The McDonald Family: San Marcos Village Graduation

We were recently invited to San Marcos for a very special graduation. Big Maria's daughter Nancy was graduating from 8th grade. In order to attend High School in BZ a student must qualify academically and pay tuition.. many, many Belizeans therefore are only educated up to the 8th grade. The ceremony was held at the Catholic School in the village. Many Protestant Belizeans (like our friends) choose to educate their children in Catholic schools because they do not charge a fee for attendance.

We parked at the Marias' house and walked up to the school

It was already crowded by the time we arrived so we elected to stay outside on the porch during the ceremony. Little did we know when we accepted the invitation that there would first be an entire Catholic service and THEN the whole graduation ceremony! :-)

The school church building was decorated so beautifully..with ribbons and palm fronds. Also there was lime green toile everywhere..

We thought it was cute how these teen boys wandered from their motorbike crowd from out front of the church in order to pop in and watch the ceremony through the open window

Marta with a bored little granddaughter who was tired of sitting still..

Ashley and Amanda took the girls out to the playground for a while

Laura had fun playing photographer with her pretend camera all day

We were super happy the weather was reasonable.. a wonderful 90 degrees!

Such sweet decorations..

Mandy sits with the kiddos

Mama coming back from the school outhouses with the little girls..

It was a LONG church service :-)

The priest finally gave the sacraments to the Catholics in attendance and then it switched to a graduation ceremony.. After the priest blessed everyone and headed to the back of the church where we were standing, he proceeded to take off his priestly clothing right in front of us; robe, sashes and ropes etc and chatted with us most of the time. We though that would be seen a little informal had we been in the States.. but seemed very normal to him. We enjoyed talking with him. He is a very kind man who obviously loves children and families..

This young graduate played (we think) the Belizean anthem on his accordion. So talented!

Class of 2014

the graduation ceremony lasted another 1 hour.. meanwhile outside I made friends with this very sweet short term missionary who had come to help at the school for a week. She was such a blessing.. She shared some struggles with me and we talked about how coming to a third world country puts a lot of things into perspective, including what we see as difficulties. We talked about surrendering to God's will and the way of the cross. we were also able to discuss the Sermon on the Mount and the implications for us as Christians...I was also able to share my testimony with her in regard to my headcovering and why we strive to dress modestly. It was amazing how we 'clicked' and how much she opened up to me. Please be praying for this sweet Christian young lady..

Unbeknownst to me at the same time, my older girls were involved in a very spiritually deep conversation with one of the other American missionaries who were asking what we believe, why we cover and dress modestly etc.. it was a surprise to go to a small Spanish village for a graduation and end up sharing our testimony with 2 Americans! :-) we were soo blessed with the opportunity!

Mama & Elizabeth

One of the American missionaries

asked if he could take our family picture. We felt a mite bit like a spectacle.. I don't think most of them had ever seen folks dressed like us, with coverings etc..

After the ceremony folks headed home, Belizean style..

We stayed at the Marias' for a while before heading home..

As we were leaving, Grandma Marta handed us a bucket of tamales that she had prepared very early that morning for our family.. tamales seem to be a traditional food which represents celebration, appreciation and love. And YUM are they delicious!