I started this a few weeks back, but, as I sit in the airport waiting to fly to New York, I thought it a good time to finish some thoughts on the country to which I am returning. I’ll spend just over two weeks between New York and West Virginia before returning to my studies and to the start of the Southern Hemisphere’s winter. If anyone is curious about what I am looking forward to eating (as this is a “food” piece) it would be my mom’s cakes, spicy food, and a “New York Slice”
In my last post, I mentioned how my network here is made up of a few different Russian faces. One of those faces is Vladimir’s. Vladimir, as mentioned before, just turned 21 and is almost done processing his divorce. I know very few divorcees at my age let alone 21. Vladimir is on his way to being a “starving artist” and this early divorce seems like a good chapter in the bizarre story that his life will inevitably become.
Since I have known Vladimir, he has proven to be quite the young director as well as a student of the arts. In one of our first conversations he was listing off his favorite American authors. Although being 19 and of near-Siberian origin, he still had read far more classic American novels than I had. When he met Luciana for the first time and she expressed her love of literature, he began reciting the beginning of “Eugene Onegin” by Pushkin before his then-wife cut him off for fear that the recitation could go on for a very long time.
Vladimir is from the city of Perm. A city of about a million people just to the west of the Ural Mountains. Perm is a stop on the Trans Siberian Railroad and, famously, was the last stop before entering Siberia coming from the west. This is notable as the Trans Siberian Railroad was one of the many methods of transporting prisoners to gulags. Growing up so close to some of the shadows of the Soviet Union—emblems of the state’s oppression—Vladimir turned his eyes westward and became a “gringophile” or “yanqui-lover” (someone with a fondness for American culture and values).
His love for “Western values” manifested in real-life decision-making after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. He was newly a university student in St. Petersburg at the time with hopes of directing films. When the war began, so began more curbing on the freedom of speech. Creatives, already sensitive to prior limits on freedom of speech in Russia, began to leave the country. Stoked by fears of future censorship as well as potential mobilization into the army, Vladimir joined those who would leave “Mother Russia” for greener pastures.
As I mentioned in a prior post, Argentina was one of the countries on the short-list of options for Russian ex-patriots to find solace from potential inscription and from threats to personal freedoms as individuals who did not support the war. Argentina was on the "short-list” for me as well as this is where Luciana was moving back to after I met her in Bolivia in 2022. My short-list was either moving back to the States with no plan or to move to Buenos Aires (also without a plan) to give my relationship a chance.
Vladimir and I both chose Buenos Aires and later found ourselves together in a “Level 3” Spanish class for foreigners in 2023 (aside: taking these classes was one of the greatest decisions I have made while here both in terms of learning the language but also giving me a great group of friends). Vladimir would enter the class donned in a scarf and a thrifted designer jacket. He always made sure to shake hands with many of us before removing his coat, scarf, and sitting down. We would ride the subway together often and get into confusing political conversations.
In all of our conversations, a running theme was Vladimir’s love for America. He dreamed of leaving BA and studying at an American university, he dreamed of making films largely uncensored, and he even dreamed of serving in the National Guard. As someone who can be kind of a “hater” when it comes to my country. Vladimir’s love gave me an appreciation for our ability to speak openly in the United States. Nearly all Americans have been freely able to complain about either the Democrats, Republicans or both while they’ve been in power. This is a freedom that is not awarded to every citizen of this planet.
I originally only wanted to write about how a foreigner’s love for our country can be hilariously manifested. Knowing many details about our culture but not knowing them fully. The story at the center of that piece was one of the times that I went to Jay’s American Diner here in Buenos Aires with Vladimir. Vladimir loves Jay’s. When we went that first time, he ordered a full American breakfast with pancakes, bacon, eggs, and toast as well as a cheeseburger and fries. In the process of eating his impressive meal, I witnessed Vladimir put mustard on his pancakes that already had a fine layer of powdered sugar on top (begging for maple syrup). As he dunked each bite of pancake in more mustard he exclaimed “I love American food!”
It was a gift for me. American culture is so ubiquitous that such a mistake is hard to find. Nearly the whole world has some knowledge of what my childhood, high school experience, college experience, food, music, and culture is like. It has always felt as though I am from the generic brand or flavor of country in this globalized world. That I had no secrets to share with new friends. I had no great language that was wholly mine and that was not understood by the majority of the planet. However, finally, I got to watch someone get it totally wrong and I loved it. Vladimir fought no embarrassment at all and continued his bizarre feast gayly. I wish I could see all of the moments like this one that will follow him to the US when he moves there this year.
Vladimir is accepted into Bennington College in Vermont and will start his degree in the fall. He first will need to be given a one-year student visa which he will have to renew each year. In four years time, he hopes to find work that could sponsor him. If not, maybe an American wife could help prolong his tenure in the Land of the Free.
Recent changes in immigration policies and on the freedom of speech in the United States have begun to worry me. Although I disagree with the view of many foreigners that the United States remains the “shining city on a hill,” I do agree with Vladimir’s sentiment that the USA is a place where the freedom of speech has largely been protected and should be cherished. For the first time in my life, I have felt that speaking out against the American government (or the Israeli government…) could result in my life getting more difficult. Maybe not today, not tomorrow, not yet. As someone with an American passport I have a lot less to worry about right now in the middle of 2025 than my friends who are on work, student, or travel visas. However, I still fear a future where speech is heavily policed in my country.
I am soon to get on my plane to JFK. I predict I won’t have a hard time at immigration. I hope that is always the case.
Very interesting! Good luck to Vladimir. Hope we get to meet him some day. Heather (mom)
Even though there’s plenty to criticise, we ultimately want what’s best for our motherlands. And there’s something satisfying about showing people the parts of our culture that matter to us.