Charlie Kirk Assassination, Noboa Referendums, UFO Disclosures & Vilcabamba Retreat Recap

Charlie Kirk Assassination, Noboa Referendums, UFO Disclosures & Vilcabamba Retreat Recap

[Applause] Hello and welcome back to the Ecuador Insider podcast. Jesse, Brandon, hey with you on this fine Thursday afternoon, September 11th. September 11th, 2025. Who thought we’d make it this far? Wow. Here we are alive and well. At least alive. At least alive. Too. You’ve still got a great beard. Thank you. You You’re It’s coming back. It’s coming back. Yeah. I like it. But you can’t, you know, you just when you’re when you’re when you’re blonde, you just can’t get to the level a guy can get to who has black hair. Oh, stop with your stop with your dark hair. You don’t think What is that? Is it dark hair privilege now? Come on, Jesse. You are pretty privileged. Stop. You don’t believe that though? No. No. No. I don’t. I mean, I think some blonde beards can look good. I’ve seen some like epic like blonde brownish reddish like Viking beards, you know. I would actually if I like went all out, that’s actually what I would have, right? I’d have red and white and brown. Yeah, that’s awesome. That’s like Viking. Yeah, those are epic beards. You’re just scared to do it. What? I got pretty It got pretty ridiculous. No, it got it got bad actually. It got a little bad. Yeah, like because that’s the awkward part. You either cuz you have to get through that here to get longer like Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I couldn’t I couldn’t get through. No, that’s good. It’s It’s probably better. You didn’t. Yeah, it’s definitely better. No, when I had What was it? I Oh, yeah. I was Monica needed a photo for uh actually for Santiago and um and so I told her like, “Send the photo or had Fernando take a photo.” Yeah. And then Monica’s looking at the photo. Monica like, you know, does whatever I tell her to do. And then, but she’s like, “Would it be better if we use this one, sends me an older one from when my beard was much smaller.” And I’m looking at it, too. And I’m like, “Huh?” I’m like, and I write back to her. I’m like, “Maybe I should trim my beard, huh?” She’s like, “Yeah, maybe.” Anyways, welcome back to the show. We’ve been out for what, week? Did we miss two? One. I might have two. I don’t recall. missed a week or two. Had an amazing retreat. Had a great time with uh 14 beautiful people. Definitely a life-changing experience, I think, for a lot a lot if not all of them. Um and it was a lot of fun for us. It was uh one of the more eclectic groups that we’ve had and uh also just one of the more fun groups I think as well. Yeah, they were awesome, man. I mean, I think they’re all coming back. Yeah. All Yeah. Almost every single one is either already staying, you know. Yeah. Buying, renting, coming. Have plans to come back. Like Yeah. It’s No, it’s really It’s really fun to see, you know, the the lifechanging stuff, man, that this place can be for people and to see what people go through mentally, emotionally, spiritually, you know, as they as they check this place out and realize it’s real, you know, and realize um feel, I should say, the difference in energy and vibe and culture and so this way society is and just the way the people are and all that stuff and they start to like feel it and get it and and confirm it. Mhm. And um you know for those that are called like for those that are looking for something for a different you know people who are sort of fed up with the rat race and fed up with that sort of culture and lifestyle that most of us live if we’re in the US and places like that and they get here and they realize what’s here and it’s just it’s beautiful to watch the effect that that has on them. Yeah. Yeah. And it’s cool to see how not only that like a lot of the folks on the retreat are already, you know, taken some steps, you know, like in their, I don’t know, mindset and, you know, thought processes and stuff. So, but it’s nice to see them come down and have that, you know, confirmation of what they knew, you know, what they inherently knew kind of or what they were kind of, right, you said called to or feeling. That’s pretty awesome. And then the bonds that they’re creating, like it’s pretty awesome, man. Like there, you know, these people, you know, we were all strangers 10 days ago, you know, and now we’ve got people renting apartments together, you know, and, you know, Gracia’s here still. She stayed later. And, you know, she’s single woman from Argentina, you know, lived in in Manhattan for a while. And she’s here by herself staying. And my Bella spent the night with her right at her apartment for the first night, you know, just I’m like I we just met this lady 10 days ago, but it’s like that, you know, it’s it’s awesome. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. I don’t know, dude. It’s It’s pretty cool, dude. Yeah. So, if you don’t like the prospects of what’s going on in other places and you’re looking for a change and you’re looking for the opportunity to have a different life, Yeah. and to be part of a different culture and a different mindset, a different perspective on the world as uh the the people that live here certainly have a very different perspective on life, on the world, on family, on values. Uh, and if you’re looking for something that might align more with your life and your lifestyle, our next Vil Kabomba lifestyle retreat is January 24th. Good job. of next year. Wow. I don’t even have an electronic device. I looked it up just so I would know. January 24th of next year. It is a 9-day immersive experience, all-inclusive, uh, tons of value. We give presentations both from us on a number of topics but then also experts from around the country uh the leading experts I should say from around the country in their field on everything related to life here. Um we also get you immersed uh even in those nine days with the community with the people here as well as seeing all the areas trying all the foods having a great massage staying in an amazing uh amazing accommodations. So we’d love to see you down here at the end of January. Yeah. Yeah, guys, it’s really cool. Like, we’re proud to be the bridge to bring you to Vilabomba, but it’s really all the magical culture and people and businesses and tias and restaurants and community that’s that’s the magic that that make this place special and and keep people here and enrich their lives. So, come on down, click the link below. So, we kind of covered Yeah. or we kind of we did. We talked a lot about Nepal and what’s going on in Europe and Charlie Kirk’s assassination in the preamble that we put at the end of these. So, if you want to hear that, stick around to the end and you’ll hear about that. But, I’ll just say at this part, um, you know, Charlie Kirk did just get assassinated yesterday. Uh, it’s it’s, um, disgusting. It sounds uh, uh, what’s that word? When when uh, it doesn’t do it justice. It makes it sort of sounds wrote, I forget the word, but it’s overused to say, you know, thoughts and prayers with the family and all that kind of stuff. Um, but truly, you know, there was a loss of life. It was a he was a big political figure whether you like him or not. He’s a human being, you know, a father, a father, a husband, a son, a sibling, and you know, he lost his life in a public way on camera fighting for what what he believed in whether you again, whether you agree or not. And um you know I just wanted to at least acknowledge that here and uh it’s an interesting time you know for the US. Despicable dude. It’s despicable. Of course. Of course. It’s disgusting. Yeah. And it creates you know it’s it creates more division uh more possibility of violence um you know and just more sort of vitriol and anger and division. That is one of the things that you know I think people are looking to get away from. Um you know coming to a place like this but also just you know the unfortunately excuse me the the society and the culture in places like the US and probably lots of Europe as well uh have gotten so so derisive and so divisive that gosh it’s just tough. It’s like people are very angry and that’s a major part of the context of living in in those places and it’s uh you know it didn’t get any better yesterday. No. God I mean it’s a step change worse. Yeah, dude. That’s Yeah. Yeah. The the Yeah, we talked about it already. I don’t even want to go back into it again because it gives it makes me sick to my stomach, dude. Well, it of course. I mean it’s uh Yeah. Yeah. So stick around or fast forward if you want to see that stuff. Yeah. I don’t want to go in there again. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we’re back in a little bit of a cold stretch here. Yeah. Last couple days it’s been super cold. Look at you. You’re in your your sweater, you know. I’m even zipped up. Zipped up. Yeah. Yeah. I’ve decided, Brandon, I Oh, you know, I hadn’t talked to you about this. So, we we’ll go ahead and just talk about it now on camera. Okay. We got to go. We got I’m taking my kids. Take Quinn. Bella if she wants to or whatever you want and let’s go let’s go let’s go in the Amazon. Yeah, let’s do this. But like like this month or next maybe see we got some tournaments and stuff. So we got to see. All right. And we should go to Pyango too. We should go to the petrified tree for it’s like one of the largest petrified tree forests I think in the world. But definitely was a sizable site. And then we should also so yes, let’s figure out how to do that. Let’s do pang po puango. And then let’s also go to some of those archae some of those ancient ruin sites that are not touristy that we can that we just know about because they’re there. Yeah, let’s do it. Let’s do it. And go check them out, man. And I’m agree. All right. Yes. Glad we resolved that quickly. No bloodshed. No. No. still alive. So, what else is going on? You saw uh Nabboa submitted more questions for the Oh, additional questions. I didn’t see that. You want me You want to go through those? They’re interesting. So, um So, cuz what did we have initially? We had the gambling. Yeah. Which that one’s back on. He resubmitted and changed it. So, it’s interesting because this is all like security related referendums and then that one keeps getting in. Well, it’s a the thing that that I think like the the amount of tax income that they would get by doing that and the uptick in economy is dramatic, right? So, I’m going to read I’ll read you the questions and then I’m going to give you a take on how it could be good for the people and how it could be bad for the people and then I want your opinion. What do you say? Sure. You up for this, Jesse? Yeah. All right. So, we’ll start. Of course, we never Well, we never know with these questions. It’s like you just never know anything about the implementation, right? So, it’s such a But anyways, yeah. Yeah. All right. Question one. This is a registry for convicted child rapists. So no, NABOA aims to bolster public safety and deter sexual crimes amongst minors against minors by creating a tracking system that limits offenders access to vulnerable groups potentially as part of a broader anti-rime agenda to appeal to voters concerned with child protection. This could be good for the people by enhancing child and adolescent safety through preventative measures that reduce the risk of reaffending of reaffenders in sensitive environments. Y okay the bad is the you know the the devil’s advocate is that by perpetuating stigma against convicted individuals complicating their social reintegration and raising concerns over privacy rights and potential overreach in surveillance. Yeah. So if you want to make that argument that you know we got to protect their rights a little more. It’s kind of where I draw the line. Yes. Child rapist, you lose you rape a kid, you lose your rights. You deserve the stigma. I I I tend to agree. All right. So, I I don’t see how I don’t know how this one is getting any type of massive that’ll get a 90 plus%. All right. Let’s move on. Okay. Number two, supermajority requirement for constitutional court declarations. So, no. Noa seeks to limit the constitutional court’s ability to easily overturn laws and emergency decrees, reading between the lines as an effort to reduce judicial obstacles to executive actions and consolidate power and security challenges. Okay. So how this could be good for the people by promoting governmental stability and allowing swift implementation of policies during crisises crisis with frequent judic without frequent judicial blocks. Okay. Why it’s bad I think we know. Weakening the constitutional checks and balances potentially enabling abusive or unconstitutional me measures to go unchallenged if judicial consensus is harder to achieve. Yeah, it’s a tougher one. Yeah. I mean, it’s like, you know, it’s one of those double-edged swords, obviously, where it’s like, I’m okay with it right now, right? Right. Because because I want Nabboa to be able to like fight the cartels and do what he’s got to do, but you know, if a Marxist was in power, right? I would not be okay with it, right? And depending on where we’re at on this whole spectrum, even stuff like the Patriot Act in the States, you know, you think about some of those things, right, where Yeah. they’re good in the moment, but then what are they, you know, or they can be. Yeah. Right. Yeah. It’s such a difference, though. Don’t you think of like I just I don’t know, man. It’s so it’s funny for me watching myself the way I react to these kinds of things because my you know I’m an anarchist like politically like I’m a I’m libertarian anarchist like I don’t you know um and so and so my take on all of that stuff coming from the US and in the US was always no it was for me too but I I think Most people, a lot of people, like a big portion of the masses were like, “Yeah, security surveillance on blah blah blah.” Of course. Of course. I I’m not even saying it in reference to that. I’m just saying I’m just saying like how I’ve how it’s different here. I’m just trying to compare the two at least as I I relate to them. You’re you’re relating to this one different because No, no, just in this sense, right? So like in the US whether it’s the Patriot Act or the NDAA or just increasing surveillance in general or increasing this power of the state in general or blah blah blah blah blah. Pretty much I I was I certainly previously but even now like pretty much I was always against that in whatever form it was happening. I’m like nope like more freedom not less right not more% less state not more state. Um I’m agree where you know and then I watch myself in Ecuador how I relate to those things and I don’t feel the same at all. Yeah. And there is a difference and I I don’t you know we’d have to like we’ve tried to kind of pinpoint this before. I don’t know how well we did it or didn’t but there is a difference where it’s like in the US I feel very strongly or I felt very strongly and still do that there’s an agenda at play. There’s a overarching agenda, right? and they want to get people to give up their rights and to come more and more into the system and get more and more dependent and more and more controllable and they want to track everything and they want you to have no privacy and they want blah blah blah. And so there’s like this agenda that’s sort of this idea of like a totalitarian, you know, state that controls everything and knows everything and blah blah blah where and I I don’t feel that that agenda does not exist in Ecuador. I think it does exist in some way at some level in the sense like I get the sense that a president gets a talking to here and there and they all of a sudden there’s some weird push for like wind power or something or like you know or like or like stuff there’ll be some a little bit I’ll see little bits and pieces of the agenda that usually gets usually gets um scrapped like I know like I saw for example at one point they were saying for years they were saying you’re not going to be able to continue to use the gas caliphones. They want everything on electric and it’s for sure and d this was under Korea and it never happened. And a lot of people like went and bought the electric in anticipation and it was just years of they were saying it and then just none of it ever happened. And I’ve seen that with a lot of things. Um, I’ve seen that with some of the digital payment stuff, like the the they they scrapped it. Like the the Ecuador government had like a digital payment thing that they were going to use and they were going to force you to use it to pay certain things to try and get everyone comfortable and they just ditched it and never did. Yeah. So, I feel like those are the agenda. It’s like somewhere some meeting happened and someone said to, “Hey, we’d really like you to, you know, do this. It’d be good for you and your family.” And they were like, “All right.” and but then it like you know it it doesn’t really happen. So, so the I think the agenda does exist in on in that context, but in the context of like the overall powers that be in this country, the business leaders, the political leaders, um the the people, you know, and and the that which actually matters here. Um I think within that there really isn’t that same agenda, right? And so when you when you have things that sound to my previous life in the US would have sounded to me like totalitarian tiptoe or whatever, right? Um here I don’t I don’t feel that way. I’m like yeah the government needs these powers to fight the cartels like give it to them in a lot of cases. So I don’t know. And the culture is different and I think that’s because the culture is different. That’s why you feel differently because it doesn’t, you know, they’re not, you have so many parts of the population or large swats of the population that are self- sustainable, you know, they’re accountable for themselves. They’re not relying on the government for anything already, right? you know, and there’s no there’s nothing to propel them unless, you know, unless you fast forward or you have a huge step change in totalitarianism where they’re going to steal people’s land from them or something like it would take that type of extreme extent which they would shut down the country. Right. Right. That’s what I mean. There’s there’s nothing there’s not none of these little things like they’re doing we see in the west when you’re in the matrix and you’re in the debt driven you know credit cycles dude like yeah you’re squeezed you’re squeezed and you have they have leverage to to keep you moving on the trend that they want you where here not really that doesn’t really that’s not part of the game here right there’s other parts of the game but that’s not you know they don’t have that you know daytoday leverage to move you that way, you know. Exactly. And you also have um you have the difference between enforcement or in terms of violence, in terms of the threat of violence. It’s like in the US if the government says, “Hey, like go in and clear this block,” like they’re going to do it. Like whoever that is, the police, the National Guard, like whatever, they’re going to go in and they’re going to clear the block. Yeah. here like governments topple in Latin in places like Lat and all around the world actually. Governments topple because the police and mil and the police andor military refuse to use violence against the people. So you have a very strong component of that here that makes me feel differently about there being too much power accumulated potentially in the hands of the state. Not that I actually want that. I don’t want that. But but but giving them some more in certain areas doesn’t give me the same concern because I’ve watched how that works here. The police and the military are not going to go against the people in mass. And so you don’t have to you don’t have that concern the same way. Yeah. All right. So So you’re you’re kind of okay with this one then. Well, uh I don’t know. I I’m not I’m not studied enough on this to even have a really good opinion. Well, let’s move on to question three. Question three. Expeditious procedures for extortion, robbery, and reception crimes. So, NOBA intends to accelerate justice for prevalent street and organized crimes implicitly targeting gang violence and insecurity to protect to project a tough on crime image ahead of the political cycles. So, this could be good for the people by deterring criminal activity through quicker prosecutions and providing faster resolution for victims in higher crime contexts. could also be bad for the people by risking due process violations such as rush trials that lead to miscarriages of justice and or unfair punishment punishments for the accused. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, look, I’m sure I’m sure abuses exist. I’m sure they exist. I’m sure if you’re in a crimeridden neighborhood in Guayakil and you’re just some kid and you’re not involved in stuff, I’m sure it’s possible you could get swept up in in a raid or in some kind of operation and end up in jail while they figure out who you are and like whatever. I’m sure, you know, I’m sure that exists. But I don’t know. There’s certain circumstances to me that the the ends justify the means. Um I think El Salvador is the perfect example of that. I haven’t been there. I wasn’t personally involved in any of that. I don’t know how much abuses have gone on or not. I don’t know the ins and outs of all of that. All I know is the crime statistics and the popularity uh as well. Like I mean it’s not unimportant, right? I mean he he has one of the highest approval ratings of any president in the world. Um which I think matters. Mhm. Um, so yeah, I mean I I think uh that would be good for So So those last two, that one and then the one with the constitutional court declarations, you think those will be debated? Like those aren’t going to be I think that one will pass very easily. Okay. The constitutional court one I think is probably could go either way. Okay. Because Yeah. Because Yeah. Yeah. All right. I don’t think people have people in Ecuador right now have no sympathy whatsoever crime for just crime whereas whereas there’s a lot of people who care tremendously about civil civil right civil liberties and checks and balance in the court and you know that yeah I got to ask I got to see do you know what CPCCS is? No, CPCCS. I need to figure out what this is first because this one, the next one is eliminating CPCCS appointment powers and shifting to national assembly. So, the council for citizen participation and social control is an autonomous entity. So, this is the citizens assembly stuff. Yeah, this is like that this is the stuff that this is like the social stuff that Korea did. Okay. So, apparently it was established in 2008 under the constitution taxed with promoting transparency, citizen participation and social control of republic institutions including pointing key authorities like the arms buds arm budsman and controller general while investigating corruption. So, so this what do they want to do with it? They want to get rid of it. NOA Naboa aims to dismantle the allegedly corrupt or inefficient C PCCS by transferring author authority selections to the legislature with public input, subtly aiming to reform institutions, and possibly align them more with his administration’s influence. So, this could be good for the people by fostering transparency, merit-based selections, greater citizen involvement in government to combat cronyism. It could also be bad for the people by concentrating appointment powers in the politically charged National Assembly. potentially leading to partisan biases or reduced independence in key institutions. Yeah, I I don’t know any I don’t know anything about that. Okay. Yeah. Is this like the citizens citizens assembly would fall under this? I’m not sure. Huh. Sounds like it could, but I don’t know. Yeah. I’m just curious. All right, let’s do the next question. Um, question five. Allowing casinos in five-star hotels. Please. So, no, noa pursues economic revitalization through regulated gambling in luxury settings, inferring a goal to stimulate tourism and generate revenue in struggling economy while navigating postreerendum rejections. So, this could be good for the people by creating jobs, boosting tourism income, providing regulated entertainment options that contribute to national revenue. could be bad for the people by exacerbating social issues like gambling addiction, moneyaundering risks, or inequality if benefits primarily flow to elite hotel owners rather than the broader population. Sure. Yeah. I don’t I don’t disagree with any of that pro and con. Yeah, it’s all accurate. So So what’s the what’s the push back on this one? Well, I think I mean as you you know Ecuadorians are not people who are not prone to vices. I think would you agree? Yeah. Yes. So, so I think you know I was told that a lot of people when gambling was legal because gambling was legal here up until Korea and then Korea got rid of it. Um, I was told it was a problem in the country for people just like addicted to gambling bait. Like there was just people would sit around and just gamble and I think there was sort of Isn’t that anywhere in the world? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean I think gam right but it’s like a sin kind of right. It’s like I mean there’s a reason Las Vegas is the way it is. You know it’s not like a wholesome activity, you know. Um, it’s like, you know, church and church and the casino, they go hand in hand. Um, yeah. So, I think that that that might be a real thing for people. And, uh, other than that, yeah, I don’t know, man. I see it. I think, you know, the the casino hotels, the luxury casino hotels that are all over the world, you know, in the Bahamas and wherever, right? I mean that’s a these are big drivers of of of revenue, you know, jobs, tax base, the whole nine. Like it’s hard to see much downside there. All right, question six. There’s Let’s see how many we got. There’s seven. So question six. Prohibition on using name image of convicted corrupt officials. So, NOBOA targets corruption’s aftermath by barring convicted public servants from public endorsements or media use, likely to cleanse the political discourse and prevent corrupt figures from retaining influence. This could be good for the people by diminishing the social societal impact of corruption, deterring future misconduct conduct, and promoting cleaner public administration and elections. could be bad for the people by infringing on free expression rights, potentially being weaponized against political rivals or limiting public discourse on rehabilitated individuals. Yeah. So, I mean partially you you know you need a little bit of a history lesson here which I’m not in a position to give well at all. Some context. Yeah. But like you know basically ex-presidents here end up in jail frequently. So so and political scandal here is not uncommon at all. Um, you know, I mean, Koreah Koreah is convicted. So, Koreah can’t travel to Ecuador because he’ll be put in jail. Um, his vice president is in jail. Uh, glass his second, you know. So, yeah. So, so that’s not uncommon, but I think that basically this law is essentially directly aimed at Korea and his influence because he’s he’s convicted, right? So if they had a law that said he’s not allowed to have influence basically in the country and I don’t it sounded like sort of that’s what they’re trying to get at right that would remove I mean he just to be clear Rafael Koreah is the most powerful political figure even now in Ecuador like probably more so than Nabboa in the not I mean noa has more power of course as president but I just mean in terms of influence over the populace it’s probably still Koreah like he he commands very loyally like 30% or 30 to 35% of of this country to to this day and wild right and so you know whatever that yeah anyway so it’s probably very directly aimed at him right which I’m sure that will pass because people because even though 30 to 35% of the people love Korea the rest of the country hates him so you know that will probably free speech thing That’s kind of, you know, that’s where it’s infringing, right? Like ideas, people being able to say what they want to say, right? I don’t know. It’s But I mean, convicted. He’s convicted of crimes. I don’t know. Yeah, it’s an interesting one. All right. Last but not least, question seven. New organic law for the constitutional court. Noan endeavors to restructure the constitutional court’s framework and procedures, possibly to streamline operations or curb what he views as overreach as part of ongoing judicial reforms. So this could be good for the people by improving the efficiency and clarity of constitutional oversight leading to better better jurisdiction jurisdictal blah blah blah and faster resolutions. This could be bad for the people by altering the court’s independence of balance and balance of powers, potentially tilting it toward executive preferences and undermining de democratic. Yeah, that’s that goes handinhand with that earlier one. I I wouldn’t be surprised if those two failed. Um but I don’t know. Yeah, I mean I’m you know far from a political expert in this country. So yeah, that’s just interesting like because I think all of them I mean I don’t remember. Yeah, four of his six question of his original six got rejected. So they had that vote already. Yeah. Yeah. It’s a f the rejection of four of six rec. So the gambling one got rejected. Yeah. And they resubmitted it. Yeah. Damn it. I just want to play blackjack. So among the new submissions are revisions to the rejected questions to allow casino gambling. Can you go I’m cur you mind can you go back to those the first referendum? I didn’t even pay attention to this. When when was this recently? Like what the questions were? Yeah. And what was the result? I have a vague memory of that happening, but I didn’t I didn’t go to Lowa to vote. Yeah, right. I Yeah, they went to vote here. I remember. Yeah. Or to go get her card. So, that had to be about 6 months ago or something like that. Yeah. Let’s see. Original six Okay. Okay, it looks like do you agree? Do you agree to allow the armed forces when when did this take place? Um, it’s approved by the J by the constitutional court on Oh, no. Pass. No, this can’t be right. Saying 2024. Yeah, it would have been. It could be. Yeah, could be. It be could been in like the end of Yeah. towards the end of 2024 possibly. Approved by the constitutional court in January of 2024. No. No, that’s not right. I don’t think so. Yeah. I don’t know, dude. Okay. I I Are we sure that’s the right referendum? I’m trying to find the source. It’s hard to find the source. Okay. All right. Yeah, we I we can look, but I don’t know, dude. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I’ll have to I’m curious about that. I’ll go check it out when I have time. Yeah, do that when you have time. Cuz it’s interesting if they rejected four out of the six. I’m curious. No, that’s what that’s what it said. Which which four did they reject or which two did they keep? Yeah. Yeah. I’m curious how that went because it’s in because he’s pretty popular. I mean, no is pretty popular, right? I mean, he won by what, 11 points or something. Yeah. Which is a lot. And people are and a lot of what he’s proposing are are safety related Mhm. you know, thing things to, you know, mitigate some of this crime, you know, the cartel and organized crime stuff. So, I always give I just, you know, I’m always impressed by I give endless credit to the Ecuadorian people in terms of their capacity to like sniff out [ __ ] and to just sort of know what’s going on accurately in their own country. It’s really remarkable. I think like they they have a remarkable capacity and I’ll bet this is an example of that where where even though Nabbo is super popular and they all want they’re all in favor of his sort of ma the main thrust of his administration, they voted down four out of six of his of his proposals probably because some of them were bad for life here and bad for people and they and they you know it’s it’s interesting like Even, you know, if you see what happened recently, uh, with, you know, with the mayor of Lowa. Yeah. He’s out. I mean, they got rid of him and they do that. This is the second time that they’ve gotten rid of a mayor in the middle of his term in Lowa since I’ve been here. Like, wow. So, is there I don’t even know. Is there a new mayor? Is like a temporary Well, yeah. The vice mayor mayor steps up. We know she Were you in that I don’t remember. You might have been in that. Were you in that meeting when we were meeting about the hotel at the municipio? So she was she’s like Milton’s friend and was like in that meeting and she was very friendly and very she likes us and she you know will help us with what we need type of thing. So she’s the mayor now but only for a short period of time until they have an election. So I don’t know how long that is but interesting. Yeah. I was having this conversation yesterday with um Santiago who’s one of the guys that we he’s a local builder. He’s from Lowa. He’s a friend. Um he now has his He’s an engineer. Uh he’s an engineer by trade. His wife’s an architect and they’re a team who does design and construction here um on houses and things like that. And they have their office now here locally in town. And I was chatting with him yesterday um or I think it was yesterday a couple days ago about you know clients and how to work well with between this culture and the culture from the US or other places and blah blah blah blah blah and um managing expectations managing expectations and all that stuff and it and it was just um you know was it was interesting as I was expressing to him cuz it’s like we all come here as you know we come here as foreigners and And we need to learn how to function well here. Mhm. Right? Like we need to learn how does this culture work? How do the people think here? How do they operate? What’s respectful? What’s disrespectful? What’s endearing? What isn’t? You know, like how do I function here well? Um and not alienate people and you know that kind of stuff. And so, you know, one of the I think there’s kind of two main rubs in that that cause problems. You know, one of them, one of them, one of the cultural rubs in that that I think, you know, there’s just a a difference in perspective is that Ecuadorians view everything collectively, whereas where we come from, we kind of view everything individually. So, it’s like, so just right there, you just have like a difference of perspective on everything, right? It’s like we’re looking at like well this would be best for the individual for these reasons and here’s why and so I like that whereas people here are like well this would be best for the community and here’s why and so I like that. So there’s just almost a fundamental difference there which in terms of the way in terms of how your worldview is colored and then how things uh you know things that actions that are taken out of that. So, I think that’s one. And then the other, and then this is probably the bigger one. I’d say definitely the bigger one is there’s just a massive difference um between in attitudes as far as what’s what’s acceptable and what isn’t, right? So, so for Ecuadorians, everything’s basically fine all the time, no matter what, right? It’s like it’s like everything’s cool, everything’s acceptable, everything’s it’s, you know, it’s tranquilo everything, right? It’s okay if you’re late. It’s okay if the thing doesn’t happen. Whatever happens happens. You know, it’s okay if this table is here or if it’s 6 in that way. It’s okay, right? It’s okay if it’s this color or a different color. And that bleeds through into everything. People don’t people here don’t stake their identity on like what their what their color their car is or how cool their shoes are or what their house looks like or, you know, any of that stuff. And so there’s there’s this complete misunderstanding where, you know, where where an Ecuadorian is looking at us while we’re telling him like the tile has to be exactly this color and it has to look exactly this way and it has to be perfectly everything and and this is for us this is like very important. you know, we like we’ve got our ideas and we know how we want them and it’s like it’s almost for our culture, it’s almost like personal disrespect if somebody screws up something that we like communicated about and told them. It’s like this is outrageous, you know, like calling my senator. But um but there’s a big cultural clash there, right? And I was sort of having this conversation with Santiago just trying to give him some tips on like how we think Mhm. and how different it is. Um, and yeah, it was just I don’t know. It was I don’t remember what we were talking about that that related to, but um, but it’s it’s that’s like the biggest just to talk about that for a second. Like that’s like just the biggest adjustment I think honestly that people have to make if they want to live here is you got to chill the bleep out on all levels in all ways. You have to get much more accepting in general, but just accepting of what is. And the other thing, the last thing I would say is just took me took me two years at least and I was in full immersion. It would take most people who don’t do the kind of level of like learning curve acceleration that I did. Most people it’s going to take way more than that. But it took me even in full learning curve acc acceleration two years plus at least to realize that even though none of the way people m much much of the ways people think and go about their business here and just do things don’t make sense to you coming from the western mindset. Yeah, there’s a reason why. There is a reason why. There’s an intelligence behind it. There’s a cultural understanding behind it. It works. And you’re in nine times out of 10, probably even more like 49 times out of 50, you’re you’re better served by listening to listening and going about the process the way is being suggested. Maybe with some maybe with some alterations, maybe with some like on the margins some like well what if we you know what like it’s not like completely uninvolved at all. you’re still involved, but but to like generally accept this is the way to go about this or this is how we’re going to move forward on something or whatever it is versus no no no no this doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t like that. I don’t understand what you know even well the truth would be I don’t understand what you’re saying but actually they think they understand. So it’s more like it’s yeah I don’t know I don’t know how to say that but and then like putting process halting things and getting over involved it’s like it’s bad it doesn’t work don’t that’s cuz people you know we you know we come here and we think we know better you know and if we don’t let that go we don’t put that down and just assume we don’t know better we can you know like you said on the margins on some of these we but if we have that attitude of thinking we know better, man. It’s gross. It’s not only gross, but it’s it borders on disrespectful. It’s disrespectful, right? And yeah, that’s it goes it goes against what I think to to really enjoy your life here and to be part of something to contribute to community. You go about that and you’re rejected. You’re like closing the door on yourself, right? versus, you know, slowly opening it, you know, garnering, you know, eventually the ability to walk through the door, you know, but it it takes time. Like if you come in like that, like people that come here like that, they think they know and I’m going to do this and I’m going to I’m going to just like, you know, oh, I don’t need it. Relationships don’t matter. I’m going to book my own hotel or I’m going to book my own I’m going to just book an Uber or I’m going to, you know, or I’m going to get a taxi drive. Like, okay, sure. All right. find out, you know, find out. And those aren’t even like the best examples, but it’s like it’s more like, well, I’m just going to use this guy to like look for land or to build a house or to do my visa or to, you know, or or fix fix something or do some process. Oh, yeah. It’s just like, well, I have, you know, he seems cool. Like, yeah. Like, what? Right. Right. Right. Yeah. That’s that’s a big mistake, man. you see over and over and you know unfortunately it doesn’t matter how many times we say it. No, no, people are going to do do them and find out. Everyone’s got to learn their own lessons in life in all ways. Yeah. The um Yeah, that’s actually a good segue. Guys, if you’re if you’re watching our show and you’re not subscribed to the channel, subscribe to the channel. Give us a thumbs up on the video. If you if you’ve already given us a thumbs up, thank you for making sure you attended your horse therapy this week. That’s awesome. Um, if you if you haven’t thumbsed up, you know, give us a thumbs up and then go to horse therapy later. It’s all good. We appreciate you. Um, and if you do come down here, if you do are inspired to come visit, send us a note to [email protected]. We’re happy to help you in any way you can. If you do come down, make sure to reach out with reach out to us. We’re happy and honored to serve you in any way we can. So give us the chance to support you when you do make it down. Yeah, absolutely. No, I wanted to just for fun go a little more in depth on some of this and just give it some color because um we’ve talked about this before, right? But I think like one of the things that I came in with the US mindset, right? Obviously, I came in with the US mindset and this was an aspect that I had to learn that I have learned and now have adjusted and I it’s very beneficial. The this the actual system here works pretty well really well I’d say and is actually beneficial in many ways to as or more successful of an outcome as you have in the US system with whatever you’re trying to accomplish. But understanding this might help just in terms of people’s thinking as to how to go about it but also why it is that way. So one of the things that you can’t understand until you’ve been here a while and you see it is that processes change constantly and the way you get you get to your out desired outcome is a winding road. It’s not a set system where all the rules and regulations and everything are clear from the beginning and laid out and you understand all the processes ahead of time and therefore can plan everything out to a tea, right? So, but but of course coming from the states that’s your mindset. So, you say like, okay, well, I want to do, you know, I want to I want to um you know, I want to uh do X, Y, or Z project, right? I have this desire to do X, Y, or Z project. Okay, I’m talking to a lawyer or I’m talking to an expert in that capacity and I say to them, what are the steps I have to take from now until then? I want costs. I want timelines. I want all the steps, right? And of course, this seems very natural and normal what I’m saying, right, for anything you’re doing. And the guy kind of looks at you like you’re crazy and he kind of says,”Well, like here, you know, you’re going to pay me this now and then we’re going to do this step and then after that we still need to do these other things.” But like none of that information is clear at that point. And you’re kind of sitting there like, “What is he hiding information? Why can’t I get a straight answer? Why can’t he just tell me the timeline? Why can’t he tell me the the whole cost? Why can’t Why can’t Why can’t Right? And that can be offputting. That can feel like am I getting scammed? Is there something wrong? Am I you know am I whatever, right? That can but the truth the truth is is that because there’s so much flexibility here in the in the way you get to an outcome. Because there’s so much flexibility here in processes because um they rules and regulations change all the time and their implementation is completely based on the individual implementing it or the municipio or the department and those change all the time too. Because of all of that there’s no you can’t have certainty six three six 10 steps down the road. All you can do is work with the right people and move forward. And when you’re done with step one, you’ll work on step two. And when you’re done with step two, you’ll work on step three. And it actually, as long as you stay cool and you have the right people and you’re going about it the right way, it all works out. And it it works out well in in most it really can work out better because there’s additional flexibility. But because that certainty is not there from the start, there’s a lack of information which can be very disconcerting for people as they come from a culture where of course you could get all that upfront. The benefit is that timelines can are malleable. Everything’s malleable and so you you know you have more flexibility on on everything you’re doing. So there is there is great benefit but yeah so that’s some of the reason why the cult the culture is the way it is right. It’s like it’s like they’re not they’re not screwing with you cuz cuz they’re like cuz they can’t answer your question. Delicious. Yeah. Yeah. It’s just like it’s just not how it works here. And so you just have to get comfortable operating in that environment where you don’t know what the you’re not certain what the outcome is going to be and how long it’s going to take and how much it’s going to cost. You’re not certain. You just know that you’re working with the right people and you’re going to move forward and it’s all going to get accomplished. Which is probably hard for most people like Yeah. I mean that’s that’s kind of you know we talk about that with with um when people ask me like how long you going to be in Ecuador you know just that same concept of not having to know right um know an answer I don’t know maybe maybe forever maybe you know right I don’t I don’t need to know that I don’t need to know the next step so it’s just that same mindset of like all right I I know it’ll get done. I know this is part of it. Okay. When it happens, it happens. Like, be patient with it. That’s That’s difficult for a lot of people, man. Yeah. Difficult. Hey, Tiff, can you can you message Don? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Um, there’s something I was going to say about that that has slipped my mind. Processes, things taking time, shifts in perspective. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So, so one of the things, right, again that’s probably unappealing for most but super appealing for me about life here and the culture is that and this relates to everything we’re talking about is that there isn’t a societal there isn’t a social expectation that the government is going to fix all your problems and is the is the entity to rely on for stuff. People don’t have that expectation. They don’t have that perspective here. Government is not involved in very many aspects of your life in any significant way like they are in the US. you don’t have and so what’s happened in the US is because the bureaucracy is plays such a large role in everybody’s life because everything is so regulated there’s so many rules and regulations there’s government is involved in so many aspects of everything that people have been trained to like rely on the rules and regulations and government oversight for everything so it’s like the expectation in the US is like you dial 911 and this happens you fires, houses burning down, this happens. You you know you you need a construction permit, you you go do it this way, like all that stuff. It’s very like it’s pretty well ordered. Not always, but it’s relatively well ordered. It reason functions reasonably well, right? And it’s massive, so everyone’s just used to it and comfortable with it and you know that everyone gets it. You don’t have that expectation here. Like here people are used to and comfortable with and don’t have any other expectation than handling their own affairs communally individually and communally family individual family then community and so you know so because of that yeah it’s just a totally different mindset in everything but even business and even in like building a house or like whatever you’re doing whatever process you’re Everyone here understands like well it’s going to be person to person so I’m going to deal with whoever that person is at the next step and it’s going to be that’s going to be the key and people don’t even think about that they just know that intrinsically right whereas where we come from well we want it all laid out ahead of time and people from people here they’re like what are you like that’s not that’s like a foreign concept but laid out but they want they want help they want to be saved they want to be helped they want to be I was just having this conversation with my buddy Sean this morning about this like and I was explaining that B that same concept like where here people would prefer the government doesn’t get involved they don’t you know they’d rather solve the problem without having to involve any part of government period they and they’re very you know ingenu what’s the word ingenious ingenious in that way where they’re proactive in solving I mean I wouldn’t say proactive is the wrong word actually not it’s actually more tactical they’re more like problem happens let’s figure it out without having to involve the government, right? Not proactive, right? It’s more like, wait, the problem happens, then we that mountain’s going to fall down. It fell. Let’s do something about it. Let’s do something, right? And then they do, right? Where But they’re not looking they’re not generally looking for the government to come in and save them or figure something out, figure out a solution where you get a sense on in the states where, you know, you you you see a lot of folks that don’t save for retirement. they don’t invest and then they just well the government’s going to save me. I’m going to get social security. I’m going to get this. I’m going to get Medicaid, you know, right? The government’s going to save me. Or then if there’s like acute problems like some of the stuff like the mountains falling down. Oh, don’t worry. The government will say like they’re not even thinking. They’re not coming together to think how do we solve this? How do we fix it? There’s no necessity to. Right. Right. So, it’s Yeah. It’s totally different mindset, man. Totally different. And I I appreciate I appreciate the mindset here. I mean, for me, it’s so much better. Again, right, the downside is, well, a mountain can collapse, a road can get covered in a landslide, and it’s a very messy, sloppy process getting that sorted out. Mhm. The government’s going to do what it can, but it’s not well organized and there’s, you know, there may be there may be problems and the people are going to get involved and they’re going to put pressure on the government and there may be private groups that, you know, it’s that’s not as cleancut a process as it would be at home. Um, so if you want to call that a downside, right, like you you don’t have the same level of safety, if we want to use that word, and thing in just in life, right? It’s like it’s like there’s no guard rails. There’s no guardrails. That’s that’s really the way to put it. There’s no bumpers. There’s no bumpers on the bowling alley. Yeah. And so, you know, for someone like me who who likes self responsibility and appreciates a life that where there’s way more flexibility and freedom, but there’s no guard rails, right? That’s fantastic. But for someone, you know, for someone who likes the the security and the stability of a perfectly regulated sidewalk, you know, that that that you can walk on because the government h has a regulation about slope and curve and material and and you know, etc. And it’s all got to be wheel hand wheelchair accessible and things like Well, they don’t have any of that here, right? So, you know, that could be a downside for people. But yeah. No, that’s that nails it, dude. Like that’s the difference. That’s the big difference. So, it’s whether you’re wired to like be part of that or, you know, be self accountable or be responsible for yourself, take your life in your, you know, it kind they kind of all align with, you know, taking living in the moment, taking, you know, control of your own life, making decisions. And the culture kind of, you know, nurtures that, you know, the inherent culture allows that mindset to to grow and to flower and, you know, like if you want it or not, it’s here, you know, right? Some people aren’t ready for it, you know? Don’t want it. And that’s cool, too. You know, right. Exactly. Do your thing, man. Do your thing. But for, you know, and that’s the thing is like those are the questions to be asking yourself. Can you actually not just like you think you can, right? Can you actually chill out? Yeah. Cuz you won’t like it here if you can’t. Yeah. And chill out and be and have patience and understand that the the roads are going to be bumpy, you know, and like literally bumpy. And you’re going to have and every process is going to be bumpy. Metaphorically and literally. Yeah. And you know like it’s going to feel at times when you first come like that it’s inconvenient. Yeah. That things are inconvenient and then you know you may that may stick and then you leave. If or you you get past that and you chill out and you decompress and you breathe and you you know become more present and you find your humanity again and you enjoy the culture and the relationships and and that piece and then it’s like ah it’s I’m I I actually prefer the inconvenience you know and then you stay you know well said. Yeah. Ecuador is the perfect representation. It’s the there’s a better word, but it’s the incarnation of It’s the It’s the representation of I got a guy for that. That’s Ecuador in a nutshell. So, like, if you think about it, right, think about So, I grew up I grew up in rural Vermont. Yeah. In rural Vermont, nobody’s got a guy for anything. It’s it’s like everything is standard. It’s like, you know, you need to buy something, you go to the store. You need to get something done, you go through the normal process. But I was always very connected to New York because my whole family is from New York. And so we would spend a lot of time there and I still had family there and I was, you know, I was always connected um to the city. And then when I finished high school, I moved to the city. So in New York as I you know as I ingrained there and I think this is relatable to any city probably in the world basically when you’re in a neighborhood and you know people in the city you got a guy for that for all kinds of stuff all of a sudden you’re not necessarily going on Amazon.com you’re like calling your boy and cuz they’ve got it better and cheaper and more accessible and whatever right and so you’ve got you got a guy for that for everything and like the standard processes are less because you have this network of, you know, and if you go to better cities like Chicago, then you have even a better network and better guys and all that. In that very like segregated city that like eats they call this pizza. Yeah. Um phenomenal. I miss it. I miss they cook pizza in like four steps. It’s like they make the So um they slice it like a pie. Yeah. Um, it’s a pizza pie. Well, it is a pizza pie. Um, I’ve never been there, bro. I can’t say anything bad about the place, but um I don’t think you’ve ever been there. I’m just acknowledging a better city. You can argue whatever you’d like. It is relatively comical that I don’t think either of us have been to the other city that No, that’s great. So, yeah. So, like, right. And so, Ecuador, Ecuador, that’s how every aspect of life works. There’s no standard. You don’t go on Amazon.com for anything. You don’t Who goes to Amazon? Who says that? You’re like the only person I know that says Amazon.com. What do you say? Amazon. Amazon. Say Amazon. Go on Amazon. You go to amazon.com. Everybody knows. Say it. All right. Fine. Well, maybe I like saying it though. Go ahead. Say it however you want. I’m just going to make fun of you if you keep saying either way. It’s not It’s not based on whether I say that or not. But um yeah. So, so it’s like here, right? To get a driver’s license, I got a guy for that. You know, to get like for a fix a sink, I got a guy for that. To like where do I buy a refrigerator? I got a guy for that. To get a bank account, I got a guy for that. Right. Right. Yeah. It’s good stuff, dude. Yeah. It’s a difference. It’s a difference. I like it. I like it. Right. As long as you got a guy for that. As long as you got a guy for that. Yeah. You’re good. You’re in good shape, you know. Well, good shape. Anything else we scheduled to discuss today? Yeah, right. I’m Let me read the script. Hold on. Let me check the script. Do we have Do we have uh Nope. That’s fantasy football. Uh let’s see. There’s fantasy baseball. Let’s see. Yeah, I think I think um I mean I I’ll hit Twitter just to see if there’s anything that pops up. Anything really interesting. Otherwise, we can wrap. refresh. Anything at the top that’s interesting. Okay. Um, nope. I’m already disgusted. I’m already No, it’s just like I’m already disgusted with some of it. So, yeah. Yeah, I prefer not to. I mean, that’s a great mini example of why not to watch the news, right? It’s like immediately it’s like gh gross. No, I’d rather go run around in the grass like a fairy. I’ve never seen you do that. When When are you going to do that? Can I No, I’ll run around in the grass with you like a fairy. I believe you. I do it regularly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right, guys. Thanks for tuning in. Like, like, subscribe. Comment. Comment. Yeah. Do you like his hat? Do you like his hat? It’s a new hat. He likes his hat. Tell him how awesome his hat is. Even if you don’t believe it, it’ll make him feel better. No. No. No. No. Always tell the truth. Always tell the truth. I mean, if you want to save him one horse therapy session this week, tell him his hat’s awesome. Please. Which they are a little pricey. Yeah. I mean, dude, I mean, they’re they’re not it’s it’s not a common, you know, modality, human modality, right? It’s very specialized. It’s very specialized. It’s very Yeah. I mean, you can’t have any horse give you that therapy, you know? I don’t know. I don’t I don’t know. All right. Well, we hope to see you down here one day, guys. Until then, we’ll see you next time. Take care, everyone. Ciao, guys. Hey, guys. Thanks so much for tuning in. taking this quick break to remind you we run Vil Kabomba lifestyle retreats. If you’re interested in checking out this area, hanging out with us, getting all the information you could possibly want, and having a great time, check out the links below. Thanks so much. Back to the program. What’s going on, man? How you like my new hat? Yeah, it’s fitting. Yeah. Did you know I walk around town barefoot now? Do you? No. Good. I need two I need I need two more years. It’s good. But I do have this sweater and this hat. Yeah. Yeah. And you got the, you know, I have the hippie bag, too. You have the hippie bag. You have the equator shirt. Yep. And you’re all about it. They didn’t even They didn’t even write Vil Kabomba on this one somewhere. That’s disappointing. They’re slacking. They’re slacking. Slacking. Slacking. Yeah, we just we had um Quinn soccer team. They they’re playing this tournament at the Cabaleria in Lowa where they have like the army training thing and apparently so I I’m learning about all these different Well, there’s two of those. Oh, the where the Yeah. Yeah. The one by Rodriguez Whit. Yeah. Yeah. Um which is awesome. The fields are awesome and the horses they have I think it’s like new recruits and then they do some type of horse training or something there and the horses will come down onto the field sometimes. It’s so it’s pretty awesome actually. Um but there’s I’m learning about all these different nuances. So it’s a tournament. It’s like a 4-day tournament that starts tomorrow and because it’s like Lia Deito or something. It’s some different affiliation. They can’t go as IDV. So, they’re entering the tournament as a different team and can’t wear their uniforms and they have to come up with a different uniform to be able to play in this tournament. Like otherwise, they’re not allowed. I’m like, why? Why? Like, this doesn’t make some kind of like territorial thing, right? Yeah. I don’t know. But like they can the same kids can play on the same team. They just can’t wear they can’t they can’t enter as independente. So, whatever. Yeah, dude. And you saw like Ecuador took down Argentina and dude, they’re playing good. They beat Didn’t they beat Brazil also? They’re playing well, man. I mean, that’s those are two of the top teams in the world. Mhm. It’s pretty exciting. Oh, that is pretty exciting. Especially here. When’s the World Cup? Yeah. I don’t know. Not now. Yeah, cuz these are the qualifiers, right? Yeah. So, it should be like in a year or something. Yeah. What is the World Cup every two years or every four years? I thought I thought it was every four. Let’s ask. Let’s find out. is the next world 2026 June 11th through July 19th. So when was the last one? And the United States, Canada, and Mexico as hosts. This next one, right? Yeah. Is the US any good these days? I mean, the US is always kind of the same, like middle of the road. Yeah. They don’t have the They have ath athletes. They don’t have the the technical skill side generally, right? I mean, we’ll see. I’ve been hearing for 30 years how they’re about to take over. Yeah. 2022, every four years. Four years. Yeah. This should be a fun one for Ecuador. Yeah. Yeah, that’s that’s awesome. It is awesome. You saw even for that game like it was a whole crowd. It was on a lion. There’s crowds everywhere like watching the game. Yeah. I had went for a massage and uh Anel was dropping me off and he had on the jersey. Really? He was like about to go watch the game. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I’m going to get a jersey for this for the World Cup. Yeah, for sure. No, it’s fun. I when I the first one I was here for, which was maybe 2014 or something. Uh, we watched most of the games actually at Zara in Lowa, like the original Zara, maybe back. Yeah, I think he has one in Quanka now. So maybe one of two now. We would go there and watch all the games and drink the beer. Yeah. And work actually in our suits and ties. Oh, really? Wow. No. And now suits and ties to barefoot. Barefoot. indigenous sweater and hippie hat. It’s what Ecuador will do to you. It can certainly can. Man, I remember when I first got here, I was asking this lady. I’m like, “Where do you get your clothes dry cleananed?” [Music] And her answer was, which I had like I couldn’t make heads or tails of at the time. This is like a well-dressed like middle-aged woman and uh I couldn’t make heads but at the time I like when I asked her and then she told me you know and then she’s like no she’s like I just gave up on that part of my wardrobe you know she’s like I don’t own anything anymore that and I was kind of like like my brain had a hard time computing that. Mhm. And then here I am. Yeah. In my dry clean. In my Ecuador t-shirt and my indigenous sweater. Yeah. In my tie-dye bucket hat. Yeah. There you are. It’s not really tiedye. It’s just very colorful. It’s like a colorful striped. Yeah. Pattern. But I kind of like I was happy that it goes up. Kind of looks kind of No, that looks better. There’s a little style. Yeah. No, you have a little swag with a little bit of swag. 3% 3% swag. Yeah. No, it’s definitely a swag bump. Not like the Sacred Valley swag. Not that much swag. That’s a lot of swag. That’s a lot of swag. I mean, I don’t know if you can quantify out swag that swag. The Sacred Valley swag. Yeah, you might not be able to. That’s interesting though. Might be one of a kind. Well, it’s certainly without question one of a kind. Definitely one of a kind. There is nothing else like it. That’s for sure. Oh, dude. So, uh, you see that stuff yesterday, man? It’s an interesting day yesterday. It’s wild, man. Did you see what Did you see Nepal? Yeah. It’s pretty cool. Wait, what? In Nepal? In Nepal. They Nepal, the country. Yeah. They overthrew their government. Oh, right. Right. Yes. Is that cool? Yeah. They were communists. It was a communist government. Yeah. Yeah. All right. They were like they like threw the finance minister in the river. Yeah. Right. But they didn’t kill him. But that’s good, right? No, I know. That’s what I mean. That’s the difference. No, it was a pretty it was a very peaceful like they they burned they burned Parliament like to the ground. Yeah. Well, I don’t know if that’s not very peaceful. I mean, I don’t I don’t think anyone was in it. Well, let’s hope not. Yeah. Yeah. And they they were dragging these folks out of their houses. Yeah, dude. I There wasn’t like there wasn’t like shoot like they weren’t shooting each other. Okay. I mean, that’s a win. Yeah. Yeah. That’s a win, dude. It’s a communist government in the same vein as Cuba and Venezuela. I don’t know enough about it. Yeah. and Venezuela and and and Ecuador when they had Korea and what those governments always do not is they you know they they make everyone poor while they live in you know mansions and have houses and assets all over the world and that’s what it was and the people it’s kind of most governments regardless of whether it is it is but but when you’re when your whole you know when the whole uh propaganda behind your, you know, your administration is equality and, you know, we’re all going to be the same and you’re robbing the country blind to have mansions, right? It’s a little different than like you know than which it’s not better necessarily but it is there is a difference between that and like politicians enriching themselves like in the US for example which is also horrible. But that’s kind of what we’ve decided unfortunately as a culture we are okay with like Right. Yeah. Yeah. That’s the other that that’s like the big piece, man, that I think we all forget is that these are all man-made laws and rules that we’re choosing to not only allow but vote for, if that’s real, and then accept and then complain about and be frustrated about when we have to abide by the rules that we as men have created, you know. Yeah. versus standing up and fighting against it or figuring maybe not even fighting against it but just finding a different way. Yeah. Uh because it’s too inconvenient for my life. Yeah. Well, I think I mean this is not an original argument or anything, but I think you know I really believe that’s part of what there’s been such an intense campaign to weaken men and to destroy destroy the family and weaken men. Yeah. So that so that there’s no one to stand up. Yeah. There’s no one to say like no like nuhuh. It’s not we’re not going this route, you know. And it’s true. I mean, if you look at the pussification of America, the pussification of men in America. Yeah. In the West. In the whole West, what they call the West. Yeah. Which makes no sense, but what they call the West. Um Yeah. I mean, it’s it’s bad. I mean, you’ve got, you know, got men fighting for equal pay or something like Well, just the the concept of of equal equality of outcome versus equality of opportunity. I I feel like that’s like the big crux. Yeah. You know, where there’s not a great understanding by everybody about the difference, right? And why one in my opinion is good and one is is not. Yeah. I mean it’s it’s and even the one that’s good is not achievable. It might be a nice goal. It might be a it might be a good goal. It’s not an achievable goal. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Right. But to strive for a quality of outcome, that’s insanity. Yeah. It’s evil. It can it ends up that way trying to Yeah. Trying to execute that goal. Yeah. No pun intended, but pun should be intended. Consequences. Yeah. Yeah, dude. That was Yeah. But I think it’s pretty cool that Well, that they over I mean they literally they literally got rid of their government. No, that’s great. Relatively peacefully. Yeah. No, that’s Yeah, as long as they didn’t kill anybody and Yeah. I mean, I think someone, you know, I think someone died. Maybe several. I don’t know how I don’t know. Yeah. I don’t know. There was It wasn’t a war. It wasn’t a civil war. And the military, I think, ended up like backing the people. Yeah. Which is awesome. Yeah. Which is awesome. which you would hope that should that ever happen in the United States, which is highly unlikely, but on some level of possibility of outcomes that that happens. But the problem with that is that there’s you know our military has been such a pin cushion unfortunately of experimentation and vaccination and um DEI and DEI and you know we’ve seen like what some of you know you know we talked about last time generals and dresses well that yeah right but just the the the Jesus um Russia Russia we’ve just had enough of you. Russia, Russia, Russia. It’s terrible. It’s terrible. Uh, but the point the point I’d like to make, my sweaty balls that are in between my skirt. God, tell me that you should behave differently. Russia. H Yeah. Um, I just mean more from like the um the stealing or the elimination of humanity. So, and what I mean by that is listen, man, like we’ve talked about we’ve seen excess deaths and stuff as it relates to certain things that people may or may not have taken right voluntarily or or thought was mandatory. And but then you’ve also, you know, as we talked about, I don’t know anybody that’s personally been materially harmed either. Yep. What I what I do have what I have witnessed and observed is folks that I knew prior or that I’ve known for a long time and that have taken multiple iterations of said substance, you know, four, five, six, seven times. And I don’t feel like I feel like they’re I don’t see the light in their eyes anymore. They sound the same. They look the same. They talk the same. But there’s something some studies on that by there’s something missing right and that’s what I so so because I’ve observed that whatever that is and I don’t know you know what it actually is um that has me a little concerned when I think about you know you know the brave guys and girls in our military that you know where are they at mentally where are they at psychopys physiologically whatever whatever happened like you aware of that on that on that spectrum on that trend. Yeah. Or not, you know. Yeah. So that’s Yeah, that’s something that’s interesting how that may or may not play out. But but the but dude, it’s like if we can push if they’re pushing, you know, the divide in the vitriel that’s being pushed now, like the Charlie Kirk stuff, dude, that’s sickening. It’s sickening, Jesse. Like there were I I went online shortly at first A friend of mine sent me the video. I thought it was I thought it was AI. My response was this is disgust. Like the fact that they’re doing this with AI is disgusting. Yeah. You know, and then I look and there’s a thousand there’s a thousand angles. Yeah. I’m like, whoa. Okay, this is real. He’s dead. Like there’s no like, oh, he’s No, he’s dead. Right. This is dis it’s despicable. It’s disgusting. Like I don’t even I don’t even watch him. Like I know who he is. I’ve seen him before, but I went and watched. Dude, he’s he’s constantly being heckled. Mhm. And being talked to derogatorily from people disrespectfully, angrily and he can, at least from what I saw, maybe there’s times he’s lost his cool. I don’t know. But the stuff that I saw it, he was very calmly and respectfully stating his opinion and very factually in many cases bringing facts and data to the to the discussion and I’m like wow man he is like he is not instigating any like you know he wasn’t raising the the anxiety or the level the stress level. He was like grounded and I’m like wow how is Yeah. I mean go ahead. Sorry. No, just like how is this so triggering that the fact I’m like wow he makes he makes so much sense. No, I mean he if Well, he makes so much sense, you know, in a calm way. He wasn’t, you know, at least the stuff that I saw. No, that’s how he is for. So, so that you know when you see this like you know and then and then I go online after there is countless countless posts that I saw of videos showing people showing their own face like celebrating it. God is good. Yeah. You know, God’s timing is never wrong. This is what needed to happen. Yeah. You know, celebrating it, man. Like despic dis Disgusting, man. Disgusting. Celebrating that [ __ ] Yeah. It’s really Yeah. And then and then you know people talking about like from both sides now again the sides are the problem. The fact that we have this false dichotomy. They think they have these different sides when it’s really a small small extreme section of you know on you know both sides. I guess that may or may not even be the problem. but are the ones driving the the narrative. The narrative and then the mainstream media that’s you know throwing gas on it. Yeah. I mean they may they’re really driving the narrative. Yeah. They’re well they’re right. They’re giving it a voice. Well yeah I mean and creating it too. Well right. It depends on who’s taking the action right. Yeah. Who’s you know are they paying people? Is this you know who are these deranged shooters? Who are these blah blah is this an operation? Like it looks I mean it looks like an operation to me. Yeah. this. You know, I’ve I’ve saw people say, “Oh, that’s somebody can, you know, some guy can just be practicing shooting and go, you know, that a 200 yard shot, you know, they could just take, you know, if somebody just practiced a lot, they can take that shot.” These are people that have never shot guns that say that stuff, dude. They have no idea what they’re talking about. That’s a 200 plus yard shot. If it’s where they’re shooting is from where they’re suspecting 200 plus yards downhill that you have to account for the angle, the bullet drop, the wind. He wasn’t just sitting. It wasn’t like it was a tin can sitting there. He’s still moving and there’s moving objects around. And then if it’s just some random Joe that trained a lot and shot a lot, had a lot of target practice, then you have. So that’s the skill technical side that you have to that that is not just average. That’s an advanced advant you know advance not an average shooter taking that shot. But then then he didn’t even hit center mass. It was a neck. It was a it was a neck shot. It was a neck or head shot. Neck. Yeah. Right. Right. But I’m just saying neck or head. They don’t even take shots like it. They It’s center mass. Like that’s that’s a precision snipe. Yeah. From distance that doesn’t even take into account somebody that’s oh an active guy that’s not a sniper that’s not killed somebody that now has to get their breathing in control. Get all that other stuff right. Get their breathing timed out and have no nerves that they’re about to shoot a human being. Like people underestimate what that is. that piece and and then be able to snipe somebody in the neck like give me a break. Agreed. Give me a break. Agreed. That’s not an, you know, agreed. And then and then there was all the telltale weird stuff happening too, like right after it. But yeah, and you can even I don’t know. Did you see that video where like it looks like that guy? There was a guy I think he was in like a white shirt. Looked like he slept like he made Yeah. I don’t know. Like I don’t know. I watched it a couple times. I don’t I mean people do stuff. People move and they’re talking. They’re signaling in faith in the sky. He like it was like a it was I don’t remember. It was like a It was a signal. He did it like twice and then it was boom. Yeah. I don’t know. I don’t know what what the signal is for, you know, take the shot. Well, shoot. Yeah. Yeah. Well, well, I think cuz it was Yeah. I don’t know. It seemed like that was it was like they were talking it was like transgenderism and then he was like signal. No, he said it was like how many mass shooters like the the the the person in the audience said how many in the last 10 years have been transgender and you know and he you know that’s the thing like he kept having to lean over to pick up the mic. That’s the other thing. He’s leaning over, pick up the mic, put it back down, sit back up. It wasn’t like he was just Yeah. He was sitting but he wasn’t Yeah. No, it looked like it looked like an operation, right? And then I think most of these shootings are operations. And he said he said too many, you know. Great answer, right? Great answer. And then they, you know, the guy responded and then he said, “How many mass shooting, I forget what the second question was, but then he picked up the mic and said went to clarify and said, you know, gang related or not gang related and then goes to put the mic down and then takes takes the bullet, right?” And and you know, if you look at this like how many how many shots were at Trump that missed, people think, “Oh, this could be some guy that was right.” Like how there were at least three shots. One nicked his ear. That’s how hard this is. And it was probably an easier shot. Yeah. With le There was nobody around. It’s Trump by himself. Like just, you know, also an operation. Yeah. Right. Right. I don’t know. It’s just the thing at the end of the day, man, is like what like to what end? Like what are we doing? What are we doing? Now, now you’ve got people celebrating this and now you’ve got people that were supporters of Charlie Kirks or just conservatives or that are talking about retribution and we’re fighting back and like this this is enough is enough and like you know what’s the point like to what end? Where does it go? I mean that’s the point, isn’t it? Is it I I don’t know. To what end? It’s an operation. But to what end? Like to what end? I mean, I think the divide and conquer is endless. I think we’ve been dealing with divide and conquer on earth forever, right? But how are but but what I don’t understand is where where are we not conquered right now? Well, I mean, there’s still a second amendment. There’s still families still exist to some amount degree. The state hasn’t taken over everything yet. Yeah. What what all of us didn’t bow down and take, you know, mandatory injections, but et what society in history has eliminated families and eliminated weapons and you know like well I think they’ve been trying to do that for a hundred years very very overtly and very in insistently and you know we were talking about Nepal a minute ago. I mean that’s what communism is. Yeah. I mean just destroying the family or just making slaves. No. No. It’s part of that is is the destruction of the family, destruction of religion, destruction of just anything traditional, any like traditional like values of family, God, you know? Yeah. It it seems like there’s like some acute acute step change towards that right now though. Like why why is that now? But I mean that’s been happening forever. Like if you go if in 1950s out of like 10 families how many were like overtly religious in the US? Eight, nine. Like what is that now? Three. Yeah. Yeah. Well, no, that’s what I mean. That’s like Well, that’s been going on. That’s like the slow boil. But now it seems like there’s, you know, like the divide, the push for division and destruction is now blatant. We’re in the ninth. We’re in the ninth inning. Yeah, we’re in the great awakening. It’s the bottom of the ninth. [ __ ] Diaz is on the mound. I will crush him. And there’s uh I will put him in the seats. You will? I will. You me? You? Yeah. With my eyes closed. Well, that’s the only way you can do it. Um. Yeah. So, so everything’s happening all at once because it’s because it’s the end. It’s beginning. Sure. Exactly. Not the end. Exactly. It’s the beginning. Well, it’s the end of in this case in that what in that context what I mean is just it’s the end of the opportunity to even have an opportunity to enslave. It’s the end of that window. Yeah. The championship window is closing on on the cabal. That’s ugly though. Transition. Exactly. That’s what we’re in. But it like it gets way I don’t see where it doesn’t get way uglier first. It has to. Yeah. Yeah. But it also gets way more beautiful at the same time. Yeah. And that’s the whole that’s the whole deal. And so that’s why again like choosing your timeline and choosing your vibration and choosing all your stuff and the way you live your life and set up your life. It’s why it matters. Yeah. Especially right now. Right. It matters particularly right now. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And if you look at, you know, you look at the US even like overall, there’s no way the US can’t have significant pain. There isn’t a way that I can see, right? It doesn’t mean every individual there is going to suffer in the same way or anything, right? But yeah. Yeah. But just to get back to what you were saying a second ago, just to clarify in terms of Charlie Kirk. Yeah. So I I follow him not, you know, not closely. I don’t He has a podcast. I don’t listen to it. um you know he he gives all these talks. I don’t ever listen to a full talk or anything like that. Um but he’s you know but I I definitely do follow him like not closely. He’s so he’s very very smart. Um his arguments are very well put together. Um he’s a great debater and one of the main thrusts of his message is like we need to talk to people we don’t agree with. Yeah. You know that’s sort of like one of the main thrusts of his message if the convers if we can’t have the conversation then how can we ever solve any of this and it’s going to end up in violence. Right. is like what he So, so I I I want to say that in in partly in preface to say he’s going to be ex he’s going to be one of the most divisive and triggering characters you’re going to find for the liberal left because, you know, he very clearly says things like he’s very strong in his beliefs. So he’s a thousand% anti-abortion, for example. He’s a thousand% believes there’s two genders and no others and that that’s all nonsense. He’s a thousand% against any sort of DEI, you know, anything. Um he’s, you know, very very religious Christian, um so on and so forth. So, so I don’t think it’s fair to to or I don’t think it’s accurate to c to to um characterize him as someone who wouldn’t be extremely triggering for people who think that you know atheism is the a who are atheists who believe in um you know who believe in in all the gender stuff and who believe in DEI and who believe in abortion and all those kinds of things. you know, he’s going to be very very triggering for those people. Um, so yeah, I think that’s important to recognize. Um, one of, you know, and that’s kind of one of the one of the things I respected about him, and there’s things I don’t like about him, too, but like or I didn’t like about him, but but one of the things I respected about him was his capacity for, you know, very diff making his arguments very directly and very strongly in very taboo subjects that are very much, you know, flashoint um, hot button topics that can get you in a lot of trouble. and um you know he he dove in head first on all of that stuff and I even think he wasn’t bought and paid for like even he was a huge supporter of Israel which I’m always a little skeptical of in some ways. Um then he went after him and then he went after them in other ways. So I don’t even think he was really I don’t even think he was like bought and paid for. But then yeah, the last thing I wanted to say on that just in um you know in reference to what you’re saying I think uh about about like um you know where do we go and how d divisive and the division and so on so it’s like I don’t care man to celebrate someone’s death. Yeah. I don’t care who really truly like I truly don’t really care who it is. Like even if we even if we want to say like you know it’s it’s it’s Nicholas Maduro for example right like you know thousands of people starve to death and wreck the whole country and like you know even him like I wouldn’t cheer for the man’s death like at all. Um, and you know, like Charlie Kirk, even if you hate him and you believe all, you know, you believe the opposite of everything he he stood for, like he had a ch he had children, he had a wife, he’s probably has siblings, he’s somebody’s kid, like like you don’t like his ideas. And so, you know, you’re cheering for a a murder, like a human being was murdered. Like again, he wasn’t a violent human being. You know, he’s not a criminal. Like even if you want to make th you know you can’t make those kinds of arguments which I wouldn’t even cheer for that you know but but you might be able to say like okay well this person you know raped a child and so we’re putting them to death so there’s justice in that okay like I can I can I can get into that but I wouldn’t celebrate I wouldn’t I mean from what I saw again I didn’t I didn’t follow him closely but he didn’t even have you know aggressive vitriolic rhetoric did he I mean you have to define that. But yeah, somewhat vitriolic rhetoric. I mean, he was kind about it. He was he wouldn’t go about it in like a mean way, but he was very strong. Well, but that’s the difference, man. Yeah. Agreed. Agreed. That that’s fine. You can be strong in your opinion. It’s Yeah. Like the stuff that I saw, some of the stuff that I saw was people doing the opposite. They had their opinion. They disagreed and they were angry and emotional and and he I never saw him like that. No, you know, I never saw the Well, that’s what I mean. But that’s the vitriol. Like that’s the that’s the hate that comes through, right? I didn’t see that from him. Like that’s So that’s that’s how discussions in my opinion, dialogue, conversations for people that have differing ideas or disagreeing points or perspectives, that’s how it should be. It can be strong, right? Because because you’re convicted, but not personal and kind, right? Right. And respectful, right? That’s what that’s kind of how he was, right? So, man. Yeah. Like, that’s the way to do it. That’s the model. You’re going to kill the model. Yeah. For a a way to have a discussion. Yeah. Because you don’t like the words because he’s a better speaker than you. Because I mean again, if you look at all the people that have been assassinated like that over the years, they’re generally the people who could make some real change, right? You know, people like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy and, you know, Abraham Lincoln and all the rest of them. Yeah. I mean, he was single-handedly one of the probably the biggest influences on college campus. Yeah. In the last election, too. Like Yeah. No, he and he’s a good ortor. I mean he’s and he’s a good debater like and he wasn’t afraid and he was young. He was like I think he was 31 or something. Yeah. Yeah. It’s despicable man. But again right like if your goal is to sew division and that’s the purpose and it is an operation then yeah it’s it was a successful operation in that way. Right. You’ve got people hating each other more. The sides are further apart. Yeah. Well, on that happy note, Gross, dude, that one hit me hard yesterday. Yeah. Yeah. No, and it’s going on. It’s an interesting time. I mean, they’re they’re closing the roads in France and they’ve they’re they literally like they’re trying to shut the country down like they do in Ecuador when people aren’t happy and they had, you know, they’ve had enough of the immigration and you’ve got a lot of that stuff is going on in Ireland and in other places and uh it’s it’s there’s you know the media doesn’t cover but when I look and I see there’s like like the whole like Europe’s like on fire. There’s like massive protests going on all over Europe. And then the Nepal thing, which I found really interesting. Yeah. Yeah, it is interesting. Yeah. I I just don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know what to make of it all. Oh, yeah. This This is what I wanted. I saw this, too. Did you see the the Hellfire missile in the UFO footage? The UFO? I saw a UFO thing. So, they just it was just shown in front of Congress. Mhm. So, it was filmed by an MQ9 drone. Um, going looks like the debris was taken with it. Yeah. What the hell is that? What? So it again I’m not going to speculate what is a hellfire missile splits the missile this video scare you guys and then flies away yes or no and they made this public and they made it public it was filmed like a year in 2024 and they in front of Congress they’re asking like I forget it was um uh defense people you know are you aware of anything in the US government they can do this? No. No. Um, I can only answer in a skiff. You know, like that kind of stuff. And then, you know, does this scare you? What’s the deal? How can you explain it? I mean, it’s clear as day. Yeah. We’re in disclosure, man. We’re in disclosure. The the wild thing is, man, nobody cares. Nobody cares. Yeah. Nobody cares about UFOs. Nobody cares about this. We’re so desensitized, man. So desensitization. Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Yeah, that’s true. But it’s kind of like it’s like nobody cares because everyone’s already in one of two camps for the most part. And the one camp already knows. And so there’s nothing new here. And the other camp is just going to listen to the official story until the official story tells them this, right? You know, you know what I’m saying, though? Like that’s why no one cares because there’s two camps. One already knows. So why would that camp care and then the other camp just is whatever they’re being told is just a head nod. Period. Yeah. I don’t know, man. It’s got to be more than that. Can’t be that. Can’t just be that. Well, I mean, there’s the pre-programming stuff on top of that, but Gross, dude. Grosses me out. What does just that stuff from yesterday, but then the fact that we have things like this that’s they’re not even that they’re just showing to you, you know, that you should be like, “Wow.” I mean, again, I don’t know. What do we do with that anyway? Right. Right. What do we do with it? But let’s talk about it. Let’s let’s you know, like there’s like no discussion. People would have to talk to each other. Yeah. Seriously though. Yeah. I mean, isn’t that part of it? Yeah. Like, isn’t that part of it? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like, dude, do you remember like what dinner was like or hanging out was like or a vacation was like or any of that stuff prior to cell phones? Prior to cell phones. Yeah. What do you mean? Do I know what vacation was like? Do you remember what what it was like having dinner or hanging out with friends or doing something or going on vacation or whatever it was, you know, prior to cell phones. Yeah. It was like everyone interacted with each other all the time about everything. Present, right? That’s like people don’t interact anymore, right? But I don’t think I don’t know if you appreciate what I’m saying on the other thing. It’s like that this Brandon. Yeah. the people like you and I who have known about this kind of stuff for a long time. Yeah. Which is not a tiny percentage anymore, right? Those people don’t have a reason to react to anything like this cuz they’ve known it for 20 years. Yeah. Okay. So, that takes a whole that takes a whole chunk out of the reaction populace. Mhm. the other group believes whatever they’re told to believe. Yeah, that’s it. But they’re being told that this is but they’re not being told to freak out about it or to go talk to people about they they believe whatever they’re told to believe. Yeah. So if the TV says run for the hills, the sky’s on fire, they do it, right? If it says, “Hey, this new thing happened, moving on.” They do, you know, don’t look up. They do that. Okay. Yeah. Right. I don’t think it’s any more complicated than that. Look at this, dude. This is This is despicable. Look at this guy. He’s che You saw this one. And it kind of looks It almost looks to me like he knew what was happening. Wait, watch this guy. He’s cheering. No, I know. But it’s freaking cheering. I know. It kind of looks to me there like he I don’t know. It reminds me of the cheering Israelis after 911, dude. But you know what I’m talking about. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. From the rooftop. Yeah. Or the bridge or Yeah, the bridge. Yeah. Oh god, dude. Oh, today’s September 11th. Interesting. I didn’t realize that till just now. Which September 11th is a massive occult day. I mean, that’s why 911 happened on 911. It’s also why 911 is 911, right? So why interesting so I wonder if there’s a reason to have if there’s some symbolic reason on why they sniped Charlie Kirk the day before right you know huh and again it was yeah it’s all around the same you know Nepal and what’s happening in Europe right and that’s all you know the astrology controls a lot of that stuff Wild. All right, shall we? Hello and welcome back to the Ecuador Insider podcast. Jesse, Brandon, hey, please be with you. Hey guys, we’re here in Vilabomba with the Abundant Living team. To learn more about our next retreat, click the link in the description down below. From our family to yours, welcome to

*Attend the next Vilcabamba Lifestyle Retreat-BOOK HERE:* https://abundantliving.wetravel.com/trips/january-2026-vilcabamba-lifestyle-retreat-abundant-living-retreats-43621812

*In this episode:*
In this compelling episode of the Ecuador Insider Podcast, recorded on September 11, 2025, hosts Jesse and Brandon share insights from their base in Vilcabamba, Ecuador. They kick off with light-hearted banter about beards and the significance of the date, then dive into their recent transformative retreat, describing how 14 participants formed deep connections and were inspired by Vilcabamba’s unique culture and energy.

The conversation turns to serious global events, including the shocking assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on September 10, 2025, which they condemn as despicable and divisive, highlighting its potential to deepen U.S. political tensions. They reflect on societal anger, the need for constructive dialogue, and Kirk’s polarizing views on issues like abortion, gender, DEI, and Christianity. The hosts also discuss ongoing protests in Europe (notably France and Ireland over immigration), unrest in Nepal, and broader geopolitical instability.

Locally, Jesse and Brandon analyze Ecuadorian President Noboa’s proposed referendums, covering topics like a registry for child rapists, judicial reforms, gambling legalization, military involvement in prisons, and international arbitration for investments. They explore the potential benefits and risks of each proposal, balancing support for security measures with concerns about consolidating power.

Additional topics include a current cold snap in Ecuador, their plans for family trips to the Amazon, Puyango petrified forest, and ancient ruins, as well as public desensitization to recent UFO disclosures (referencing Congressional footage of a Hellfire missile interacting with a mysterious object). They also touch on the impact of cell phones on human interaction and the occult symbolism tied to September 11.
#EcuadorInsider #Vilcabamba #CharlieKirk #UFO #NoboaReferendums #ExpatLife

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