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THE CONFERENCE opens with a happy hour at 5:00 p.m. and a light evening meal at 6:00, during which organizers will offer a full explanation of the week's events to come. This orientation is very useful. You have many options for getting to Tepoztlán from the Benito Juárez Airport (MEX) in Mexico City. Tepoztlán is not far from Mexico City, but it would be prudent to allow at least two to three hours for travel between the airport and Tepoz, especially if this is your first time.
Option 1The easiest, but most expensive, way is to rent a taxi from the Mexico City airport directly to Tepoztlán. (The official stands are immediately to the left as you exit customs. There are two taxi companies and one is cheaper, so do ask the price at each one before you buy your ticket.). This option costs about US$115. If you share the taxi with two or three other people arriving at the same time as you, the ride is cost effective. Vans are available for larger groups. The ride lasts about an hour and fifteen minutes, depending on traffic.
Option 2Another way to get to Tepoztlán from the Mexico City airport is to take an official taxi from the airport to the Tasqueña bus station (Terminal del Sur) in the southern part of Mexico City. As you exit customs the official taxi stand is on your left (if you are not coming through customs, flying from within Mexico to the main terminal, it is on your right). Again, there are two taxi companies and one is cheaper, so do ask the price to Tasqueña before you buy your ticket. The taxi to Tasqueña should cost about US$16. From the Tasqueña bus station, you will take a Pullman de Morelos or Cristobal Colón bus to Tepoztlán, Morelos. The round trip bus fare to Tepoztlán costs US$15; the trip takes about 50 minutes. The bus companies run buses to both the center of Tepoztlán and to the tollbooth on the edge of town (la caseta). If you get a bus to the caseta, do tell the driver you will be getting off there and keep your eyes peeled for the tollbooth. There are Tepoztlán taxis available at both the caseta and in the center of town. Local taxis are the best way to arrive at your destination in Tepoztlán and will charge roughly US$3 to get almost anywhere in town.
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Upon ArrivalWhen you arrive in Tepoztlán on Wednesday, please go directly to the place you will be staying (see housing assignment online, available by mid-July, or in arrival packet). Caretakers will be on site to receive you. The Tepoztlán Institute will host a light dinner and bienvenido cocktail at Villa María Jacoba (Prolongaciòn Netzahualcoyotl 36, see map). If there is no caretaker at your house, please go directly to Villa María Jacoba.
Option 3You may also take the bus to Cuernavaca from the Mexico City airport and then a taxi to Tepoztlán. Buses leave for Cuernavaca every 45 minutes until around 10 p.m. Tickets cost about $20US. The buses leave from the front of the airport. From Cuernavaca, you can take a taxi to Tepoztlán for about US$12; it takes about 30 minutes or less. Since Cuernavaca taxistas may not know the ins and outs of Tepoztlán, you may want to have them drop you at the central taxi stand in the market (Avenida de la Revolución) and take a local taxi to the actual address of your housing site, which will be posted on our website a couple of weeks before the first day of the institute. Please note that the Institute takes place in Tepoztlán, Morelos, NOT Tepotzotlán, which is in the Estado de México and is north of Mexico City. Make sure you are heading south to the state of Morelos. (However, if you do end up in Tepotzotlán by mistake, don’t miss its stunning colonial convent, the main altar of which has a retablo designed by the renowned Mexican painter Miguel Cabrera and achieves one of the most harmonious churrigueresque styles in all of Mexico! Obviously, some of us have enjoyed this spectacular detour.) To get from TEPOZOTLÁN to TEPOZTLÁN, return to Mexico City. Make sure to get to the Terminal del Sur, since all buses to Tepoztlán leave from there. Also, as the conference date approaches, feel free to use the Tepoztlán Institute Facebook page to coordinate shared rides from the airport into town.
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Housing and Food: Living Together in Harmony
Since there is nowhere in town big enough to house us all together, we are distributed in various sites within walking distance from one another, in groups from about six to twenty-four. The conference provides Wednesday night's arrival supper; breakfast every morning at one of two sites; a large Mexican comida (mid-day dinner) every day at the conference center; and a light supper Saturday night for the party and cabaret at the conference center. Most housing sites have a kitchen or are within walking distance of one for your supper, and all are an easy walk to downtown restaurants or market stalls. Each house has been assigned a “camp counselor” whose job it is to cultivate harmony and to oversee logistics. ALL QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS REGARDING HOUSING SHOULD FIRST BE DIRECTED TO YOUR CAMP COUNSELOR. The camp counselor will also:
1) oversee the availability of, and, where possible, obtain household necessities (toilet paper!)
2) keep Adam Warren or Alex Puerto informed of early departures or housing changes
1) oversee the availability of, and, where possible, obtain household necessities (toilet paper!)
2) keep Adam Warren or Alex Puerto informed of early departures or housing changes
Earplugs
Tepoztlán is a land of barking dogs, crowing roosters, and firecrackers. Not to mention roommates pulling all-nighters to catch up on their reading! We recommend the wax kind, for swimmers, but whatever kind you prefer, bring them—you'll thank yourself.
Scorpions
Tepoztlán is also a land of abundant flora and fauna. In recent years, this fauna has included some somewhat outgoing scorpions at some of the conference locations. Scorpions are not as hard to deal with, since people in the area are used to handling them. Follow advice on how to be careful around scorpions. We have not had any remarkable incidents during any of our visits to Tepoztlán in the last twelve years.
LanguagePeople should feel free to speak in the language in which they feel comfortable. If you are not bilingual, please find someone in the mesa who can help to translate quietly for you during the session.
Important and Banal InformationRestaurants and Cafes
Things to See and Do
OTHER THINGS
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PanelsPlease read all of the papers for all of the sessions you plan on attending. The expectation is that you will participate actively in the discussions. This is not a conference where people perform. It is a dialogue in all senses of the word. Additionally, each panel has a set of roles that you may be asked to perform (this information is distributed in the conference program in advance):
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