The streets just outside the campground were flooded or muddy, and I had to pick my way down to the main road, where I was stunned to find millions of people driving, parking, milling and lining up to go the rally. To allow emergency vehicles access, I guess, hundreds of police had closed two of the four lanes to traffic with a line of cones. Rows of police stood alongside the road, spaced just far enough apart to yell and make obscene gestures to each other. Fortunately, I only waited a few minutes before the E1 bus arrived and I hopped on.

The E1 was the bus we had taken to the camp the day before, so I waited for some landmarks I would recognize. I had, I thought cleverly, not taken too much--no camera, no map, no dictionary--so, I would have plenty of room for groceries. It would be a short trip.

The bus poked through the rally traffic, along some non-descript highways, and into an unfamiliar part of the city. It weaved down narrow lanes, and around each corner I scanned for anything familiar. Several big parks drifted past, and a few times I thought someplace I recognized was the next block, but then it wasn´t. Before I knew what was happening, the bus was in a sprawling university campus with all the features to be expected, except people. It was Sunday. Maybe it was a holiday. It was difficult to say. I didn´t want to leave the bus because, frankly , I had no idea where I was or even the direction I should walk. Also, in the back of my mind I thought the bus would eventually return to the center.

It didn´t. An hour and a half after I boarded, the bus pulled into a yard alongside a few empty buses. The driver turned and asked where I wanted to get off. Although, since we had no common language, I don´t really know what he said. I started spluttering in English with bits of Spanish and he stopped me and starting yelling for his boss, ¨George!...George!!¨ George tumbled out of the office with a skeptical look. He was short and round with a kind face. Another bus driver wandered closer. And, a German Sheppard trotted up. And now, the three bus employees and a dog, wagging his tail, stood in a half circle trying to understand me.

I tried to explain that I had taken the bus the previous day, and thought that it would return to the center. Their question I could sense with dread a moment before it came. Where in the center? I didn´t remember the name of the square. I couldn´t remember anything. And, so I said so, in English, in a babbling stream, which ended with me saying I was lost, sorry and embarrassed. There was a reaction to the last word I said. (In Spanish, the word embarazada means pregnant.) The dog´s tail stopped.

After a drawn out explanation, I was loaded onto the A6 bus, which returned me to the center. I thanked the driver; he wished me luck. I headed straight for the tourist information office and left with a map that had the E1 bus route drawn on it and directions to a gas station.

Each attendant at the station did what gas station attendants do all over the world after I presented my camping stove bottle and tried to explain what I wanted--they smelled the bottle. Not just one or two people, but the entire staff, including, I believe, some of the managers. At length the bottle was filled. I paid 1.5 pesos (50 cents) for the fuel and crossed the street to the ¨Love¨ bakery.

I carefully selected this shop because all other bakeries in the city were closed. I was the only customer. I asked, ¨Four bread and four yogurt¨ The girl behind the counter tried not to giggle at my lack of grammar. Finally, I went to the "Disco" a grocery store, mercifully didn´t have to say much and left with some awkward bags.

I had to wait for an hour in a line that stretch from the middle of the square down to the corner and then turned the corner. I guessed there were several buses of people waiting. When the bus arrived, people clapped sarcastically and piled on.

Getting back was much less problematic than the journey out, and as with every trial I did get a reward. Leah laughed uproariously when I told her everything that had happened. And five hours after leaving for my short trip, we had a late lunch.