Arrival information:
You will be arriving at Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo. There are two terminals, Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, which are located at opposite ends of the airport where you will exit from customs. If you need any kind of assistance, you should call me at home at 9090-3283-0649 or at work at 3177-9006. The call to my home is free (9090 is the prefix for collect calls), but the call to my work number needs a phonecard. Most people will be arriving early on Monday morning, so you should look for familiar faces on your arrival. Do not worry about calling early since I will be awake.
At the airport, you can change money. The current exchange rate is 2.2 reais for one US dollar. All meals at the hotel will be paid for by the workshop, so you will not need too much money.
The easiest way to get to your hotel from the airport is to take an air-conditioned blue bus for `Avenida Paulista' which leaves about every 60-90 minutes from a bus-stop which is halfway between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. The first bus leaves at 6:10 am and the last bus leaves at 23:10. You will need to buy a ticket for about 25 reais which is sold at a counter near the car-rental agencies just outside the airport near the sidewalk. You need to take the bus called `Avenida Paulista' and get off at the final stop which is called Maksoud Plaza. Depending on traffic, the trip will take between 40 and 120 minutes.
The bus will drop you off at the final bus stop, Maksoud Plaza, which is located at the corner of Al. Campinas and R. Sao Carlos de Pinhal (on the lower right-hand corner of the map below). You are now a five-minute walk from the school and hotel. To get to the hotel, you should walk in the direction of the bus along R. Sao Carlos de Pinhal until you get to the first set of traffic lights at R. Pamplona, where you should make a right turn. At the fork in the road, you should follow the left-hand side of the fork and continue on R. Pamplona. The IFT (Instituto de Fisica Teorica) is located on the right-hand side of the street at R. Pamplona 145. The hotel where you will be staying ``Hotel Matiz, The Universe'' is located two buildings after the IFT at R. Pamplona 83. The telephone of the hotel is 55-11-3178-2900.
If you decide to take a taxi (which should cost around 75-100 reais), you should tell the taxi driver you want to go to the Hotel Matiz which is on Rua Pamplona 83, off of Avenida Paulista. The hotel is located three blocks from Avenida Paulista on the ``centro'' side. This will be the fastest option if you arrive early on Monday morning, but there is no hurry since the first talk is at 14:30.