Guatemala

And Inca Terns went farther afield than Peruvian Boobies this year, at least as far as we've seen.

Because they got up into El Salvador, and there's also a- an older report from Guatemala.

Whereas Peruvian Booby just crossed the border into Nicaragua.

So if I had to guess, like, one of them-

Oh, it's weird.

I don't know why they did that.

And so there's some old records off, like, Guatemala and Mexico, uh, that we don't know what they were.

Like, there was some census-

Oh, I know this one.

September 15th is Independence Day for five Central American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

Then Mexico celebrates its independence on September 16th, and Chile on September 18th.

So just one week includes a whole lot of important anniversaries.

You know, even for me and you, love doing the show, love speaking to all these interesting people, get to fly around the world and all...

But I would be lying if I said I love writing show notes or doing research in Guatemala airport at three in the morning because I'm on a delayed flight and I've got a episode tomorrow.

It's grind.

It's grind that I care about and it's grind that I can do that other people couldn't do.

But I want you to think, not hundreds, there were over 1,500 people in this room working Coaches, speakers, leaders, entrepreneurs gathering all in one place from all over the world.

I met people from the Philippines, Indonesia, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Guatemala, South Africa, the Ukraine, I mean all over the world.

It was incredible.

And like I said, the energy was unlike anything I have ever experienced before.

I can't figure that fully out, but you know, that nothing's a guarantee.

So, you know, but then compare it to like, I fish Guatemala every year as well.

I run Mike's boat over there, um, and intensity and, um, that's more of like, so now we're not, not so much blue Marlin, that's all sailfish, but we do, you do get your fair share of Marlin as well.

But that's a fishery where like, when I leave, I know I'm going to catch billfish.

I got to get more than 20 today to make myself happy as a captain.

I need to catch more than 20 today.

And that's just like a number that sits in my head when I fish Guatemala.

And And that's a different fishery.

Okay, and then our last question that we have still in Pillar 4 around cross-cultural communication is, would at least half of your last 10 donor-facing content pieces contain a specific person, place, or moment and not a general program description? This is so crucial because, again, exactly what Shil was saying earlier is, like, those little moments really count and making sure, like, we really – are specific and our language and our communication.

Because again, like you can say, you can write a piece like, you know, this person at school and talk about them at school, but what does school look like in, Laos or what a school look like in Guatemala or what a school look like in Tanzania.

It's going to be very different to an American donor.

So like really like pull that apart and explain that.

And when that foreign policy was fighting fascism, there was a credible mandate and a vision of unity among super majorities.

But when that same national security state would turn to anti-communism and a new US imperialism in Guatemala or Vietnam, unions role in Guatemala or Vietnam or Chile would be much more debatable and much more controversial.

And so again, I point to things we think of as 1960s controversies and really thinking by the 1960s, it was actually too late, you know, because actually the stage had been set the national security turn took shape in the 40s, and it was double-edged.

It did create civil rights and labor openings, but it also created certain capture to a national security discipline.

In Portugal, for example, drivers are honking horns and blocking roads in a slow drive to protest diesel prices, which have reached a record high of more than $9 a gallon.

Protests and strikes have also been reported in Syria, Guatemala, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

The impact of the war on world energy prices has been catastrophic for the working class.

Brent crude oil, which hovered in the $65 to $75 range before the war, has surged to a peak of approximately $120 per barrel in late April before a brief illusory lull following a ceasefire announcement in early May.

In Syria, the largest demonstration since the fall of the Assad regime two years ago erupted after the government announced temporary price increases of up to 40% on gasoline, diesel, and other petroleum products.

Protesters burned tires and cars in several cities, expressing fury at a transitional government that had promised reconstruction but is now presiding over energy collapse.

In Guatemala, mass protests broke out as the latest surge in oil prices pushed costs beyond the reach of poor and working-class households.

Demonstrators burned tires and vehicles, blockading major roads in what observers described as some of the most intense unrest in the country in many years.

So we did an international adoption.

All three of our kids are adopted from Guatemala.

We did an international adoption and Joe came home to us at about six months.

So from the moment his birth mother gave up custody through him coming to us, he was with the foster family.