The auditorium at the ITESO university was filled to capacity on the evening of September 2 as students, faculty, civil society leaders, and an international delegation from Loyola Marymount University gathered for the inauguration of Guadalajara’s new Clínica Jurídica de Migración Binacional (Binational Migration Legal Clinic). Applause broke out again and again as speakers underscored both the urgency of the moment and the hope embodied in this innovative cross-border initiative.

José Luis Zambrano Flores has pulled plastic six-pack rings off the necks of seabirds. He has freed sea turtles tangled in fishing nets. In the open ocean, the professional diver from Tabasco was horrified to see plastic bags with fish swimming inside them, trapped.

Zambrano wasn’t a scheduled speaker at Sunday’s Green Action Week workshop in Parque La Calma; he didn’t even know the organizers. He had simply shown up to learn about plastic packaging. But as he stood to share what he’d witnessed beneath the waves – “mountains of plastic, floating islands of waste” – the afternoon transformed from a scheduled workshop into something rawer and more urgent.

It was overcast in Guadalajara, and oddly for summer, there was a chill in the air. My boyfriend and I zipped up our jackets and joined the current of fans headed toward Estadio Panamericano, home of the Charros de Jalisco. It was the final game of the summer season, and the energy in the air was unmistakable.

Planning is prominent in the skill set of Rev. Sarah Shirley, rector at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Riberas del Pilar since December 2024. But that doesn’t mean she never enjoys surprises. 

Wine glasses clinked and conversation buzzed as the Democrats Abroad Guadalajara Book Club settled in for its latest meeting in the city’s Centro Histórico. Then chair Gaby Moreno posed the night’s opening question: “Do you see any parallels between what was mentioned in the book and the current situation?”

In light of the frequency of traffic accidents in the lakeside region—and recent incidents in which insurance coverage has been questioned—local motorists may want to better understand what their policies actually cover, and the circumstances that might lead to denial of payment for damages.