In 1909 , Gehrke entered the Tunbridge Wells Girls ' Grammar School , a boarding school , in Royal Tunbridge Wells , where she began studying painting and developed an interest in nature , spending hours in Kew Gardens . In 1917 , she began studying at the Royal Polytechnic Institution on Regent Street in London . Near the end of the war , she met Leif Lind Pettersen , who was visiting from Guatemala with his uncle Walter Lind . Walter Lind ( born Lind Pettersen ) was an Englishman , born to Norwegian parents , who also worked in Guatemala for Rosing Brothers and owned a coffee plantation . Earthquakes in Guatemala between 1917 and 1918 had devastated the country and in 1923 , Arthur was asked to return to the country . He traveled with María and his two daughters , and the family took up residence on one of Walter Lind 's farms , known as Helvetia , as Guatemala City was uninhabitable . Gehrke and Leif Lind Pettersen renewed their friendship , which quickly turned into a romance and the couple were married in 1925 in Retalhuleu . At the time of their marriage , Leif was suffering from malaria and immediately after the ceremony , Carmen took him to Guatemala City to recover
Earthquakes
1917 Guatemala earthquake
Carmen Lind Pettersen