, you know? And so that’s what I came, I came over. I realized that I was gonna be able to go to school. I was gonna be able to have a job. I was gonna be able to make money. And ultimately left myself from poverty. That’s, that’s the pure truth. I figured out I was gonna be able to have kids give them a future here that, uh, my, no, I probably wasn’t, not gonna be able to do that in the country where I’m from. Yeah. Mm-hmm. ,
Grayson Updike: um, what do you think, like now that you’ve been here for like 22?
What do you like miss most about living in [00:07:00] Uruguay?
Javier Calleja: My family.
Grayson Updike: Your family?
Javier Calleja: Yeah. My grandmother, my aunts, my cousins, my friends. . Yeah. I, I miss the nuances that people have, you know? Um, yeah. I will never stop missing that for one bit. Yeah. So those are things that you give up. . That I didn’t know when I was 18 that I was gonna give all of that for a different dream. I think my dream for me came true. But in exchange we gave up a lot. You know, like I have for the last 22 years, I have only spent Christmas with my family once. I mean, I have a new family now. I have kids and a wife and friends. So it’s a different feeling, but I haven’t been able to, you know, hug my grandmother and give her a kiss and Christmas for 21 years out of the 22 years I’ve been here. I mean, I can [00:08:00] call them with technology has been gotten, you know, has gotten easier, but it’s not the same thing. You know, I used to, you know, go to her house, hang out with her drink mate, which that’s a Uruguayan drink mate and eat with her, you know. just by the fact that I could felt her hand, you know, that that was very big for us. And so that, that, that is an un record in that is a loss that we would never, I would never be able to get back. But if I had to do it again, I would do it again. Not doubt, oh, cause my kids are growing in a very stable community and socioeconomics and political. , um, situation and around the world. Uh, a lot of the things we have here, you just don’t have, you know, so yeah.[00:09:00]
Grayson Updike: Sounds like you went through a lot to come here and can’t imagine how much I like took a toll on you just living so far away while you’re just trying to fulfill another dream. Now that like we’re on the topic, do you ever like, go back besides just the one, the one Christmas?
Javier Calleja: Yeah. Every time I have the chance, uh, you know, I go back and visit, I go back to the, um, the neighborhoods where I’m from and visit my friends. The ones that are left, um, a lot of them are no longer there because their life were completely different than mine. Turned out to be completely different than mine. But yeah, I I, every time that I go back, I go back, you know, I don’t go back to the big cities because that’s not where I’m from. I go back to the neighborhoods where I, where I came out from. So [00:10:00] I go to see my family first, and then I go and look for the kids that I went to school with that I went to high school with and visit them, visit the kids. Because ultimately it’s about to remembering where we are from, where we came out from, right? So then you stay humble, you stay focused. And you remember, you know, that the sacrifices you do with for a mission is for a cause. And then you chose, um, teach that to, in my case, to my students, to my, my own kids. And then you don’t lose the focus. because one place is no better than the other. That’s not a message. They’re just different. You know, my circumstances were in better or worse, in uruguay they were just different. . and I felt that I wanted something else. That’s why I came here. You know, it’s not that one nation is better than another, they’re just different. They have different opportunities [00:11:00] and some people just take the risk, and that’s what I did. So every time I have the chance to go to uruguay. I go to, I go to the city where I’m the town where I’m from. As a matter of fact, I still have my house there.
Grayson Updike: Really?
Javier Calleja: My apartment. Yeah. My, that’s a very small apartment, is smaller than a garage. But you will see a double car garage here. I still have it. And every time that I can, I go over there. I visit the place, I sit in my patio, I do the things that I did 22 years ago. Yep.
Grayson Updike: That’s nice.
Javier Calleja: Yep.
Grayson Updike: Um, do you like bring your family back there too? . So you’re like small garage size apartment?
Javier Calleja: Uh, my, my family from here? Yeah. Oh, I mean, well, because that’s, that’s who I am. That’s where I’m from. Like Yeah, they, yeah. My, my wife knows where I’m from. She does the place that before we got married, when she asked my girlfriend, that’s the place she visited. Cuz it was important for me [00:12:00] for them to know who I am, because that’s who I am, you know? we might be able to drive nice cars. We might be able, in the future, we might be able to live in nice homes. We might be able to put a nice plate of food on the table. . But at your core, you will never change. You will always carry with you in your case, you know the teachings that your parents pass on to you, that’s who you are at your core. Mm-hmm. , everything. Now the surrounding of you are circumstances of life. How much you work. How much work you put into it. You know, cars, homes, bank accounts, jobs that can be there, and that might be gone next day, but at your core, that’s who you are. So that’s who I am. That’s who I always will be. Now I live here and my circumstances have changed. I work in this beautiful institution. I have great students like you guys, but that’s who I am. [00:13:00] Obviously, I do visit nice places too. You know, I eat at night restaurants like anybody else. I do all of that. But it is important to me that my kids know, Hey, listen, this is where we are now, but this is where my dad come from. This is who he is. This is where he lived. This is his family. Because at the end of the day, that’s, that’s who I am, you know?
Grayson Updike: Yeah. All right. did you, uh, grow up learning English or did you, um, learn that when you came over here?
Javier Calleja: No. Yeah, so we were forced to take English in high school, , so, so it didn’t work out very well, , so I did six years of English and uh, when I came here. , I knew how to sign my phone number. Count one, two, three, my name and uh, and one phrase that I will not repeat for the sake of my reputation, [00:14:00] no, but yeah, no, I mean, I did six years of English and I did not a thing. Yeah, because we did interpretations, like, you know, and I, I, to be honest with you, I never thought that I was gonna end up here. That really took traction when I was 17. Uh, before then, you know, uruguay is so beautiful that I never thought was gonna leave uruguay it happened when I was 17 and 18 and I realized, hey, listen, I’m gonna be a grownup. I can’t find a job. Um, The only job that I can find, I don’t wanna do it cuz I’m not gonna tell you which one it was cuz I don’t wanna create any negativity towards any type of jobs. But I didn’t wanna do that job and I’ll say, well I’m gonna have to immigrate and it was either Europe, uh, I specific to either or to a specific countries in Europe or the US and I was like, um, I choose the us. I think that the US has. [00:15:00] The most opportunity that I was looking for. Not that it was better or worse, it was just different. It had more opportunities. But I never thought that I was gonna leave uruguay. For me, Uruguay is a beautiful place, you know? I could have. Yeah. I mean, it was, it was beautiful. So I never thought that I was gonna leave. Yeah. Yeah.
Grayson Updike: Um, so when you got here, how challenging was the language barrier for you to, you overcome?
Javier Calleja: Oh, it is very challenging. English is very hard to learn. . I learn it because, I mean, I still learning it too, but I learn it because I started working with English speakers, and I was surrounded by English speakers all the time, and I didn’t have no choice. I mean, and I was, I ended up by myself. I was a homeless for a period, homeless for a period of time, and it was either learn the language and integrate your. with the rest of society and, [00:16:00] you know, start working your way through or, or not. That was my way of thinking. I don’t say that’s the way to think. And so in six months I was, I was able to speak it.
Grayson Updike: Oh, about six months?
Javier Calleja: Yeah, six months because I was, uh, working with English speakers. About eight, nine hours a day every day. Like without stop seven days a week.
Grayson Updike: And what did you do if don’t be asking?
Javier Calleja: I was working in a fast food. Yeah. Well first was, uh, housekeeping industry, then construction, and then fast food.
Grayson Updike: Oh
Javier Calleja: I was actually cleaning, uh, the dorms from you guys.
Grayson Updike: Really?
Yeah.
Javier Calleja: In the year 2000. Yeah.
Grayson Updike: Oh, oh. So when you worked here, is that part of the reason you came back to work here as a professor? Cuz you were here working as housekeeping back in the day.
Javier Calleja: No, I work in the, for a housekeeping company that provides services around the area. Oh, yeah. And so part of the area was back in the day, they, they were [00:17:00] cleaning the dorms here or homes around the area. Yeah.
Grayson Updike: Okay. So what did lead you to become a professor at, um, jmu?
Javier Calleja: A professor in general or jmu?
Grayson Updike: Um, both.
Javier Calleja: So professors, I always wanted to teach. And so I went to school to, to learn how, you know, to be a teacher first. And then I went from my BA to my MA and then PhD and then jmu. I, it was, it is a, was like a dream Cause I drove by when I didn’t have, um, documents when I was undocumented and I didn’t know English either. So I wanted to come here to school, but that was out of my reach. I couldn’t do it. And then I say, well, if I can study there one day, I wanna teach there. [00:18:00] And so here I am today. So that’s how everything started. And it’s, you know, it’s something, it’s a very long story, but to make it long short is when I, you know, then I work here cleaning. And I used to, I remember looking at the university, the campus, how beautiful it was. And so I wanted one day to be here, and for me it came through. So I’m very happy to be here.
Grayson Updike: Well, that’s that’s great.
Javier Calleja: Yeah.
Grayson Updike: Yeah. Um, I’m trying to find a question, that was what we were talking with. I Apologize.
Javier Calleja: No, you’re good. .
Grayson Updike: And. how do you think, um, Uruguay, as like a country, especially from like your perspective as you’ve been immigrated for 22 years, how do you think it’s perceived by like the rest of the world? [00:19:00] Like currently
Javier Calleja: well, I think that, um, Uruaguay has changed. and I haven’t been able to witness their changes because I’ve been in the outside. So make an assessment of a country that you’re not in. A lot of times it’s unfair and I’m not really well informed. Uh, I keep it, I keep up with you way by reading the news, and I read the news from two different outlets. One that is for and one that is criticizing. So I kinda like can discern between the two. What, what is the remainings of, you know, the fighting in between the two different, uh, news, uh, outlets. What I do like about the progress that they have experience is that they have, did they have implemented inclusion? Uh, and so inclusion [00:20:00] not only of all Uruguayans , but also of the rest of the world. There is a lot of immigrants going to Urugauy from the rest of Latin America. And when I was in Uruguay back then, that wasn’t a thing back then. We were all Uruguayans I mean, well the first immigration was in the, well, the immigration that I remember from my grandparents was in the thirties, forties. But this new immigration is happening now as we speak, and that is something that it has changed, right? I don’t remember going to school and hearing different, um, Latin American accents for instance. And now you go back and you do hear different Latin Amer, Latin American accents, uh, people that speak different forms of Spanish. I mean different Spanish with different, uh, accents. And so that is something that Uruguay has Uh, changed or has [00:21:00] embraced, I think. And that is something good because it creates more cultures, more, you know? So I think that because of that, I think is being perceived as something positive. The Uruguayans being perceived positive. When a country is being perceived as a positive place, it attracts citizens from around the world. So that would be my assessment.
Grayson Updike: Oh, right.
Javier Calleja: Yeah.
Grayson Updike: All right. I’m trying to think the best way to phrase this. Uh, so you’ve told me how you came here, like how you’ve gone from, uh, working all these different industries and seeing jmu made you want to come here. So would that be how you, um, sum up your journey as an immigrant. Or do you think other factors like lead into it and it is just all these different things [00:22:00] have just affected your life as you’ve, uh, went on this journey?
Javier Calleja: Yeah. My journey as an immigrant, uh, will continue I think in a sense we are all immigrant, right? You’re gonna move from one state to another, so you gonna migrate from one job to another and who knows where we gonna end, uh, one day. But, um, my journey has been defined and it is defined by the people who surround me, you know, um, jobs and everything else is, is temporary, uh, what is really important is the people, like I said, like the people who. . So I think what it has really defined my journey up to this point is my kids, I have four. And every time I look at them it’s, it gets a different meaning. And obviously you guys are young, [00:23:00] you have a lot of years until you get to that point, a lot of years ahead of you, , you know, when I was your age, I never, you know, I never thought about it. Um, but when you get to that point, um, you’re gonna realize what I’m saying. . So that’s really what defines, you know, you can have three degrees, two degrees, you can get really good salaries, you can, whatever. It doesn’t matter. But it truly, and this is partially why we educators do the job, this job we do for you guys, cuz you guys truly bring the hope for us. You know, we’re very excited what the future’s gonna look like when we interact with you guys in our classrooms. We can see the way you guys organize, the way, the way you guys think, the way you guys talk. The way you guys, you know, behave the way, the way you guys engage. And so this is the same thing in a different, um, spectrum, right? You guys are temporary in a classroom and you move on or we see you, you know, we see you progress for four [00:24:00] years or some cases, five or six, and then you move on. And so in my case with my kids, it’s, you know, in a lifetime until they move on, they get, become independent and they’re not gonna see their life progress too, so my journey I think is, is more, have to do more with that than, than any other education job that I have that have been able to, to achieve. Because truly it’s uh, remarkable. The people that it came, that it came about in my life up to the point in friends, new friends that you make, people that I got to meet here at jmu, you know, they’re families. It’s this, it’s amazing. You know? So I will come my blessings with people. Yeah.
Grayson Updike: All right. Um, I guess to sum this whole thing up, what is like some advice you would give to somebody that wants to immigrate or is just considering it? Like what would your advice be to [00:25:00] someone who’s immigrated
Javier Calleja: to the state?
Grayson Updike: No, just in general.
Javier Calleja: Like in general. Yeah. Immigrate for, for happiness and not for money. Right. So, and, and I know some people have to immigrate, there’s different type of immigration. , some people are forced, some people have to run from different circumstances in life. But, uh, when you immigrate for, for the right reasons, whatever that might, Things work out. There’s gonna be hard times like anything in life, but if you work through you, you have a positive attitude and you surround yourself with good, good people, the rest will just come, you know? And this is, this is an interview that you came to do to me. You know, I’m not talking on [00:26:00] behalf of JMU at this point, so I’m gonna tell you this. I see God in everything I do, and so I have God and my family and that’s what I tell somebody. You know, stay on the good track of life and do things for in a good purpose. You know, help others and make sure that, you know, you do things the right way. There is, so it always pays off. It’s harder, but when you start to take shortcut, and eventually something bad happens, and then be grateful. You know, be grateful. When somebody gives you something, somebody opens the door, and if when someone opens the door, then keep the door open for the person behind you, because that’s what immigration is about. It’s all about that. You know, somebody opens the door for you. Staying humble, keep the door open for the person. You know that it comes after you, and then it’s just, that’s the way it works, you know? So yeah, immigrate. to be happy, you know, to find happiness. The [00:27:00] rest is all noise. You know, everything that we are seeing today, like everything in this consumption world is just noise. It’s there today, tomorrow, it’s all broken, loose. But if you immigrate for to be happy and with the people, and make people happy and make yourself happy, and you find happiness, the rest it will, it would just come, it would flow.
Grayson Updike: Um, I think we’re almost about done. It’ll just be some specific questions like, where in, uh, Uruguay are you from? Exactly.
Javier Calleja: So I was born in Montevideo. I live most of my life there. Then I move to the border with Brazil and then I moved back. So I moved quite a bit in Uruguay, but I was born in Montevideo and live most of my life in Montevideo . Before I came here I was living in Las Pierras and I think I spent there, [00:28:00] I dunno, like seven years. So, you know, yeah. It’s hard to say. So I’m from Montevideo, Uruguay. Okay. And then I live in a couple other places. Yeah.
Grayson Updike: All right. I am about out of questions. Did you have anything you wanted to say in this? I. That I did not cover?
Javier Calleja: Well, no. I wanna ask you one question. Okay. If you had to leave, if you had to immigrate, what do you think would be the reason that would make you immigrate?
Grayson Updike: That’s a really good question. I, yes, I have to say opportunities. , like it’s hard to imagine, right now cuz your entire family is here. I guess when you do have the question flipped, it does cause you to [00:29:00] think a lot. Cause I really can’t imagine myself wanting to leave everything.
Javier Calleja: Right. That was me. You know? Now we’re turning into conversation. That was me. Age 16/17, living in Paradise Age 18. I pack and left. Yeah, right.
Grayson Updike: That’s crazy experience you went through.
Javier Calleja: Like that’s it. But the thing is you never know if you’re gonna be next. Oh, right. Thanks for the interview. Thank you. Yeah.
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