OPEN Friday: May 22, 2026 [29:33-34:36]

Well, I will say that I think the purpose of the book, initially the purpose of the book was as a gift to our children. And so as we worked, as we worked through that, it became apparent that other people were interested in what was going on. And people began asking questions. And so that's how it became a little more public. But we wanted to keep the intention. I specifically wanted to keep the intention of the book that it is a gift. And so as time has passed on, the book was published two years ago. And as time has gone on, we have found that when we encounter somebody who has the same mission, the same drive, the same love of Puerto Rico, the same drive to share culture that is a privilege for us to give it as a gift to those people who are doing the same thing. And whether it's somebody who is recovering in hospital, which we've done as well, somebody who's in author, you know, in author or poet, it just became very important for us to gift it to other people. So how do you make money? I'm getting it. Well, that's a legitimate question. But our primary purpose was not to make money. And it's in the title, you know, it's a pilgrimage, it's a spiritual journey, which is what it was for us. But, you know, the money will come. And it'll cover whatever the cause of my equipment, the cause of publishing the book and binding the book. But we really just want people to reconnect with Puerto Rico. And it's really about, you know, when bad money was due, you know, everyone was going to see bad money, you know, I would just post in a, in a, I wasn't trying to be, I wasn't trying to be mean or denigrating their experience. But it was like, all right, well, where's our lethal from? Right. So everybody knows who metropolitan area, but where is your family from? You have to go beyond there. So bad money's getting people to go to the metropolitan area. But what about Cabo Rojo? Right. You know, Omagau, what about Gaye, whatever. So you have to go to other places. So for us, it's a love letter. And we share it with people who love Puerto Rico, because we love Puerto Rico so much. And we don't want it to become like Hawaii. Right. We don't want it to be lost. And the mental anguish that so many people, you're a previous guest of yours was talking about. I think it's a disconnect for Puerto Ricans, for Latinos, because we're disconnected from our land, from our ancestors, from the spirituality of Puerto Rico. We want people to reconnect to that. That's the purpose of this. Yeah. And it's a visual experience. And I can't thank you enough for gifting me with it. I know we have a few images that we could share with people. So they can get a sense of what's in this book because there's way more in the world. We're going to be showing you guys. But if we could just start sharing with our viewers some of the images, again, as we mentioned, they focus on hyperlocal areas. Oh, we started with the mountain. The mountain shot, which was captivated to me. Mrs. Orokovis. This is the mountains of Orokovis. So although we visited the placitas on your way to and from the placitas of each town, you're going town to town. You're absolutely traveling in the interior of the island. So Orokovis was stunning. And the next image. This is the placita in Isabelá. One of my favorite because of the sculptures that are there. And we find that every placita had its own flavor. So Isabelá seemed a little more modern to us. Yeah, it looks regal, too. And so this particular image, what's this? This is Fajardo, actually. Oh, really? Yes, this is the placita in Fajardo. The tile work was beautiful. And this is just one shot. We had a couple of shots of the fountain and just people in the placita there. And they have iron work and their benches. The benches are beautiful in front of the church. And I think that what people forget is that Puerto Rico has a Spanish colonial heritage that has, I don't want to say decimated, but has been neglected. And I don't want to, again, say that it's primarily because of U.S. involvement, but there is a before and after. And so the regalness is connected to that pre-American involvement on the island. And it connects us back to this other existence. It's beautiful. And so this particular photo, I thought it was fine art. It's very, very sharp and very crisp and very vibrant. But yes, we will move on to the next photo. Yes, and the colors you captured are really phenomenal.