Because It's There

I climbed a big hill today. 😊

The view from the road. I want to climb up to that lone dark tree in the middle.

Walking on the wall between bean fields and onion fields.

The first look at the road up. Cobblestones!

A trickling waterfall down rocks.

Two black vultures looking kinda sus by the side of the road.

It's the end of the dry season so the road was pretty nice.
I wouldn't want to try to climb this in the rainy season due to landslides and mud.

There's the tree!

View from the almost-top. San Pedro volcano and Lake Atitlan.

I thought the road would keep going to the top, but it ended at the onion fields.
There may have been a small trail but I couldn't see it ... and I wouldn't have taken it anyway!

Scenic vista with Panajachel at the bottom left.

Starting back down.

I can see my house!

I'm proud I finally did this hike. It was arduous but so worth it! 😅

Still Here

 I'm still here in Panajachel, bumbling along through life as best I can.

No Booze For You!

Bert and I get a kick out of what a big bunch of whiners the people in the U.S. and Canada are over COVID-19 restrictions. They have no idea! Guatemala goes over the freaking top when a new rule comes out. Back when coronavirus started, they were arresting and fining people who didn't wear masks. Arresting them! Compliance rates increased quickly, as you can imagine.

The latest development here in Guatemala is that, due to rising cases of Covid-19, President Gianmattei decreed that bars are no longer allowed to sell liquor after 6pm. And they were NOT kidding!

Below is a photo taken last night by the press. It is just down the street from our house -- just a couple hundred meters away. There is a little cantina there. Guess they didn't hear the news.

A police office with a machine gun and a police dog enforcing COVID-19 rules

Can you imagine if this happened in the U.S.? People would lose their minds! And this was probably at 6:05 pm. No leeway! We said you close at 6, you close at 6! 

Here's another photo of how many cops showed up at this tiny little bar. Overkill much?

Police in Panajachel enforcing new Covid-19 rules

They had brought in cops from other districts to help enforce the new liquor restrictions. There were trucks all over town visiting all the bars. And there are a LOT of bars here. But the message got out pretty quick and everyone just shut their doors and went home. The cops will probably cruise around again tonight (Saturday) and give menacing looks to everyone, then leave town for the week. 

On the one hand, it's nice to see the government taking the pandemic so seriously. (The President is a former doctor, so that has a lot to do with it.) On the other hand, holy authoritarianism, Batman. Chill, dudes. Maybe kick back and have a beer ... but not after 6! 👮