Gloria y Marta Graduate!

Friday the 13th.....was a GREAT day! We attended another graduation Friday. Two more of the young ladies that live at the casa juvenil of SOS Las Aldeas were graduating and asked us to go as 'family'.

Gloria and Marta were both graduating from the same colegio (private school) and invited us to be a part of their big day! So, we picked them up at 9:00 AM with a couple of the other girls that live with them, and we drove out south of Antigua to a place called Antigua Gardens.

Marta y Gloria

Antigua Gardens is a beautiful place with some housing, a small coffee plantation, and a community building with pools! As you walk up the long entry you look at the lovely community building with Volcano Agua (water) towering directly behind it!

Volcán Agua over the community building

Then, when you get up to the entrance, by the pools, you turn around and see just across the road, the ever erupting Volcano Fuego (fire)! We were the first to arrive so we had the time to explore the beautiful grounds around the central area.

Volcán Fuego venting steam and ash behind us

The graduation ceremony was small, there were 6 graduating from the school, and also honored around 20 others that were being promoted to new levels.

After the ceremony there was a nice lunch provided and we enjoyed it outside under the palms sitting by the pools! It was fantastic, well worth having to wear a tie! I might add that the girls absolutely LOVED my tie with Tigger, Winnie the Pooh and Eyore on it!

Sandi and I with Gloria and Marta

There were several of my youth that also came because four of them also received diplomas for advancing to the next level. This brought a van full (23) from Las Aldeas, the home where they all live. The four receiving awards were: Irís, Juliana, Lydia and Magalí.

Magalí and Lydia

We also had all but one of the girls from the Casa Juvenil. After lunch we filled our car with a few more than we brought and returned to the city. We then celebrated with a ¨movie night¨at the casa juvenil and watched Era de Hielo 3 (Ice Age 3)!

CONGRATULATIONS Gloria y Marta!

Most of the girls from the casa juvenil