It is the fourth visit to Brayan in the hospital. For the ones who do not know...Projects Abroad made a donation for the coverage of the transport expenses for Brayan (12 years old) to attend his weekly treatment.

This time he was asleep and sadly I could not speak to him or take a picture to show you this time. I spoke to his mum and she told me that Brayan is doing good but a bit slow in school due to some ear issues he is having as side effect of his illness.

We all hope he gets better and that he can speed up in school a bit! All our best wishes!

On the 24th of February we celebrate the most important emblem in our country…The Mexican Flag. A flag that has been changing throughout time.

The Mexican Flag is a vertical tricolor of green , white, and red with the national coat of arms charged in the center of the white stripe. While the meaning of the colors has changed over time, these three colors were adopted by Mexico following independence from Spain during the country's War of Independence, and subsequent First Mexican Empire. The current flag was adopted in 1968, but the overall design has been used since 1821, when the First National Flag was created. The current law of national symbols, Law on the National Arms, Flag, and anthem that governs the use of the national flag has been in place since 1984.

Red, white, and green are the colors of the national liberation army in Mexico. The central emblem is the Aztec pictogram for Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), the center of their empire. It recalls the legend that inspired the Aztecs to settle on what was originally a lake-island. The form of the coat of arms was most recently revised in 1968. A ribbon in the national colors is at the bottom of the coat of arms. Throughout history, the flag has changed four times, as the design of the coat of arms and the length-width ratios of the flag have been modified.

However, the coat of Arms has had the same features throughout: an eagle, holding a serpent in its talon, is perched on top of a prickly pear cactus; the cactus is situated on a rock that rises above a lake. The coat of arms is derived from an Aztec legend that their gods told them to build a city where they spot an eagle on a nopal eating a serpent, which is now Mexico City. The current national flag, the Fourth National Flag, is also used as the Mexican naval ensign by ships registered in Mexico.

By the way, the Mexican flag won the award for the most beautiful flag of the world.

As you may have noticed already in Mexico we like to sing along any song we find in our way! You will find people singing everywhere.

This last Thursday we arranged a Karaoke Night! Everybody arrived at 8 PM to our office and from there we headed off to the place. The name of it…'Las Veguitas' or 'Little Vegas'. The place was quiet and calm until the songs chosen by the guys in our table started. Not a long time passed when everybody started feeling like picking up more songs to sing along.

It was a great night full of some classics and 'great' voices…no, really…GREAT voices in the stage!!!

Thanks again to all the guys for attending, we had a great time!!!

See you next! Next salsa class cooking so stay tuned!

The festivals around Mexico have started. Now it is the time for the state of Colima. The celebrations are held throughout 4 months and are hold by the several municipalities surrounding the capitol city Colima.

I embarked myself in a mission to the turtle camp this last couple of days and once I arrived there we decided to go out so the guys volunteering in the camp could see a little bit of the culture from this region.

The main attraction of this week was the 'Transvesti Parade' in which loads of traditional Mexican bandas are playing in different trucks followed by a group of guys dressed as women. You can actually see different and really funny characters walking down the streets.

We were there, watching the really hilarious parade when suddenly a bunch of men dressed up as girls saw Michael…a volunteer from the turtle camp! They ran towards him and made him dance along with them! This happened for about three times with different groups! Michael got so much attention that he even got interviewed by the most important national TV channel! So he is already nationwide known!

It was a great night with the volunteers and staff from Projects Abroad! Cheers to Jacey, Lizzy, Michael and Roberto!

The festivities start today…February the 14th marks the day in which Guadalajara was founded. The second largest and important city in Mexico has been in a huge development process over the last decade.

Guadalajara is also known as 'The Pearl of the West' is the birth place of loads of really Mexican traditions such as mariachi. Also well known for its great infrastructure, amenities and perfect climate.

Since the pre-Hispanic period, Guadalajara was considered a kind of outpost in the Mexican west. Gradually it has become a tourist destination recognized globally for it rich cultural heritage, traditions, exhibits as well as its congresses and conventions.

For this, the conquistadors had to undertake four attempts to establish a city, which were met with rebellion from the Caxcanes native inhabitants. In February 1542, Antonio de Mendoza, Cristobal de Oñate and 62 other Spanish colonizers found a safer place in the Valle de Atemajac and settled there.

King Carlos I of Spain granted the Coat of Arms establishing the title of city and naming this valley haven, capital of Nueva Galicia in 1560. Its current name derives from the conquistador Beltrán de Guzman's native town in Spain, Guadalajara and was founded on the very spot where the Teatro Degollado now stands. It was not long before Fray Pedro de Ayala placed the cornerstone for the Cathedral.

It's been 469 years since this city was founded and there will be loads of activities for the celebrations of it. Make some time to walk through the city centre area, for sure you will find something interesting to do.

Guadalajara is in a festive mood. The reason is that our city is celebrating 469 years of existence. A lot of exciting activities are taking place in the city centre.

One of the main attractions is the new ice rink that has been installed in front of one of the most representative buildings 'Hospicio Cabanas'. This new rink will offer fun to more than 2 thousand people every day.

The Government of Guadalajara has announced new plans to recover and create public spaces. The Ice rink will be open from 11 am to 9 pm and will be offering fun to everyone until the 9th of March.

Who said there was no ice skating in Guadalajara…a 35 C degrees temperature city?

Care projects all around the world have special impact over people's daily life. Projects Abroad knows about the importance of the collaborations made my the volunteers in the care centers either with really young children or with teenagers.

The incorporation of the care centre 'Un cielo para un angel' to the list of places where Projects Abroad is collaboration is making us really happy.

The first two volunteers have started activities in there…Camilla and Katryna from Denmark! Here some pictures of them with the kids!

More info in detail on this care centre shortly!

It is always great to know that something you contributed with is making a good impact in someone else's life. In this space we have been informing about the donation done by Projects Abroad to Brayan Ocampo, a kid suffering from MPS (Mucopolysacharidoses).

In this last visit, Brayan told me that he started school already and that he was really happy about it. He had to do some drawings for homework and told me also that he wants to learn English! So we will work on that soon. His mom told me that he is really good for computing systems so for sure he will be into it really soon. He is a really strong kid!

Thanks to the hospital's supervisor, Brayan & mom and Dr. Jesus Navarro.