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You’ve probably moved cities once or twice. Javier has done it five times, in a country that wasn’t his, in a language that wasn’t his first, starting from scratch every single time.

He left Lima with a little money from his parents, no car, no social security number, and an uncertain place to sleep. By the time his first paycheck cleared at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, he had figured out lease agreements, shared an apartment with a group of strangers, and started building something real. Then he did it again. Detroit, Dallas, Lexington, Birmingham. Five cities. One throughline: a phrase he heard on a Lima street corner that followed him everywhere he went.

If you have ever started over in a place that didn’t know you yet, this one is for you.

In this conversation, you will hear:

• Where “Suerte muchachos” comes from and why Javier carried it into every new city he entered
• What arriving in the US as a medical professional actually looked like — paycheck-to-paycheck deposits, shared apartments, no bank account, no car
• Why the most rigorous hospitals he trained in were also the most diverse ones, and why he thinks that is not a coincidence
• What it means to raise a bilingual son between two cultures when you are still figuring out where you belong yourself
• The Eva Ayllón song that takes him straight back to Peru no matter where he is driving
• Why Peru is not Mexico, ceviche is not a taco, and the diversity inside Latin America can still surprise you if you have never had to learn it the hard way
• What “citizen of the world” actually means when you have had to earn it one city at a time

Javier is a nephrologist and professor at UAB, co-director of Critical Care Nephrology, and someone who has thought more carefully about identity, language, and belonging than most people ever will. This is his story.

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