Lawn Mowers, or Another Wonderful Use of the Machete

The machete here in Panama is a fairly ubiquitous item. It can be found in every household, in every finca (farm), and in every Panamanian man's (or small child's) hand at one point of the day. The machete has so many uses it is ridiculous, and many an hour are passed listing the multitude of ways that machetes are useful. (We once saw a Panamanian changing a tire with the help of his machete. No joke.) But mostly machetes are used for clearing monte (the forest), killing animals (usually culebras aka snakes), or if you are us- for cutting your lawn. That's right, cutting the grass. Now don't get me wrong, we don't have an acreage. We have about 10 linear feet of grass to cut, which really doesn't sound like a lot- until you have to cut it with a machete. My heart goes out to those volunteers that actually have a yard, and have to cut the entirety of it with a machete- kudos.

(Our side yard)

(Our Back yard)