Well, I got the keys Wednesday, so after work I decided to drive out to Gringolandia and get some cat litter and spare keys made. I've mentioned before that there seems to be a parade or celebration every day in Oaxaca. Sometimes it's a protest. Usually the protestors congregate in the llano or in the street between my apartment and the governor's house, and sit with their banners and signs, or give speeches. Sometimes they stage hunger strikes, or grafitti the area, or march down the street.

Yesterday the protestors, los communistas from the Mixteca (a part of the state between Oaxaca and Puebla) used their buses to block the intersection of death to thru-traffic. It made my walk to and from work quite pleasant: no traffic, no noise, no fumes. And they were very colorful with their red and yellow banners. Plus, it's trippy to walk through a sea of tiny farmers.

When I got home I changed and headed over to the lot to get Little Jumbo. I hadn't gotten too far down the periferico when a police blocade diverted traffic onto a side street. Apparently, los communistas were also blocking the intersection up ahead where the periferico and the highway to the coast intersect. I wasn't familar with the street I was diverted onto along with hordes of other cars, trucks, taxis, and buses, all trying to get somewhere in the crowded one-way streets. I didn't know where I was going, but I figured that sooner or later I'd see something I recognized and sure enough, 45 minutes later, I was back at an intersection close to my estacionamiento. I made a u-turn and got Jums back into the lot. I walked into my apartment about an hour after I'd left it, with no cat litter and only one set of keys. I think that if I hadn't driven like the Oaxaqueños do I'd still be out there. I thought about going today but los communistas are still in the Centro, so I decided to wait.