This has had to take some getting used to.  You see this or a similar image all day, every day.  Men (or women) walking down the street with machete swinging in the hand.  The reality is that machetes are very useful here…and I’m starting to think maybe everywhere.

Cutting Grass & Weeds: I see men every day manicuring their yards with a machete.
Harvesting: Bananas, mangoes, plantains, coconuts all are easily harvested with the use of a machete.
Hearding: A grotesque image may come to mind, but the Nicaraguans just use the wide, flat side to tap the ox or other herded animal in the desired direction.
Pruning: Juanita‘s husband recently helped us prune a neem tree’s branches back from our yard so the fruit doesn’t fall on our patio.  I have also used a machete to prune the branches of the palm trees along the sidewalk of our new home.