The First Week

First and foremost I must add my most exciting (although not most important) development. Just got the dates for the Boca Juniors vs. Argentinos Juniors game. August 14, 2009! For those of you who are new to my blog, soccer is life here in Buenos Aires. El Club Atletica de Boca Juniors (CABJ) is one of the more famous teams out of the twenty in the first division. The Argentine Football Assocation (AFA) has 9 divisions all the way from incredibly talented youth through famous professional. The top three are the ones that are the equivalent of the "major leagues", if you will. As I wrote before, Argentinos Juniors is the team on which I'm doing my research. So, killing two birds with one stone. I'm told that tickets don't go on sale for the less anticipated Boca games until four or five days before, but I have the date, so everything's GREAT! I'm probably going with my friend Natalie, and some other Butler students, although we did want to find some Argentines to go with so we don't look like complete tourists. Seats in the Platea section will be much more expensive, but everyone tells me that the Popular Section, although cheaper, is much more rough and definitely not safe for females. The game is not highly anticipated (unlike the Boca v. River several weeks later), so we shouldn't have a problem getting tickets!
Public transportation here is relatively easy once it's explained but ridiculously complicated if it's not. I've taken the bus several times, all extremely successful, and will continue to do so for most of my stay here. The Argentine buses are called "Colectivos" and there must be about 150 lines if not more that go throughout the city in distinct routes, only it's not the same route going in one direction as it is in the other. Stops are at the discretion of the "conductor", although there are several buttons throughout the bus to ring for a stop (it is neither guaranteed, nor common, that the driver will stop within the block where you rang, however). Colectivos only take change, which we were told immediately is in steep shortage because the mint shut down for the winter. So, I've been stock piling change ever since I got here, although I had to go buy random things at the Kiosco (think 7-11 but much smaller) just to get change today for the ride to orientation. The drivers are pretty nice when the colectivo's farely empty and have advised me on more than one occasion where my stop is.
I have now a cell phone and a school bag. The cell phone was a nightmare, which will comprise it's own entry later, and the school bag I got for the equivalent of $20.00 US. The mall four blocks from my house is huge, and expensive, probably because they know people in a neighborhood with a huge military population will pay! Orientation has been draining, but the tedious things are close to done, I'm told. And that's all for now, folks!