I had a stay of 2.5 months in Mexico, 7 weeks I spent at the turtle camp and 3 weeks I spend in Guadalajara.

My stay at the turtle camp was an amazing experience. Living on the beach, in the nature, was one of the most beautiful things I have ever done in my life. You live on the beach next to the sea and you see amazing animals.

After my stay at the turtle camp I went to Guadalajara to work in the orphanage, this work was amazing!!!! You work with children of all different ages and you do a lot of different things with them.

In the morning you help by giving them breakfast and after this you help them with their homework. Working with the children is so great because you can make them smile and let them have a good time, every day I went home with a smile on my face.

When I was in Guadalajara I lived for 3 weeks in a Mexican host family and it was a wonderful experience. You can see how families live in Mexico and you can be a part of the family.From the beginning I felt like home when I was in the house.

Another good thing about a host family is the food. The food is amazing!

You eat all kinds of different Mexican specialties and I can tell you that it is so amazing!

To make a conclusion:

I love Mexico, I loved my stay here and will certainly be back!!!!

Greets ,

Wally 

Tomorrow I’m going back to Switzerland after a 5 month stay in Guadalajara. It’s impossible to say everything that happened because my life here has been so full of amazing experiences and discoveries with unforgettable people.

If I had to pick one special memory, I would tell you about this perfect day I had on a sunny Sunday, when I first went cycling in the main streets of the centre. Every Sunday, and some evenings as well, they close a few roads in the city for the people to go cycling and roller-blading. It’s such an amazing thing to see because the roads are chock-a-block full of cyclists.

I wanted to do this since I first got here but I never got round to it. Finally in my last month, me and another volunteer rented two bikes for free and made our way through the crowds. We were definitely the only non-mexicans there! After that, we joined the others in one of our favorite caffes for a delicious and well deserved brunch.

We then moved a couple of blocks away where we sat for the rest of the afternoon, drinking cold beers, enjoying the sun and life. After having such an amazing time here, to be honest, I can only put down a fraction of my love for Guadalajara, you have to come and see it for yourself.

This last month of May Guadalajara celebrated the “Festival Cultural de Mayo” (May Cultural Festival) on its 14^th edition.

 The main ideology behind this festival is to present and bring some of the artistic

cultures from all around the world to the city of Guadalajara; each edition of this festival has hosted a different country that brings all kinds of artistic shows; from concerts, to theater plays, poetry readings, etc.

 Other editions have been honored with the presence of countries like Austria, Usa, China, Spain, Germany, Poland and many others.

 This year’s special guest was Quebec,Canada, the birthplace of such incredible acts like “Cirque du Soleil”, Quebec brought some of its amazing street circuses shows, concerts and conferences with different artists involved in different cultural fields.

Most of these shows/presentations or at least half of them happen to be for free, so there’s no excuse for not assisting.

 Guadalajara is fertile soil for artistic tendencies, a city that keeps growing in all cultural aspects and that is hungry for new artistic proposals and educational movements; that hunger that can only be feed by imagination, dreams and courage; and I think the “Think Different” campaign by Apple sums it up perfectly:

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

 Here’s the festival’s official page if you would like to know more about it: http://www.festivaldemayo.org/