
Bryan & Gustavo discuss all things Venezuela.
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Brian Green
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Chris Hoadley
Alan, this is my dad, my mom.
Gustavo
Nyauela, and that's Diego, my cousin who.
Brian Green
Isn'T related to me. Hi, it's so nice to meet you guys. Gringo alert. Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
Hablo un poco de espanol.
Brian Green
But, you know, I was a little distracted in high school Spanish, so. Well, you just need to fuck us. What was that? On this episode of the commercial break, I am now the most famous Venezuelan you know.
Chris Hoadley
Right now.
Brian Green
Right now. You. Yes. That you know. That you personally know.
Chris Hoadley
Maybe you can be Venezuelan, but you have to answer me. Like three important words from Venezuela.
Brian Green
Okay.
Chris Hoadley
Do you think you know the meaning of. Of. Of three words from Venezuela?
Brian Green
You give me the words and I'll see if I understand them.
Chris Hoadley
Okay? What? I'll go easy on you on the first one. If you don't know the first one, I'll stand up and I'll leave the room.
Brian Green
I'm not in. I'm not making it into Venezuela. All right. Okay.
Chris Hoadley
The next episode of the commercial break starts now.
Brian Green
Oh, yeah. Cats and kittens, welcome back to the commercial break. I'm Brian Green. This is the chica to my gringo Chris and Joy Hoadley. Best to you, Chris.
Astrid
Best to you, Brian.
Brian Green
Best to you out there in the Podcast universe. A special Saturday episode of the commercial break. Because you didn't ask, but we're giving it to you anyway. Celebrating the very first international match here in the Miami stadium of Venezuela versus the United States this afternoon. 3pM I think you can watch it on Max, TNT and a couple other places. So here we are giving you a special episode to celebrate this very unique meeting of two lovely countries, the United States and Venezuela. Soon to be much more similar than ever before. Now crunchier than before, 20% more. Venezuela. We're here in the studio on this special day again. We decided to put this out on Saturday because the Venezuela USA match is happening today. And we've got a very special guest here at the house, my brother in law, Gustavo. Gustavo, international man of mystery. Gustavo. He's an international man of mystery.
Astrid
Seven foot tall.
Brian Green
Seven and a half feet tall. We actually have to adjust the camera angle to get him all in. I'm not sure the whole curtain gets it. He is really tall. He's a big boy.
Astrid
I love it.
Brian Green
And he eats me out of house and home every time he comes. Every time he comes here to my house. I tell Astrid that we have to put an extra $300 in the grocery budget. And here's a couple of reasons why Gustavo will sit. Like, I know I have a bad cream and cereal addiction that rears its ugly head from time to time, usually in the winter because I can hide it with clothing. Gustavo will sit and eat an entire family box of family sized box of cereal in one sitting, which is amazing to me. I don't even. I think I was doing too much cocaine to really like go through that growth spurt where I ate a ton of food in one sitting. But it still amazes me that any human being can sit and eat as much food as Gustavo.
Astrid
And he's a growing boy.
Brian Green
He's a growing boy. I think he's like 25 years old. But when do men stop growing 30?
Astrid
I don't know.
Brian Green
When do we stop growing 30 and women stop growing at like 26 or something like that. Something. And then we start shrinking. Our dicks get smaller, our ears get larger, our nose hair gets longer and we get smellier and less intelligent. Women just age gracefully through the years and that's how it goes. Gustavo is a huge boy. And it's just the amount of food that he eats is immense, Chrissy. It's immense. But he's here. He's celebrating the engagement, the recent engagement with his lovely fiance, Ale, who has been, I mean, as long as I've. They have been together. I think I mentioned this on the show before.
Astrid
Been together 12 years.
Brian Green
12 years. So he was three when they met or something like that. I can't do the math real quick, but they've been together since they were, like, in high school. So high school sweethearts. Gustavo comes here over.
Astrid
It's a love story.
Brian Green
It is kind of a love story. Can you imagine getting married to your high school sweetheart?
Astrid
Yeah, I don't know. I cannot.
Brian Green
Chrissy goes, yeah, I can.
Astrid
I mean, I can picture it for some people, but for me, I am glad that I did not marry my high school sweetheart.
Brian Green
I really still to this day have an affinity for my high school sweetheart, but I don't see us being married. I think if we had gotten married, it would have been a hot train wreck of a marriage. But she turned out to be a lovely human being, and I still communicate sometimes with her.
Astrid
Jeff's parents had been together since kindergarten.
Brian Green
No.
Astrid
Yeah. Grew up together. Were together together together until. Yeah.
Brian Green
Really?
Astrid
Yeah.
Brian Green
Kindergarten. Isn't that weird?
Astrid
The moms were friends, and so then they got to know each other that way. And, yeah, they've known each other since kindergarten. Obviously, they weren't boyfriend and girlfriend in kindergarten, but they knew each other and were friends from kindergarten. And then that blossomed into a love and into a marriage and three wonderful boys from it.
Brian Green
When was your first boyfriend? When did you have, like, your first, like, boy that you would come home and, like a crush, you know, like.
Astrid
Like a grade school crush or fifth grade?
Brian Green
Fourth or fifth grade? You waited a while. I think I was in first or second grade. I can still remember the name of the girl. I mean, I won't say it here on air, but I can still remember the name of the girl. And here's the funny thing. Like, I'm not gonna say it. Never mind. I'll tell it to you off air. I don't want to start family drama, so I'm not gonna start family drama, but. Okay. Fourth or fifth grade. Yeah. I mean, listen, do you believe that if you have a best friend or a soulmate like Jeff or whatever it is, do you believe that it's possible you all were connected in a different.
Astrid
Yes.
Brian Green
You know, time frame, universe, multiverse, whatever. Wrinkle in time, and then you had to find each other or you found each other?
Astrid
I think so.
Brian Green
I think so, too. Yeah. Someone you knew in a past life. It freaks me out to think about that, because I think it's very possible in this multiverse theory that I have in my head that's kind of crazy. And based on many LSD trips, I think that it's possible that, like, Astrid could have been my brother in a different universe or my best friend, or a dog that I like very much, or we were both possums or something like that. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, I think it's possible that it wasn't about some love story that continued like romantic love story. Could have been something else altogether. A friend, a brother.
Astrid
You just recognize that soul.
Brian Green
You recognize them. And so it's amazing to me as we talk about Venezuela in the United States, it's amazing to me that I found my soulmate, even though she was many countries away, like completely somewhere else, doing something else, on a different trajectory than I was. And then our worlds collided, which is weird. And Jeff showed up as your next door neighbor.
Astrid
He did, yeah. And when we first started talking and getting to know each other, we realized we had a ton of people in common, a ton of friends in common and places that we had been at the same time together, and we just never had met.
Brian Green
Yeah. So when you think about this, it's either the multiverse theory or Jeff and Chrissy are Ross and Rachel one of the two. When you think about it, I mean, that's kind of strange. I think this same thing about, like, my best. Some of my best friends like you. Maybe we were connected in a different life somehow. Some way.
Astrid
I think so, because we definitely recognized each other. I think when we first met.
Brian Green
We did. I had seen your name on the wall and so I. And a picture. And I said, that's Chrissy Hoadley. Or what I affectionately refer to is just Hoadley Dudley. Yeah. So amazing to think about all the different ways we are entangled. And Astrid and I, you know, obviously two different countries, two different experiences, two different cultures. All those things kind of washed away when we met each other. And the love story persisted. And Gustavo.
Astrid
Language of love. The universal language of love.
Brian Green
The universal language of Thirst Trap. Yes, that's right, Brian. The universal language of.
Astrid
I'm just glad that what your heart wanted this time was correct.
Brian Green
I think even in the worst of relationships, you're still drawn to that person for some reason. They have to teach you a lesson. Do you know what I'm saying?
Astrid
That's true.
Brian Green
So, like, you know, I had Nacho Potato the dog before. When Astrid and I met, she got me a dog, I think mainly to keep me in the house for some, you know, I had to come home to feed the dog. She was smart. She was smart in that way. She said, let me get the guy a dog. And that way, he can't be out being a dog. He has to go take care of the dog. I put Nacho Potato down because he was a danger to himself and other people. I've told that story on air. It was a terrible. It was one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever done, actually. And, yeah, that gives me a chill just to think about it. But anyway, then a year later, we get blue. And so part of me believes that Blue is just Nacho Potato ruining the rest of my life for making that terrible decision to put him down in that particular life. He has come back to haunt me in the form of a female. We call her a Yorkie, but I don't think that is trailer park Yorkie. Blew the trailer park Yorkie. And so. And in some way, I think that Venice. Venezuelans in general, at least for me personally, Venezuelans in general were meant to be a part of my life. That culture has taught me some things that maybe I missed because of where I was born and the household I grew up in. No fault of theirs, because they're a product of the way that they grew up.
Astrid
Well, and weirdly, another connection is that when you first started dating Astrid and you were telling me where she was from, that is where my dad lived.
Brian Green
That's right. When he was young, he lived in Caracas.
Astrid
He did.
Brian Green
That's so strange.
Astrid
Yeah.
Brian Green
Why did. Why was your dad living in Caracas?
Astrid
Because my grandfather was in the oil business.
Brian Green
Was.
Astrid
Yes, in the oil business. He was a geologist.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Astrid
So they lived in Venezuela. That's where my dad was born. And then they lived in Africa and different parts of the world.
Brian Green
Wow.
Astrid
Through that.
Brian Green
Your dad had an interesting upbringing. He did, yeah. And it's not strange that there's a lot of Venezuelans here in Atlanta either, because Georgia Tech is a place where a lot of Venezuelans went to school to learn about engineering for the oil business. And then, you know, the Venezuela. I think the government would sponsor them to go to some of these more technical schools to learn some of this stuff so they could bring that knowledge back and drill for the oil out there, which has made that country very rich. And I'm not going to get into the politics because there is the politics of talking about politics about Venezuela, and we do still have family down there. But, you know, it's just. It's. It's all like. It just seems weird to me now that I look back on it. After some time, now that I'm in my late 70s, I look, reflect, I'm reflecting on my life, and I'm thinking about all the different ways that Venezuela that like the word Venezuela and the Venezuelan culture kind of made a Runway up to where I am today, including just being placed here in Atlanta. Like, it's just kind of weird. And so, yeah, so I think we've been trying to do this for a long time.
Astrid
He has finally nabbed him.
Brian Green
Been scared shitless. Yes.
Astrid
Like, you're doing it.
Brian Green
I'm doing it. Only after we had that reel go viral did Gustavo make the decision that he wanted to come on, because he said, well, I want followers too. So after a long time of poking and prodding Gustavo, we have finally gotten him to agree to come on the show. He's a highly interesting young man currently living in Houston and going to school with his fiance, Ale. Why don't we do this? Let's take a short break, if it's okay with you. Chrissy has volunteered to give the chair up. And this is not because we don't want Chrissy here. This is because, honestly, we are. We are so technically challenged in the first place. Adding another microphone and a chair. No, no, no, no. Let's just pretend. Let's just pretend it's Chrissy for a minute. So Chrissy's going to step out. When we get back. It'll be Gustavo and I chitten and chatting about all things Venezuela. And I think you'll find that conversation interesting. And if you don't, fuck you. Go watch the game after this. All right, we'll be back.
Gustavo
I have a wild idea. Go to our Instagram and follow us at the commercial break. And then go to our TikTok and follow us there's. And then go to our YouTube. YouTube.com TheCommercialBreak and follow us there. And then text us at 212-4333, TCB and tell us that you followed us on all of those other places. And then go to our website, tcbpodcast.com and browse, I guess. Well, those are all the ideas I have for today. So see you tomorrow.
Brian Green
This episode is brought to you by our friends at Squarespace. We've been talking about Squarespace for a while on the commercial break. Squarespace is the all in one website platform for entrepreneurs to stand out and succeed online. Whether you're just starting out or you're managing a growing brand, Squarespace makes it easy to create a beautiful website, engage with your audience, and sell anything from Products to content, to time, all in one place, all on your terms. And when we talk about Squarespace at the commercial break, we talk from experience. Experience. Three of the four versions of the Commercial Breaks website have been built by Squarespace. Not a website designer. No problem. Introducing design intelligence from Squarespace. They combine two decades of industry leading design expertise with cutting AI technology to unlock the strongest creative potential for your site. Creating content like the commercial break. And you need to sell that content. Unlike the commercial break, Squarespace makes it easy to sell access to content on your website like online courses, blogs, videos and membership. And what about taking those payments from selling that content? Squarespace Payments is the easiest way to manage your payments in one place. Get started in just a few clicks and start receiving payments right now. So head to squarespace.com for a free trial and when you're ready to Launch, go to squarespace.com commercial to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain. That's squarespace.com commercial to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain using that code. Commercial. Hey, I'm Ben Stiller. I'm Adam Scott and we make a TV show called Severance. On January 17th, Severance is back for season two on Apple TV and we can't wait for you guys to see it. And before the premiere, Ben and I are going to be binging season one and putting out daily recap podcasts. Yep, each weekday beginning January 7th, we'll be dropping an episode featuring exclusive behind the scenes tidbits and brilliant insights from our cast and crew. And us, Patricia Arquette, Britt Lauer, Zach Cherry, John Turturro, the list goes on. All your favorite Lumen employees, their friends, families, enemies in your feed every single weekday. And here's the best part. After that, we're going to keep going. Tune in weekly as we recap every episode of season two. The podcast drops on the same day the episode comes out. It's the Severance podcast with Ben and Adam on Apple Podcasts, the Odyssey app, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored in part by Shipstation. Well, if you've been listening to the commercial break over the holidays, then you know that Chrissy, Christina and I have been hard at work knocking out 25, five episodes in one single month. So we understand just how chaotic a business can be. So when you're running an e commerce business, you understand there's a special kind of chaos that goes on with fulfillment and shipping. But Shipstation is one service that you can Count on to help you remain calm day to day when it comes to any and all of your fulfillment needs. You've got to focus on the parts of your business that grow the business and then let Shipstation handle the rest. Shipsation makes it easy to automate shipping tasks and manage orders from one simple dashboard. And as the old adage goes, analytics are everything. You can scale your business faster because of ShipStation's robust automation and reporting system. Listen, here's the best part. You can save thousands on shipping with industry leading discounts from their cutting Edge Rate Shopper. UPS, DHL, Federal Express and USPS. Rates can be up to 88% off when you use ShipStation. And most importantly, you'll deliver a better customer experience. Experience. Over 130,000 companies have grown their e commerce business with ShipStation and 98% of those companies have stuck around with ShipStation. Now it's your turn. Calm the chaos of order fulfillment with the shipping software that delivers. Switch to ShipStation today. Go to ShipStation.com and use the code commercial to sign up for your free trial. That's shipstation.com code commercial. Thanks to ShipStation for being a sponsor of the commercial break. And now Chrissy has stepped out of the room so that we can have a just a chat, him and I. Because I think he's a little bit nervous. He doesn't want a crowd here.
Chris Hoadley
Absolutely.
Brian Green
But the very lovely, always welcome in my studio. Probably the first commercial break fan ever, I would assume. Yeah, Gustavo. He's even got a song about him here on the show.
Chris Hoadley
And that's right, Gustavo, officially the man of mysteries here.
Brian Green
You are a man of mystery in a lot of ways. Like you and I find you to be mysterious. There are something you such an open book in so many ways. There's really not a lot to be hidden. But then in other ways you are a complete mystery to me. Here's a mystery that I have that I've shared with the listeners on the show. But now that you're here. This is my brother in law by the way. He's talked about a lot on the show. You better be careful. Yeah, I know. Who do you think would win if you and I got in an argument? Who do you think your sister would favor?
Chris Hoadley
Matthias? She will run away.
Brian Green
It's probably a smart thing to do actually. I wouldn't pick sides either. I'd be like I'm out of this one, I'm out of this one.
Chris Hoadley
That's what she would do.
Brian Green
You were here over Thanksgiving and you had a Engagement ring burning a hole in your pocket. You didn't help me and yet you didn't ask me for help.
Chris Hoadley
You didn't sell my signs.
Brian Green
What's up?
Chris Hoadley
I couldn't say that in front of my fiance.
Brian Green
You couldn't have just pulled me.
Chris Hoadley
I was telling you.
Brian Green
What were you thinking about giving me the ring finger? Like this?
Chris Hoadley
Yeah.
Brian Green
He was dropping secret notes in my late night cereal and cream bowl and I just didn't get it. I ate them.
Chris Hoadley
So you can check your phone. You can answer me.
Brian Green
First of all, congratulations on the engagement. Thank you so much. Ali is a wonderful woman and you're lucky to have her. You're lucky you have her.
Chris Hoadley
Why do you love it?
Brian Green
What's that? Cause I know you. Because I know you and I know her. You know there's a saying in English, you've outclassed it. Right? You've.
Chris Hoadley
I don't know what that means.
Brian Green
You married up. You're gonna marry up. So to speak. And I hope I get a good place at the wedd. Just want a front row seat to see if this actually.
Chris Hoadley
It'll depend after this. This episode.
Brian Green
Okay. We'll see how that goes.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah.
Brian Green
How did you. How did you ask LA to marry you? Is the question. Is the. Is the question that's burning everybody's.
Chris Hoadley
Okay. So we went to a lake really close to our.
Brian Green
Our place in Texas.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
A beautiful lake, which I had.
Brian Green
What's the name of the lake? Do you even remember?
Chris Hoadley
Do you even know it has a silly name like something. Lake Brian, something like that. It's like. Brian. It wasn't. Your honor.
Brian Green
Thank you. I appreciate it.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah.
Brian Green
So as most lakes in.
Chris Hoadley
So I had to work a lot for that.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
Because. Yeah. I had to invite her like 20 times.
Brian Green
You had to invite her 20 times?
Chris Hoadley
She didn't want invitations. I was going to do it on Roswell Mills.
Brian Green
You were going to do it here?
Chris Hoadley
Yeah. But Astrid and her like, they both were like, oh, Roswell Mills.
Brian Green
Yeah. Why are you going to go there?
Chris Hoadley
Why are you so romantic? We don't love. We don't like that shit anymore.
Brian Green
So I think this is the funniest story. I really do. Gustavo's. Gustavo's here. There's like a waterfall that's close to where we live. Within a driving distance of where we live. And Gustavo is. His intention is to get Ale to the waterfall, which is quite beautiful, by the way. To get her to the waterfall so he can romantically propose to her in a natural setting, you know, by themselves, like Having a romantic moment.
Chris Hoadley
That's right.
Brian Green
But Gustavo cannot convince Ale to go. And Astor does him no favors because she's also like, ah. Why do you want to go there? It's cold. It's cold. No one wants to go there.
Chris Hoadley
They prefer to play board games with me.
Brian Green
You could have asked her right there at the board games. Well, congratulations in any. Congratulations. You're now here in the United States on the student visa program. We'll see how long. We'll see how long you get to stay, but I'm rooting for you. I'm rooting for you. I'm rooting for you. I'm rooting for me also.
Chris Hoadley
Sometimes I have some doubts.
Brian Green
Yeah, well, I have some doubts about whether or not you're gonna stay past January 21st. We'll see how it happens. So, you know, true or false? I am now the most famous Venezuelan.
Chris Hoadley
You know right now.
Brian Green
Right now.
Chris Hoadley
You.
Brian Green
Yes. That you know. That you personally know.
Chris Hoadley
Maybe you can be Venezuelan, but you have to answer me, like three important words. Venezuela.
Brian Green
Okay.
Chris Hoadley
Do you think you know the meaning of three words from Venezuela?
Brian Green
You give me the words and I'll see if I understand them.
Chris Hoadley
Okay? What? I'll go easy on you on the first one.
Brian Green
Are these slang words? Do you know what slang means?
Chris Hoadley
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.
Brian Green
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Hoadley
If you don't know the first one, I'll stand up and I'll leave the room.
Brian Green
I'm not in. I'm not making it into Venezuela. All right? Okay.
Chris Hoadley
What is chevre? And give me a sentence. Yeah, right? Yeah, Uncle Google.
Brian Green
No chevre.
Chris Hoadley
Oh, man.
Brian Green
How do I use it in a sentence? Let's say that we went to the Braves game.
Chris Hoadley
Okay.
Brian Green
Right. And the Braves won. I would be like, man, that's Jeffrey, right?
Chris Hoadley
Yeah.
Brian Green
That's cool. That's awesome. Congratulations. Like, we did. Like, it was awesome. Okay. Is that fair enough?
Chris Hoadley
Yeah. You are not chevre. No, that's right.
Brian Green
No, I'm a 48 year old white guy.
Chris Hoadley
That's right. You're not chevre. You're right. You're good.
Brian Green
I haven't been chevre in 10 years.
Chris Hoadley
You're good.
Brian Green
Okay.
Chris Hoadley
What is a Roomba?
Brian Green
It's the thing that cleans your floor.
Chris Hoadley
Roomba on your wedding?
Brian Green
Yes.
Chris Hoadley
After the, like the official wedding, like the ceremony, we had a Roomba.
Brian Green
A Roomba is like a little get together with cocktails, a little informal party or a formal party.
Chris Hoadley
A really good party.
Brian Green
A really good party. Oh, a really good party. Like a. Like a hoedown, a jam.
Chris Hoadley
I Don't know if you passed that one. I think.
Brian Green
No, I don't think I passed that one. No. I honestly thought Roomba was the thing that closed. No, I thought Roomba was, like. I didn't think it was a party. I thought it was, like, a festival. I thought Roomba was, like, going to a festival.
Chris Hoadley
Roomba could be any. Like, any party.
Brian Green
Okay. All right, all right. Give me another one.
Chris Hoadley
The last one. That's easy. One of your girls know this word really well. Kaso.
Brian Green
Conaso. I don't know. I have no idea what kaso.
Chris Hoadley
I'll give you a conaso if you don't behave, as we always say, a spanking.
Brian Green
Like a hitting, like a slapping, A beating.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah.
Brian Green
So means a beating.
Chris Hoadley
That's right.
Brian Green
Really? Yeah, Like, I'm gonna. You. And I'm. That's why.
Chris Hoadley
That's why I always ask for yes to you. Like, I'm gonna give you a con. It's not a gift. Yeah.
Brian Green
I think the first Venezuelan slang that I. Okay. So you know Raphael?
Chris Hoadley
Yeah, of course.
Brian Green
Raphael's mother.
Chris Hoadley
He's my cousin, almost.
Brian Green
Yeah, well, he's your cousin. Yeah, he's your cousin. Raphael. Just to put the. Like, the kind of the family tree together for those listening. Raphael is my best friend. Is kind of the connection. The reason why I met Astrid. And Raphael and I have been friends for 30, almost 30 years. Raphael's mother, I would listen to her. She was, like, one of the first Venezuelans that I knew besides Raphael. And she's, like, from Venezuela, right? Really from Venezuela. Spent most of her life there. She uses this word, ecte.
Chris Hoadley
Ecte.
Brian Green
Ecte. Do you know. Do you know what this means?
Chris Hoadley
I think you forgot the real word.
Brian Green
No. So listen. So here's the story. So then I. So then I would go around when I was using Spanish, and I would say to Raphael, and he was like, why are you using that dumb word? What does that mean, dude? And I go, doesn't it mean okay? And he goes, no, that's my mom's terrible way of saying este. She says this. This.
Chris Hoadley
Okay.
Brian Green
Which is a word that she would use to like. Like a punctuation on something like this. You know what I'm saying?
Chris Hoadley
Sounds a lot like you speak in Spanish.
Brian Green
That's metach. Iban, I think.
Chris Hoadley
Can you explain what nosotros is?
Brian Green
No.
Chris Hoadley
You have a good story with that one.
Brian Green
Tell me the story about nosotros.
Chris Hoadley
So you were on Spanish classes, right?
Brian Green
I was. I did take Spanish classes for a.
Chris Hoadley
While, for, like, two hours.
Brian Green
For two hours a day.
Chris Hoadley
Because that teacher was, like, hard. Like, she was explaining in the Venezuelan way.
Brian Green
She was very difficult. Yes.
Chris Hoadley
So you understood the. The word nos, but you couldn't pron.
Brian Green
Oh, that's right.
Chris Hoadley
You couldn't pronun.
Brian Green
You're reminding me.
Chris Hoadley
He was like, nos, nos, otros.
Brian Green
So I would say noso, which means we. Right. So I would say nos otros.
Chris Hoadley
That's right.
Brian Green
And she would go, it's not otros. Do I say Brian? Do I go, brian? That's not how you say it.
Chris Hoadley
She was about to give you a con. Yes.
Brian Green
Oh, she was insisting, Gustavo, this lady was insane.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah, I remember. I remember you came scared of. I was scared of glasses.
Brian Green
And the thing was, is we were in this with your.
Chris Hoadley
With your notebook with only. No such was reading on the first day.
Brian Green
And it's like a child's Spanish book, Right. She's giving, like, these children's workbooks. And here's the craziest thing about this lady. We would meet at a Starbucks most of the time, because when we met at the library for a while, but she was so loud and aggressive that the librarian asked us, get out of the table. Take it somewhere else. So then I would get a Kinnasen or Congo, whatever. I would get it at the Starbucks.
Chris Hoadley
Those were your days, trying to convince Sasby that you were interested in Venezuela.
Brian Green
Now I've just given up altogether. Now I speak English, and the Venezuelans like me more. What's going on? I tried to speak Spanish to get in with the Venezuelans. They didn't accept me. Now I speak English and they love me or hate me, I guess, depending on. On what it is.
Chris Hoadley
That's right. You're very careful.
Brian Green
So, you know, I didn't have AI when I first met Astrid.
Chris Hoadley
The what?
Brian Green
AI? Like chat. GPT.
Chris Hoadley
Oh, yeah. No, it did. It didn't exist.
Brian Green
No.
Chris Hoadley
That's new for you.
Brian Green
I don't even think the iPhone existed when I met it. So when I met Astrid, you know that one of the first things that I. That I wrote her is basically a Spanish sentence.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah.
Brian Green
On Facebook. Yeah. It said, hey, amiga, you know, hola, amiga.
Chris Hoadley
Did someone help you? Or you use, like, Google Translate?
Brian Green
No, I don't even think that I knew what Google Translate was at the time. I think I went to the Internet and searched out the words that I wanted to say, the words I didn't know in Spanish. And when I put those words together, it apparently sounded so incredibly dumb that Astrid responded. Yeah. She was like, listen, I speak English. You don't need to speak Spanish. Yeah, but. But one of the. If I had known, and I think I found Google Translate pretty quickly after that. But had AI been around.
Chris Hoadley
Oh, yeah.
Brian Green
I think I probably would have gotten with your sister a lot.
Chris Hoadley
It'll be much more easier.
Brian Green
It would have been much easier.
Chris Hoadley
Well, you're a good speaker. How do you say that In Venezuela we say Lavia.
Brian Green
Lavia?
Chris Hoadley
Yeah.
Brian Green
Like bullshit flowing out of my mouth like a volcano.
Chris Hoadley
No, but in a good way. You know, like when you want the confidence of the people. Like, you engage people easily speaking.
Brian Green
Yes, it.
Chris Hoadley
I think you have that talent.
Brian Green
I think in English you would either say affable or like, you might be referred to as a people person.
Chris Hoadley
Okay.
Brian Green
Yeah, but I think that's kind of dumb because I don't know too many people that aren't people persons, you know, like, who doesn't like people? Who doesn't have at least that one other person?
Chris Hoadley
I know some people that don't like people.
Brian Green
So, yeah, listen, you take me to place like Great Wolf Lodge, and I quickly don't like people.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah, that's right.
Brian Green
That's it.
Chris Hoadley
That's right.
Brian Green
So I asked Ven. So I asked Chat GPT earlier today. I said, hey, Chat GPT. It's not really Chat GPT. It's a different one. But I'm not going to say the name here on air because they're not a sponsor. It's like Chat GPT and I. What's that?
Chris Hoadley
It starts with.
Brian Green
No, I'll show it to you after you.
Chris Hoadley
Okay.
Brian Green
I said, hey, if I'm dating someone from Venezuela and I want to know who they are, like, I want to. I want to impress them. What are some of the things I need to know about to impress them?
Chris Hoadley
That's good.
Brian Green
Right? And so they put out a list of things, and I think it's pretty dead on. I want to share it with you. This is 20 things. We'll go through a few. Number one, family values. Family is extremely important to the Venezuelan culture.
Chris Hoadley
That's right.
Brian Green
Expect to meet family members early on and be prepared for family gatherings at a regular pace. What it doesn't say is prepare three or four extra bedrooms in your house for a nice flow of Venezuelans.
Chris Hoadley
That's what I was going to say. Like, you know about that. That's true. That's sort of true. Venezuelans, we love to hang out with our family. We're like a whole group together always.
Brian Green
Yes.
Chris Hoadley
We hang out together. And when someone comes to the family, you better Become part of the family.
Brian Green
You have to become part of the family. It's. And I think that is why, quite frankly, I feel so indebted and ingrained in the Venezuelan culture, is because when I met Raphael early on, here's the story. You ready?
Chris Hoadley
Yep.
Brian Green
Raphael and I met at a restaurant.
Chris Hoadley
Okay.
Brian Green
I was working at one restaurant, he was working at the other. They were the same restaurant, two different locations, two little Italian restaurants. The owner wanted him to come work at the one over where I was working. And I'd been working at this restaurant for like four or five months. Didn't know Rafael. Never met him. He comes over, he's sitting at the end of the bar, I'm bartending quickly. We strike up a conversation and fast forward to six or seven hours later. We are incredibly intoxicated at the bar across the street. And his grandparents, where he was living at the time, lived in the townhouse behind that bar, like half a mile behind the bar. So the bar closes 3, 4 in the morning, bar closes. We are 30 drinks into it. I mean, we are just shithoused. And I'm like, I gotta call a cab home. And he's like, no, fuck that, dude. Let's, we'll go to this gas station, we'll grab a six pack of beer, we'll go to where I, to my grandparents house where I live. So I said, oh, your grandparents are gonna let me stay there? And he said, my grandparents, they wouldn't have it any other way. You need to come to my grandparents house, they'll cook us food.
Chris Hoadley
And I was like, they'll be happy if you go there.
Brian Green
I go, this is like Waffle House. What's I no understanding of Venezuela?
Chris Hoadley
Kind of. Kind of, yeah.
Brian Green
We walk to the, to the townhouse, we open up the door, we're trying to be quiet so as not to wake up his grandparents. We go up these little stairs, we turn the corner, he opens the door, there's a bed, TV fan. Looks perfect for me, right? Place where I can sleep. The little bit of air blowing on my face and the tv. So he says, go ahead, brother, go ahead, go to bed. I'm gonna go brush my teeth and stuff. And I'm like, cool, bro, see you later, good night. He's like, good night, bro. And I jump in the bed, and I jump in the bed and a couple of minutes later, I hear the door open.
Chris Hoadley
You woke up the grandpa? Because he was sleeping on the bed.
Brian Green
I hear the door open. Didn't think anything of it. Maybe somebody forgot something. They don't know me. Us Irish people, we just play dead.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah.
Brian Green
We're like possums.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah. Yeah.
Brian Green
So someone comes in, we just play dead. We're like.
Chris Hoadley
That's what you do in that situation?
Brian Green
Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
You just don't move.
Brian Green
That's what I do with Astrid. A lot of times, I just play dead. I hope that she doesn't realize.
Chris Hoadley
Your eyes with your phone.
Brian Green
Raphael slides under the covers. And I jumped out of that bed so fucking fast. I jumped out of that bed. And I go, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. And he goes, what's wrong? And I go, dude, dude, it's not like this. And he goes, like, what? And I go, it's not like this. Like, I'm sorry. I think you got the wrong impression.
Chris Hoadley
First, I need to go to the. To the movies or something.
Brian Green
You need to take me out on a date. You lured me here with food and grandparents, and now you're trying to. I don't know what you're trying to do. And he was like, dude, don't freak out. And I was like, can I just please use the phone? I just need to call a cab. And I left. I literally left at like, six in the morning. Left. And that was a shame, because when I was leaving, his abuela was making arepas for us to eat because she heard us coming.
Chris Hoadley
That's very mean of you.
Brian Green
It was beautiful. It was wonderful.
Chris Hoadley
That was very mean of you. How. How can you not trust a Venezuelan.
Brian Green
A dude? If you were in the same situation, what would you have done?
Chris Hoadley
He was using a beautiful piano.
Brian Green
I know.
Chris Hoadley
You should have to trust him.
Brian Green
He came in, like, two, three, four days later. He came in for his first day.
Chris Hoadley
Of work, and he was.
Brian Green
He, you know, Rafa. He was like, dude, what's your problem? And I go, what's your problem, bro? I go, you. We didn't even. I didn't know you were gay. He goes, gay? What are you talking about? I'm not gay.
Chris Hoadley
That's what we do.
Brian Green
Yeah. He said, we're Venezuelan.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah. Yeah.
Brian Green
How many? How many? He goes, what do you think? Did that look like a mansion to you? Do you think we had a bunch of bedrooms? He was like, you're sleeping in my bed.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah. We treat everyone as a family member.
Brian Green
That's right.
Chris Hoadley
So, yeah.
Brian Green
And you treated me like a family member since day one. Well, yeah. And we almost slept in the same bed, too.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah. You took me. You took me on a Jet ski. Yeah. So I had to treat you like a bro.
Brian Green
I had to take you on a jet Ski. When, when Gustavo and I first met, we went down to Aruba.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah.
Brian Green
And.
Chris Hoadley
And you had a couple of beers, son.
Brian Green
I had 12 beers. Because before you get there. Yes.
Chris Hoadley
I didn't know I had like that, that appearance.
Brian Green
You, I wasn't so worried about. It was more your father, who Astrid had warned me about. And to be fair, your dad had kind of freaked out.
Chris Hoadley
At least if I was you, I'll do the same. Yeah, totally. With my dad. I know my dad. That's the, the, the other part of Venezuelans. Like we are very nice, but sometimes coming from Europe, some people.
Brian Green
It's a machismo culture.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah.
Brian Green
And the men in the family are the men in the family.
Chris Hoadley
The only girl.
Brian Green
The only girl in the family that all. You know.
Chris Hoadley
And this guy from America's going.
Brian Green
This old bald guy.
Chris Hoadley
Yes. Texting me, Facebook, sending me message. Hi, dad.
Brian Green
Yeah. Still to this day, number one phrase your dad says when he's at this house. Aye. Brian.
Chris Hoadley
Hi, Brian. Hi, Brian. Be careful. Yeah.
Brian Green
When we went to Aruba, we. Out of respect and because I'm Irish Catholic and I think this is, this is like a universal thing for fathers, no matter what religion you're in. I understood that I would not be sleeping in the same bed as Astrid. That certainly wasn't going to happen. We were just dating. Not, you know, not engaged, nothing. And so Astrid slept on the couch and then Gustavo and I slept in these two single beds in this second bedroom.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah. My dad told me, like, you better watch this guy.
Brian Green
Did he really? Did he say, keep an eye on me?
Chris Hoadley
No, I'm just kidding. Just kidding.
Brian Green
But every morning his dad would come in, he would knock on the door and like eight, you know, 7:00 in the morning, he'd knock on the door, he'd open it up and he'd be like, ay, gutavo. I gutavo.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah. And br. And Brian, you better wake up.
Brian Green
He's looking for a drinking buddy. Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
Still does that. Till these days.
Brian Green
I think the other thing that it's important to know around family values and the family, the kind of the Venezuelan ever expanding family, the extended family, is the fact that if you're married to a Venezuelan or if you're with a Venezuelan, you better be ready.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah.
Brian Green
For any and all family members to be in your space at all times. When Astrid started inviting, you know.
Chris Hoadley
Oh yeah.
Brian Green
All family members to the house, I, I already understood this was going to happen because of Raphael's family. And I've never complained. Not once. Not once. I'VE always.
Chris Hoadley
Yesterday we were speaking about it, like, on the wedding. We had like 20 people in this house. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We had, like, how to.
Brian Green
The Air mattresses.
Chris Hoadley
Air mattresses all around the house.
Brian Green
Futons, couches. There were people sleeping in the attic. Yeah, I think there was someone. I think some dude came in.
Chris Hoadley
Hey, Brian. Is Rafael again.
Brian Green
Hey, Brian. Hey, Chuck.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah, that's right. That's right.
Brian Green
This AI application also tells me that there's warmth and affection with the Venezuelan people. They tend to be warm and affectionate. Public displays of affection are common and expressing feelings openly is appreciated. I think it's generally true. I don't think it's, like, universally true, but I think it's generally true. You guys like to give a high hug.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Brian Green
High five.
Chris Hoadley
We like to touch each other and. Yeah. Hang out. Kisses, hugs.
Brian Green
Yes. Music and dance.
Chris Hoadley
Oh, a lot.
Brian Green
Yeah. You're always.
Chris Hoadley
Every kind of music.
Brian Green
Yeah. You're always.
Chris Hoadley
Mostly Latin music. Reggaeton, salsa, merengue.
Brian Green
What's your favorite? That country. Venezuelan country music that you like?
Chris Hoadley
The one you were listening yesterday, man, that's not my favorite. I like some, but my favorite will be like, merengue, I think. Merengue, yeah, Meringue. There was a mix between merenga and reggaeton, which was really nice. You know, Chino and Nacho.
Brian Green
Nacho Potato.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah, that's right. The ones. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a great duo. Yeah, they did a lot of great music.
Brian Green
I think we went and saw Nacho did Astronaut.
Chris Hoadley
Well, I think as we saw Nacho. You were on your phone watching Pearl Jam or something.
Brian Green
I wasn't. I actually watched it. It. He's taking me a number of Venezuelan concerts. I've enjoyed all of them. I went and saw the brother. Five brothers. What are they? The five guys? The Backstreet Boys of the bass. Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
That's a really good.
Brian Green
Yes. And then I saw the old guy up in Chicago. The very famous Venezuelan. The very famous old guy who sings, like, ballads and love songs. And I, Astro, will have to tell you who it is.
Chris Hoadley
You don't remember the name?
Brian Green
I don't remember the name.
Chris Hoadley
The old guy.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah.
Brian Green
Simone. Is that his name?
Chris Hoadley
One of the most Venezuelan famous singers.
Brian Green
I think you might be right about that. I have no idea.
Chris Hoadley
No, no. I don't think it was. Google Tsimon.
Brian Green
Reggaeton, reggaeton and merengue. Yeah. You're into reggaeton?
Chris Hoadley
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Brian Green
What's your. Who's your favorite reggaeton, Reggaeton singer? Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
You had it here in the TV show.
Brian Green
You don't know how I was proud.
Chris Hoadley
Of Brian for the first time in my life when he had Nicky.
Brian Green
This is a moment of great pride for Gustavo. As a matter of fact, I don't think Nicky Jam would have even been on. Actually.
Chris Hoadley
My favorite is, like, Nicky Jam, Whisney and Dell.
Brian Green
Like Daddy Yankee.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah, and Daddy Yankee. Those were, like, the real creators of reggaeton. But right now, I like a lot of reggaetons.
Brian Green
Are you guys getting into American music? I mean, I know you're into a lot of American. You know, Taylor Swift and.
Chris Hoadley
Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm a Swiftie right now. You made me a Swifty. This house.
Brian Green
This house will make you a Swift.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah. You enter here, Everybody's crazy about Taylor Swift. I really like country music.
Brian Green
No.
Chris Hoadley
Every. Every time I go hunting, we play some country music, which is pretty nice.
Brian Green
But, you know, country music in America is not really country anymore. Are you listening to, like, the newer country music?
Chris Hoadley
I can't even tell you what I like. I like the. The rhythm and.
Brian Green
Okay.
Chris Hoadley
And the songs.
Brian Green
Yeah, I like a lot of country music.
Chris Hoadley
I also really like rock, but not, like, heavy metal stuff. Like, I. I get. I got to know, like, Michael Jackson be like, gather into reggaeton. Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I said, yeah, into rock this year, this last year, Michael Jackson. So I started to understand that I. I like some rock music.
Brian Green
Michael Jackson is more pop music, but it has some. It does have rock elements, too. It's got heart. It's got guitars. It's got solos and stuff like that. One of the other things that's very important to the Venezuelans, if you're. If you find yourself looking to date a Venezuela. By the way, some of the most beautiful human beings in the world are Venezuelans. The women there are beautiful.
Chris Hoadley
You're saying that because of your wife.
Brian Green
I'm definitely saying that because I would have gotten.
Chris Hoadley
You don't want a. After you finish the show.
Brian Green
I don't want to be spending the night in Raphael's bed. But the cuisine, of course, is important, too. You've got your ayakas.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah.
Brian Green
You've got your pandejemo, your favorites.
Chris Hoadley
The ayakas.
Brian Green
Ayakas. I just can't stand them. I don't know. Why do you have to put raisins in it? Why raisins?
Chris Hoadley
She put a little bit of everything, and everyone has to touch it.
Brian Green
Do you like raisins in your ayakas? I'm talking to LA off camera. You like raisins in The I eat everything. I know you do, but you're a young man. You're growing.
Chris Hoadley
When I was like very young, I didn't like raisins or olives. But right now I just understand you have to eat it all and it's good.
Brian Green
I had this conversation with Joanna Houseman and she said I don't like the mix either. I don't like. Yeah, yeah. It's not for everyone, but I, but it's, it reminds me of home.
Chris Hoadley
That's right.
Brian Green
And for that reason I like it is the ayakas kind of throw out the garbage food. Food. Like let's take all the stuff we have left over.
Chris Hoadley
No, no. Families spend a lot of time like cooking.
Brian Green
I know they do. But did it like originate as kind of like a throw out the garbage food? You don't know.
Chris Hoadley
I, I, I, I know a story from, from my school. I know if true. But some, some like Indians from Venezuela. How do you say native?
Brian Green
Native.
Chris Hoadley
Venezuelans.
Brian Green
Indigenous. Indigenous.
Chris Hoadley
So they used to have like the plantain slave and they will ask like their, they were slaves. So they were asking like their people like a. Yeah, there. AKA so like they will start putting some food on the leave.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
And so that's what they told us on school. I don't know.
Brian Green
That was like, that's like the version.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah, yeah. They were, started using the, the, the plants.
Brian Green
Very interesting.
Chris Hoadley
I don't know if it's true, but.
Brian Green
So the indigenous. So the indigenous who were slaves would ask their masters for whatever food was. Yeah. Can you put it here? Can you put it here? And they would roll it up, steam it, eat it.
Chris Hoadley
I don't know if that's true, but it makes some sense, at least for a kid's story. It's good.
Brian Green
I hate to hear about the slaves, but you know, the ayakas is generally the only food that Astrid has ever introduced me to or anybody Venezuelan has introduced me to that I don't care for. I just generally don't like the ayakas.
Chris Hoadley
But everything else I remember when you face your face the first time we were like cooking a yaka.
Brian Green
Yes.
Chris Hoadley
You were like, I'm running out of this place. Listen, I need to go to Starbucks and McDonald' both together.
Brian Green
Give me some cream and some cereal and a cheeseburger, please.
Chris Hoadley
That's right.
Brian Green
I can deal. The reason why I, I ran out of the room. The reason why I turned my nose in disgust was not because I didn't. I saw that everyone was doing this with love and with care. It's That I had had them before. Maybe you guys make them better. Maybe I should try them all over again. Maybe it's my mom. I know it's like a yearly, but.
Chris Hoadley
I understand that you were afraid because we were all, like, in a yellow oil with bags and gloves, and it was like, what are you guys doing here?
Brian Green
I understand that we went to drop something off to go send it to Venezuela. And at the time, and still to this day, you can't just send something directly to Venezuela from the United States. It's gotta go on a boat or it's gotta go through another country because of all of the trade restrictions around Venezuela. So when you want to send something, you box it up and you go to a guy that lives in a shack, and that dude in the shack boxes everything up with other stuff that's going to Venezuela. Then he rents out space on a boat, he puts it on a boat. It gets there seven weeks later. So we went one time to this place, and I'm telling you, Gustavo, the guy gave us a box of frozen. This was like February. One gave us a box of frozen ayakas. There must have been 600 ayakas as a gift. He just gave it to Astrid, and it had. It was a box full of ayakas.
Chris Hoadley
Those were leftovers.
Brian Green
Those were leftovers, and they weren't very good at all.
Chris Hoadley
I can imagine no one like that.
Brian Green
All right, let's continue this conversation. We'll take a break. We'll be back.
Gustavo
Have you got a hankering down deep in your soul to tell us what's up? Well, I am encouraging you to do just that. Text us at 212-4333, TCB and tell us what's going on. Give us the haps. Tell us the dirty secrets of your life. That's all we've ever wanted to hear. You can also leave us a voicemail at the same number. That's 212-433-3822. And also follow us on Instagram at the commercial break and on TikTok @TCB podcast. And if you want to see any video episodes, you can go to YouTube.com the commercial break. And they are all right right there. And if your hankering is not to tell us what's up, but it's for a new sticker, I'm sure there's probably one on the website. Go to tcbpodcast.com, click contact us and find I want my free sticker. I know you can do it, and I can't wait to hear your thoughts. On anything and everything. Love you.
Brian Green
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Brian Green
All right, and we're back here with my brother in law, Gustavo joining us in the studio. Chrissy has stepped out for a few minutes to allow Gustavo to take the throne.
Chris Hoadley
Thank you.
Brian Green
Congratulations. You don't get Chrissy out of that throne very easy. Thank you.
Chris Hoadley
This is an honor. Yeah, thank you, Chris.
Brian Green
Actually, lots of people have said we.
Chris Hoadley
Wanted you to be out of fear, but I don't give that to anyone.
Brian Green
You know, the funny thing is, is that Chrissy came in today and she was. And we were trying to figure out how we get all three of us in this camera angle. I just couldn't work it out. We didn't have an extra microphone and stuff. Like an extra good microphone, stuff like that. And Chrissy said, well, well, I'll go or you can step out and I'll talk to Gustavo. And I was like, you're gonna let my brother love you?
Chris Hoadley
We all want you to get out of the studio for like an hour. Especially my sister.
Brian Green
That's my. I think Astrid really does want me to be out of the studio for an hour. We're talking about things that are important to know if you're going to be in a relationship with Venezuela. Now, you know, Astrid, Ally and Gustavo are taken. So none of us are on the block.
Chris Hoadley
But.
Brian Green
But just in case, we've been talking through some of the things we just got done with cuisine. Ticanos are my favorite Venezuelan import to this house.
Chris Hoadley
For real. More than cachapas because you're. You're a cachapa lover.
Brian Green
There was a time during the pandemic when I ate cachapas every night, probably for. Probably for three or four months, every single night. A cachapa is a corn cake that is fried, and then you put butter and you put cheese on it. So it's like cornmeal, butter, cheese. You can put lots of different stuff on it, but that's how we prepare them here. The classic one, the butter and the corn. I want to tell the Americans what this is like. This is like going and getting a really good corn on the cob and then smearing it with salted butter. And it's so delicious and juicy and wonderful. And then you put on top of that, the white cheese.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah, like a fresh cheese.
Brian Green
Yeah, like a fresca cheese. Like something that's native.
Chris Hoadley
Sometimes they put some pork in Venezuela balls.
Brian Green
Oh, they put pork on.
Chris Hoadley
The classic one is just with cheese. But the ones with pork are really good.
Brian Green
What is your favorite Venezuelan food?
Chris Hoadley
I'll say. Pavilion, for sure.
Brian Green
Pavillon. What's a pavillon?
Chris Hoadley
Yeah, it's like shred meat with tajadas. Planting, you know that.
Brian Green
Okay. Okay.
Chris Hoadley
Beans, rice, and I'm missing something. No, this is.
Brian Green
Okay. Those four.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah.
Brian Green
All together. It's mixed together.
Chris Hoadley
You can mix it, but it's like. They serve it, separate it.
Brian Green
Okay. So it's like a. Just. It's a dish.
Chris Hoadley
It's a dish. Yeah. And it's really good.
Brian Green
So let me ask you this. The shredded meat that's, like, marinated in something?
Chris Hoadley
Yeah, they. They have, like, this seasoning, this Venezuelan seasoning. That is really good.
Brian Green
Have I had that? Yeah, that's like the shredded from my mom and. Okay. You know, the other thing that I don't care for is plantains. I know a lot of people love plantains, but, man, that's.
Chris Hoadley
That's really mean of you.
Brian Green
I know. I think if Astrid had to claim.
Chris Hoadley
You have to work. I know. Well, start eating just plantain.
Brian Green
It's a. It's a little sport.
Chris Hoadley
Yourself.
Brian Green
Just start eating plantains.
Chris Hoadley
No, that's. That's, like, one of the favorite foods for Venezuelans.
Brian Green
I one time told.
Chris Hoadley
We always eat planting, like, in, like, barbecues, like, every time we're eating plantain for real.
Brian Green
But, yeah, I think plantains is. This is a staple. But to me, me, it's a sweet food, so it doesn't go in the, like, the hearty category, if that makes sense.
Chris Hoadley
You prefer having a chocolate with with the plantain, it's more a dessert for.
Brian Green
You, for having ice cream with plantains rather than meat with plantains. With ice cream, I see as steak and plantains. And I'm like, that's like putting chocolate on a hamburger. I don't get it. But some people like that combination while they're sitting there. I prefer to split my meals up. And that is a very American thing to do. You have your salties and then you have your sweets, or you do it the other way around. Whatever it is, you don't mix those two together. Very rarely happens. And I think the. As close as that comes for me is a cachapa, because it's a little sweet. It's got butter that's salty. Yeah. And then you've got the cheese that adds a little bit of flavor to it. I one time made them. You have. You had roti. Do you know what roti is? No, roti. The soup. The spicy soup that it's made.
Chris Hoadley
I'm not much into spicy flavors, but I think I haven't tried that.
Brian Green
I think that's the one thing that surprises me about you and your father, and I guess Venezuelans in general, including Raphael, is you have such an aversion to spicy foods.
Chris Hoadley
I don't know what my dad likes a little bit of hot sauces and stuff, but for me, it's not like I prefer sweet flavors.
Brian Green
Yeah. You know, none. No. No Venezuelan man that I have known really well has liked spicy food. It's just one of those things. It really is a Mexican thing. And if there's one thing your dad loves, it's Mexican food.
Chris Hoadley
That's right.
Brian Green
There's one thing that Daniel loves, It's that Mexican food.
Chris Hoadley
That's right.
Brian Green
What did he. What did he tell me? One time? He said he was working in Mexico.
Chris Hoadley
Because he used to work in Mexico. And what's the story he told? Yeah, well, he used to travel, like, six months to Mexico, and he was, like, eating tacos all day. So he was, like. He became a real fan of Mexican food and spicy stuff. Yeah.
Brian Green
Oh, he did?
Chris Hoadley
Yeah. Yeah, he did.
Brian Green
Your. Your sister has always told me that he's not a fan of tacos.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah, he likes tacos.
Brian Green
Okay.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah. Like, he. He's always talking about the tacos al pastor, which is like the.
Brian Green
Yeah, that's the. The lamb tacos. Oh, very good. The street tacos.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah. Yeah.
Brian Green
I think Astrid has been secretly saying that because she doesn't want me to go have tacos. Tacos. I'm. I'm talking to Astrid about that.
Chris Hoadley
Those are.
Brian Green
I think Astrid is using Daniel as an excuse.
Chris Hoadley
Venezuelan girls are strategies, too. So you can eat her food. She doesn't know how to prepare a taco. So that's.
Brian Green
Not only are they beautiful, but they tend to be pretty intelligent, too. That's right. For sure.
Chris Hoadley
They do. They do.
Brian Green
That's right. All right, moving on. Social life. Venezuelans enjoy socializing and often gather with family and friends. I find this to be true. And here's why I think this is so important to the Venezuelan people, especially now. Why it's so important. Like Astrid, I'm sure Ale feels this way. I'm sure you feel this way is the Venezuelans are a displaced people. They're a displaced people, and they have been a displaced people. The indigenous have lived there, but the Spanish came over. They were a displaced people. And now many Venezuelans, most of them. It's kind of been a brain drain. Is the displaced people also. It is so important to keep that connection through socialization. Family members or not family members, because that is the connection to home. Home. Home is a thought right now for a lot of Venezuelans.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah.
Brian Green
It's not a place.
Chris Hoadley
And because Venezuelans, we were, like, kind of forced to move all around the globe.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
So it's not been easy. Like, we have a brother in Spain. We have family in Florida. We're in Texas, you're here in Atlanta. So it's all around.
Brian Green
It's a real challenge in Mexico.
Chris Hoadley
Yeah. All around the world. So. Yeah. And I think you also know that because every time we come visit, you, your wife stay with us, like, till three, three in the morning. And we are just, like, speaking through the same stories one and again.
Brian Green
I get it. I have a real longing for that in my own family because that is not how we operate our family. I've said this on the show. I've told Astrid this. I probably told my therapist this a million times in my culture. And by culture, I mean the family that I grew up in. And the people and the family member, the extended family members we have. Have gatherings are not a thing. You linger. It's not a place where you linger. It's a place where you get together for a minute and then you go. Right. And then you're out. You don't linger. No one spends the night. You know how many times I spent the night at my grandma's house, my. On my mom's side? Twice.
Chris Hoadley
Really?
Brian Green
Maybe. Maybe twice. We would literally go to a hotel before we would spend.
Chris Hoadley
That's weird.
Brian Green
It's very strange now. Now that I've been embedded in this culture for so long, I see just how strange that really was, was since.
Chris Hoadley
I joined, since a young age. I love to spend time like with my cousins.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
I love to stay like, you know, you know, my, my godmother.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
So I always love, like, to stay at her place. Like, I was like, please, mom and Dad, I want to stay here. I want to spend the night here to spend time with my cousins. Like, playing games, talking, making jokes.
Brian Green
So I think it's the biggest. I think it's one of the biggest blessings you can give a child.
Chris Hoadley
Oh, yeah.
Brian Green
It's one of the biggest blessings you can impart on someone like me who doesn't have it is the longing for connection with family in that way. Now it still takes some getting used to. And it doesn't mean that you're always, you're ever like a Hun. Like as someone, as an outsider, I might always be just a little bit outside the actual, like the actual culture then that way. But I long for. And I love that Astrid gets to stay up till three in the morning hanging out with her family. I think it's beautiful. I really do.
Chris Hoadley
I always loved your face, like, trying to understand us. And he has done, Even understanding at 10% of what we were saying because we were like, here's.
Brian Green
Yeah, first of all, can you guys stop fucking talking over each other just for one second? I mean, honestly, you walk into a room of Venezuelans and everybody is having six different conversations at the same time. How do you even operate in that manner? Manner. How do you do it?
Chris Hoadley
A lot of times we make fun of you and you didn't even know.
Brian Green
Oh, I get it. I hear my name all the time. But when three of you are saying it at the same time, I can't understand.
Chris Hoadley
And we know the way to, to, to, to make you, like, distracted.
Brian Green
You're playing a game with me.
Chris Hoadley
We love to see your face.
Brian Green
I, I think it's very difficult to understand Venezuelans if you're trying to learn Spanish whenever. And I've said this many times, like you're all talking over each other.
Chris Hoadley
Impossible.
Brian Green
It's hard. You. I need one person saying it relatively slowly to me and then I can.
Chris Hoadley
I always tell this story to Ali. One of my favorite moments from your face is when my mom approaches to you and starts speaking to you in English or Spanish or that combination. I love your face, like, making me sound like, come here and help me. I don't understand anything. And you're just doing like, yes, Mom. Yes, Mom.
Brian Green
Yeah. But can we be fair to me is that your, your mom's English needs a little work. Just like my Spanish.
Chris Hoadley
She has her own dictionary.
Brian Green
But I think your mom's Spanish. No, it's a little bit of work. It is not that good sometimes either.
Chris Hoadley
It is, it is.
Brian Green
It's really hard to understand. Your mom complained to me a couple like last year, she complained to me. She goes, you know, in Spanish, you know, you don't talk to me anymore. You don't want to listen to what I have to say. You used to talk to me and I was like, I think you're remembering that in college I used to try.
Chris Hoadley
But I gave up.
Brian Green
I used to try, but I don't understand now. I think me and your mom have this understanding where we try to slow down for each other a little bit more because I really do sometimes have a hard time understanding your mother. But, you know, listen again. I think probably one of the greatest gifts that's been imparted to me is the gift of the Venezuelan family. Because without that, I'd just be stuck in my miserable Irish Catholic family. And they're not miserable people. They. We just don't operate on the same level.
Chris Hoadley
Your family is great, but. Yeah. You know, different traditions, different cultures.
Brian Green
Yeah. We would never think to sit up till three in the morning playing board games. I think we'd get way too irritated with each other for that. We just all would be, you can do that.
Chris Hoadley
But watching like football games without like sharing a lot, it's just like watching the TV and.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
And you go to your space. We are like all touching ourselves. Yes. With. With our legs on top of the other. Yeah.
Brian Green
I think too is that you're right about this, is that Americans in, by and large grow up with the television as the center of attention. So when they grow older and they have families of their own, it. The television is the center of attention.
Chris Hoadley
So are you trying to say, like Venezuelans, we don't have TVs.
Brian Green
I don't know what you guys have down there. I haven't been. And I'm probably not going to get to go now. Probably out.
Chris Hoadley
You would?
Brian Green
No, I'd love to. I can't wait to go.
Chris Hoadley
We like. Venezuelan was also like a big part of TV of families.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
Because we had a lot of very important TV shows, like funny TV shows. Radio Rochella. Has Satri told you about this one?
Brian Green
Listen, this is so crazy because when I ask. Hold on one second.
Chris Hoadley
Told you this Chat.
Brian Green
JPT told me this.
Chris Hoadley
Or AI. Sorry.
Brian Green
Yeah, yeah, AI told me this. Hold on.
Chris Hoadley
I told Al I wanted to make you react, like, play like, show you some. Some Venezuelan TV show that'll be the next level Venezuelan.
Brian Green
I saw this somewhere. What did you call this?
Chris Hoadley
Radio Rochella.
Brian Green
Okay, tell me about this.
Chris Hoadley
It was like a TV show made of all funny sketches. Yeah, that's right. Okay, so Venezuelans were waiting for, like, I think it was on Mondays night, so it was like perfectly. Because your week was starting.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
So all families were like, waiting for this TV show to.
Brian Green
To.
Chris Hoadley
To start.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
And we will love, like, also, like, for Venezuelans, like, the TV was the center of attraction for some time, but we also, like, after that, we were just like spending the night making jokes, like, repeating those jokes and. And having fun of this TV show.
Brian Green
Do you think part of the reason why Venezuelans turn inward or turned inward to family is because the outside world was kind of a scary place?
Chris Hoadley
So I don't think so, because at least what I remember when I was a kid, it wasn't that scary. Of course, it's not like here. You have a lot of thieves and it's not a place like you can be with your iPhone in the streets. But I think it's just something like Venezuela's like, Venezuelans like to share. Like, I always remember our weekends were like, spending time with the family. Like, okay, where's the meeting? Yeah, like, Tia. Are we going to Tia's? Or they're coming here. So it was like that. We are just like family members.
Brian Green
God damn. Fuck all.
Chris Hoadley
You.
Brian Green
You're so beautiful. What the fuck?
Chris Hoadley
We are.
Brian Green
What the fuck? You're gonna make me want to restore faith in humanity just when I'm losing all faith, Just when I think I've got it pinned out now. You were born.
Chris Hoadley
You were born in the. In the wrong place.
Brian Green
I probably was born in the wrong place. And listen, I think that's a thing too, is sometimes people just feel like they're born in the wrong place.
Chris Hoadley
You'll have an opportunity, a chance to. To visit Venezuela.
Brian Green
Not very soon or I won't. When's the next election? Isn't there. Somebody was writing on one of those comments that like, we'll figure this out in the next couple of days.
Chris Hoadley
So today is the 8th, so on the 10th, maybe something's going to happen in Venezuela. Hopefully. We're hoping for. For a change in Venezuela.
Brian Green
Okay.
Chris Hoadley
Because we had elections this last year and we heard. You heard.
Brian Green
You know, this time the person who supposedly Won was recognized by a lot of democratic countries as the winner.
Chris Hoadley
Right now we're, like, waiting to see what.
Brian Green
Is this one of those WhatsApp, Buzzy, Buzzy, things are going to happen. Things might go down kind of. Anyway, you know what? Let's not talk about it here on the show.
Chris Hoadley
I hope everything goes really well.
Brian Green
I am rooting for Venezuela. Viva Venezuela Libre. I hope. Hope. Actually, one of the things that I, like, see silently meditate about is that my children get to understand who they are in a more meaningful way by visiting the place where their mother.
Chris Hoadley
I want to take them. I'm waiting.
Brian Green
I can't wait. We came this close to pulling the trigger this year. We came this close to pulling the trigger, and then we just backed off.
Chris Hoadley
I cannot remember I was saying, like, yeah, guys, come, come.
Brian Green
Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
From one day to, you know, it's like, okay, cancel the plans.
Brian Green
Your dad said to me when I first met, when we were down in Aruba, I. I said, oh, I'd love to go to Venezuela, because I know Americans do go down there, and there's a whole category of travel agents that will get you down there and take, you know, make sure that you're safe, I guess, as much as they can or whatever. And your dad said, I won't bring you to my house if I don't think I can keep you safe getting you there. He's like, once you get there, fine. He's like, but outside my house, if I don't think I can keep you.
Chris Hoadley
Sick, I won't invite you.
Brian Green
Yeah, anything can happen. But I guess it can be the said. The same can be said about a lot of places in this world, including the United States of America. So who knows Any. Anyway, listen, Gustavo Boquete, you are a dear friend. I love you as a brother. You've been a long time.
Chris Hoadley
I love you sometimes, too. I do love you.
Brian Green
And as my Venezuelan brethren, you're welcome here anytime.
Chris Hoadley
Thank you. Yeah, this is an awesome moment for me because you were like. Like your kids when they start asking for a cookie.
Brian Green
Yeah. Yeah.
Chris Hoadley
So, yeah, last year you started like, do you want to come to the show?
Brian Green
Like, no, I just.
Chris Hoadley
No, he keep going. He keep going. I did your same strategy at the end. I gave you the cook.
Brian Green
I'm smarter than I look, and I know that no one's going to do anything they don't want to do. So you just have to keep pecking the head off. Just keep tapping somebody on the shoulder until they turn around.
Chris Hoadley
That's right.
Brian Green
All right, let's Take a fun. We did have fun. Good job, buddy.
Chris Hoadley
Best to you. Best to you in the podcast you universe.
Brian Green
We'll be back. Well, that is well worth the wait. You won't hear it until everybody else does. But man, was that good.
Astrid
Gustavo, I love hearing his opinion.
Brian Green
He is a gentleman and a scholar. Not necessarily in that order, but I could have gone on forever with Gustavo, but he is my brother in law so there is a level of comfort and I'm so proud of him. He came in and he did it.
Astrid
He faced his fears.
Brian Green
He faced his fears. He did it well. He's hearing himself for the very first time on a microphone, which is really strange to do. It is. And he did it well. And we only had to pan out 10x to get him to get his entire body into the. Into the frame. That's a large boy. Anyway, you can check this special out on YouTube out available today as you're listening to this YouTube.com the commercial break for all the episodes Chrissy and I, all the interviews, everything. All of the interviews are actually out there. There's a lots of older episodes and then all of the episodes since the beginning of the year certainly are there and available. So check that out. We certainly would appreciate it. 212-433-3822. That's 212-4333. TCB questions, comments, concerns, content, ideas. We are taking them all at that phone number, voicemail also. But just be wary of that voicemail because you know, Chrissy, I'm a gangster and I will put that up here on the show if you leave me some snappy little message. You can better believe that's why I think very few people actually call the phone number. Maybe I should stop threatening to put it on air. Maybe more people would call if I stop threatening to put it on air. Maybe I can bait them into doing it by saying, feel free to call.
Astrid
It'll be anonymous.
Brian Green
I promise I won't put it on air. I'll bait a bunch of people to do that. Also, if you would please add the commercial break on Instagram TCB podcast on TikTok, if that's still around tomorrow. Actually, as we release this episode tomorrow, we'll see whether or not TikTok is still available to operate in the United States. I think it will. I think there'll be an injunction while people work it out. There's people claiming they're gonna buy it. We'll see. And the website tcbpodcast.com all the information about Chrissy and I, the audio the video it's all right there from one location and your TCB swag hit the contact us button drop down menu. I want my free sticker. Send us your address and it away it will go. Also if you would Please Roy Wood Jr. Go check out his new special available today Hulu. Okay Chrissy, I guess that's all I can do for this special episode of the commercial break.
Astrid
I think so.
Brian Green
I'll tell you that I love you and I love you best to you and best to you out there in the podcast universe. Until next time Chrissy and I will say we do say and we must say goodbye.
Unknown
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Astrid
What is Dax Are you tracking all.
Brian Green
Our cars on Carvana Value Tracker on all our devices? Yes Kristen, yes I am. Well I've been looking for my phone for in DAX's domain domain we see all so we always know what our cars are worth.
Gustavo
All of them.
Brian Green
All of them. Value surge trucks up 3.9%. That's a great offer. I know. Sell sell. Track your car's value with Carvana Value Tracker today. SA.
Chris Hoadley
What the AM I doing.
Podcast Summary: "Gustavo: A Venezuelan Love Story"
The Commercial Break, Hosted by Bryan Green and Chris Hoadley
Release Date: January 18, 2025
At the onset of this special episode, co-host Bryan Green introduces Gustavo Boquete, his brother-in-law, marking Gustavo as a significant guest who embodies the vibrant Venezuelan spirit. Bryan humorously remarks, “I am now the most famous Venezuelan you know” (03:40), setting a lighthearted tone for the episode.
Bryan and Chris delve into Gustavo’s background, highlighting his long-term relationship with his fiancée, Ale, whom he has been with for twelve years. Bryan shares, “They have been together since high school” (07:24), emphasizing the depth and longevity of their bond. The hosts reflect on the idea of soulmates and past lives, pondering whether their deep connections are preordained or a result of the multiverse theory.
The conversation swiftly transitions to cultural exchanges between Bryan’s Irish Catholic upbringing and Gustavo’s Venezuelan heritage. Bryan affectionately describes Gustavo as “seven and a half feet tall” and shares anecdotes illustrating Gustavo’s hearty appetite and the challenges Bryan faces in keeping up with his energetic cousin (05:53).
A significant portion of the discussion centers on Venezuelan family values. Bryan explains, “Family is extremely important to the Venezuelan culture” (33:03), noting the tight-knit nature of Venezuelan families and the expectation for extended family to integrate seamlessly. Chris adds, “Venezuelans love to hang out with our family. We're like a whole group together always” (33:25), underscoring the communal spirit prevalent in Venezuelan households.
The hosts explore the nuances of Spanish language learning, sharing humorous struggles with Venezuelan slang. Chris quizzes Bryan with words like “chévere” and “roomba,” leading to laughter as Bryan attempts to use these terms correctly. For instance, when asked about “chévere,” Bryan humorously fumbles, “I haven’t been chévere in 10 years” (25:35), showcasing the challenges of mastering colloquial language.
Food becomes a focal point as Bryan and Chris discuss their varying tastes in Venezuelan cuisine. Bryan admits his dislike for certain dishes like ayacas and plantains, while Chris passionately defends the rich flavors of Venezuelan staples such as cachapas and pabellón. They share fond memories of family gatherings centered around food, with Bryan reminiscing, “Astrid has been secretly saying that because she doesn't want me to go have tacos” (55:39), highlighting the playful banter within the family.
The episode emphasizes the importance of socializing in Venezuelan culture. Bryan reflects on his own family's contrasting approach to social gatherings, stating, “We never run up to three in the morning playing board games” (58:02), compared to the extended, lively family interactions typical of Venezuelan households. Chris concurs, “Venezuelans enjoy socializing and often gather with family and friends” (56:54), illustrating the cultural divergence in social engagements.
As the episode wraps up, Bryan expresses his admiration for Gustavo’s courage in joining the podcast, saying, “He faced his fears. He did it well” (68:18). The hosts encourage listeners to engage with their content on various platforms, reinforcing the sense of community and connection that defines "The Commercial Break."
Cultural Integration: Bryan’s immersion into Venezuelan culture through his relationship with Astrid and Gustavo offers a heartfelt exploration of cross-cultural integration and the blending of traditions.
Language Barriers: The humorous exchange about Venezuelan slang highlights the challenges and joys of learning a new language within familial and social contexts.
Family Dynamics: The episode showcases the stark contrast between Bryan’s more reserved family gatherings and the expansive, affectionate interactions typical in Venezuelan families.
Food as Cultural Identity: Discussions about Venezuelan cuisine serve as a metaphor for cultural identity, reflecting both appreciation and personal preferences that vary within families.
"Gustavo: A Venezuelan Love Story" offers listeners an intimate glimpse into the lives of Bryan, Chris, and Gustavo, enriched by their cultural exchanges and familial bonds. Through laughter, personal anecdotes, and insightful cultural commentary, the episode celebrates the complexities and beauties of cross-cultural friendships and love stories.
For those who haven't tuned in, this episode is a treasure trove of humor, heartfelt stories, and cultural insights, embodying the unique blend of improv-comedy and genuine conversation that "The Commercial Break" is known for.