Work Hard...Play Hard...Guate Style...

Each week I'm amazed by what I see just walking around town in Panajachel. Here are two funny, interesting and unique things we've seen recently.

Tree Pruning

Having lived in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, I am used to seeing tall trees scaled and pruned. When I first saw a local scaling a tree in Guatemala, I did not think much of it. Then I watched him work.

He was probably 30 feet off the ground pruning a very large tree with only a machete! He did this for about two weeks. It was impressive to watch him work. He tied ropes around big branches so that when they fell, they did not drop straight to the ground where they could damage the house below.

It was not the fastest job, but it didn't release any fossil fuels....

An Organized Bike Race in a Soccer Field

One Friday afternoon Tag and I were running errands and cut through the town's soccer field. We quickly discovered the dirt field had been transformed into a mini bike racing track.

Adult volunteers were doing their best to keep up with kids on the course.

Some kids were faster than others (must have been the green snake that adorned his bike).

One of the soccer goals was moved to create the starting corral.

Sawdust was stacked as makeshift speed bumps. 

Just as we were about to head home. They started the adult races. This was the highlight. Grown women were riding bikes wearing traje followed by men that appeared to be riding their kids bikes.

The event appeared to be sponsored by a local bank and there were awards given to the top three riders. It was something to see.

Thanks so much for reading this post! If you enjoyed it leave us a comment below or click one of the Share buttons to the left!