For most participants coming to La Piedad, you will be flying into Guadalajara or Mexico City. During your flight into Mexico, the airline will give immigration forms to fill out. The papers ask for your passport number. The first Mexican airport to which you arrive, you will need to disembark (along with everyone else, even if you are continuing on the same plane) and submit the immigration forms to the immigration desk. You will be receiving a tourist card (tourist visa). You need to request 180 days, the maximum amount of time allowed and given to tourists. If you don�t ask, they will determine your length of stay on their own, which maybe as little as a few weeks.
Guadalajara is the largest city with an international airport near La Piedad. The airfares to Guadalajara are usually more economical than airfares to Mexico City. When you arrive at either airport, you will need to acquire Pesos. There are two things you can do immediately. There are ATM�s located within both the Guadalajara and Mexico City airports, and those machines have instructions in English and dispense Pesos. If you want to exchange your American, Canadian, or other currency for Pesos, there are money exchange booths at both airports as well. Remember, if you know the current exchange rate, you can calculate the exchange before hand, and that will ease your mind. If you do all your transactions with reputable people, you will never have any money problems in Mexico. The EXCHANGE RATE is 1 US dollar = 11-13 pesos, depending on the current market value.
The next step is to hail a taxi to the bus station. At both airports, there are taxi booths where you can pay for the taxi fare and receive your voucher for your ride. There is no need to pay additional money, unless you choose otherwise. In Guadalajara, you will be going to the Central de Autobuses. In Mexico City, you need to head to the Central de Autobuses Norte (NORTH).
The final step of the journey to La Piedad is catching a bus. The price for a ticket from Guadalajara is approximately 150 pesos, and from Mexico City is 300 pesos. Therefore, it is affordable and fair.
When you arrive at the central de autobuses in La Piedad, you will hail a taxi to meet a school representative at either the school or the teachers' house, depending on what has been predetermined. If you arrive the night before the arranged meeting time, there are several hotels in La Piedad, including the Holiday Inn.
You might find the need to make a phone call to a school representative when you arrive. You will need to purchase a telephone card to use in the pay phones. They do not operate by coin. You can purchase the phone cards at either the airport, or at the bus stations. They range in cost anywhere from thirty pesos and upward.
