Grrrr.... (updated)

Count to ten... breath deeply.

Defeated!  I planned on taking a nice drive through mezcal land today and catching a fiesta in Tlacochahuaya, but....  normal life in Oaxaca got in the way.

I really know my way through the city and there is always a way to get by protests and blockades. So the first one on the north side of the city, by the moto-taxis and the huge CTE dump trucks, barely fazed me. Then, after fifteen minutes, I  made it into the city, only to come to a total stop as gridlock set in due to a march... by whom, who knows. The cops were directing traffic onto side streets, which are narrow and full of potholes and lots of topes, speed bumps. Imagine buses, dump trucks, pipas, water trucks and lots of cars...... good times ensued.

A one point I realized I was trapped, nothing moving in sight and I spotted the only one way out, did a u-turn, pulled every trick in the book, including going in between poles set in the road, backing down streets and going the wrong way down one way streets.

Trust me. I was not alone. This kind of stuff is almost a daily hassle. It is just considered normal and people do incredibly well under the circumstances. I eventually made it back to my initial spot, where by now, the marchers had passed, only to be stopped by a few buses blocking the road completely as I approached or tried to approach the new shopping center.

Again the cops directed traffic on to narrow streets.  By then I had given up getting over to the Mitla area, just bagged the idea, and using those same tricks made it back through the city, which was actually pretty quiet. I guess everyone was trapped elsewhere. Oh, well, such is life.  I will try tomorrow for the same drive, but will leave earlier to beat the protesters at their game. Yeah, right.  Like that could happen. They are winning. We are into the third month of these protests and it is someone or something different every day.

Update:  So you want pictures?
Protest #1

Mobile vet at your service.

I was slightly concerned when I saw this guy.  Where am I???