Their weary faces, disheveled clothing and unfamiliar accents make them conspicuous as they seek handouts from motorists waiting for lights to change at traffic intersections.  They are the thousands of impoverished migrants from Central and South America who pass through Guadalajara each year in pursuit of reaching the United States and the promise of a better life.

Over four decades, the annual Cervantino Festival in the beautiful colonial city of Guanajuato has metamorphosed into one of the world’s most important cultural gatherings, showcasing Mexican and international talent while creating a carnival atmosphere in the streets and plazas like nowhere else.

“Here is your Aunt Totsy in front of the Taj Mahal… and here is Totsy in front of—I can’t remember what, this one came out so dark! And now, here’s another one of the same place. Darn! I just can’t make out what it is…and…”

Shoppers around Guadalajara will soon have more options as some of the plazas in the metropolitan area are seeing big new construction projects.

Every year, in the last week of June, 175,000 music lovers are drawn to a remote farm in southwest England, just down the road from the mysterious ancient monument of Stonehenge. Loaded to breaking point with camping gear and copious amounts of alcohol, they navigate the narrow and traffic-saturated country lanes and pitch up before a pyramid-shaped stage to witness performances by some of the greatest artists in the world.

British biological medicine graduate Joshua Cooper has come to Guadalajara to work as a volunteer in the Cruz Verde (Green Cross) Zapopan through a placement with Global Volunteers. Cooper describes the Doctors at the Green Cross as “hard working and compassionate.” Despite the lack of funding and resources available to the Green Cross, the patient care is noted by Cooper as an “improvement on the hospitals throughout the United Kingdom.”