The last weekend of December 2019 two “graduates” of FLAAR Mesoamerica got married and they invited five other individuals from FLAAR Mesoamerica to attend.
In the photo are: Senaida (experienced plant scout and photo assistant), Josefina (experienced illustrator for MayanToons books for children), Cucu (Melanny Celeste Quiñonez Izquierdo) with husband Erick Flores
Cucu did illustrations, book design, and capable photography for FLAAR Mesoamerica for four years. Erick Antonio Flores Vasquez also worked for FLAAR Mesoamerica several helpful years, doing designs for FLAAR Reports on flora and fauna of Guatemala and doing excellent photography.
Dr Nicholas is wearing a business suit (which is a rare view of him, since normally he is out on a field trip deep in the remote rain forests). Next is Sofia who worked for FLAAR Mesoamerica many many years (her husband Estuardo Torres took the photo). At far right is Josue, who, along with Sofia, did the best Photoshop (and Adobe Lightroom) work. He also is a designer who worked at FLAAR for many years.
It was great to have so many people from FLAAR at this event, and I sincerely appreciate Erick asking me to stand up for the audience at the wedding reception to be mentioned as where he and Cucu had learned about each other. This is frankly worth to me more than any salary: to realize that FLAAR (USA) and FLAAR Mesoamerica (Guatemala) is a family, and that even when university students graduate and thus tend to move to more commercial companies to work, that they still remember their years at FLAAR and their companions there in the FLAAR Mesoamerica office. It was also great to see the parents, relatives, friends of everyone at the wedding reception.