DebConf8/CheatSheet

What to bring

• Bring warm clothes, it's winter down here. Expected temperature range: 0-17 °C (32-60 °F). Bring a sweater and a jacket with your hand-lugagge. You do not want to wait until after bagagge claim without them.
• Bring at least one power-bar (aka multi-way adapter) for your type of plug. Label it with your name. There aren't many plugs in the bedrooms, so you might want to bring two of them, one for the hacklab and one for your room. Argentina uses type 'C' and type 'I' power sockets. See http://debconf8.debconf.org/about_ar.xhtml.en - don't put your plugs violently in if they dont fit - you might not be able to get them out without getting the jack out.

• Bring a few patch-cords. Label them with your name.
• If you like street running, bring your running shoes and winter running clothes. We'll be organizing a couple of morning / afternoon runs.

How much money to bring

If you are sponsored or already payed for your stay by credit card, you have your food and lodging expenses covered. However, you'll have to pay:

• 30 USD for the bus that will take you to and from the venue, i.e. 60 USD in total.
• 18 USD at Ezeiza on your way out (airport taxes aren't charged in the ticket, you have to pay them at the airport, after check-in). ( Cf. Airport FAQ, question 4). From IRC: 15:48 <Sledge> for the curious people: we were charged 54.90 pesos for airport tax

So, you should bring at least USD 100 (ARS 300). A bit more than that according to how much you plan to spend outside DebConf venue. Also it's common to tip the waiters about 0-10% of the prices you pay.

Prices for common stuff you might want to buy/spend:

• A taxi from the bus station to the hotel: 5 to 10 ARS (2 or 3 USD).
• A breakfast outside: 5 to 15 ARS (2 to 5 USD).
• A 1L beer at a market: 3 ARS (1 USD)
• A bottle of wine at a market: 7 to 15 ARS (2 to 5 USD)
• A beer in a bar: 10 to 20 ARS (3 to 6 USD).
• A dinner in a normal (i.e. not TOO fancy) restaurant: 20 to 50 ARS (6 to 15 USD).
• A T-Shirt (as a present): 20 to 40 ARS (6 to 12 USD).

Currency conversions:

• 3,04 ARS = 1 USD
• 4,84 ARS = 1 EUR
• 6,29 ARS = 1 GBP
• 3,05 ARS = 1 CHF

Check: http://www.dolarhoy.com/indexx.php for updates

Arriving

When you arrive, you should contact "Manuel Tienda León" bus company. They can take you to Mar del Plata or to downtown Buenos Aires, whatever you are looking for. If you have to go to Mar del Plata, please make your reservation beforehand.

At the airport, you can change money at Banco Nación or Banco Piano, but NOT at "Global Exchange". There are also some ATMs from which you can draw money.

Check the Arriving page for a lot more information, and pictures.

Public Transport

In case you plan to make trips around MDQ, we highly recommend you using taxi cabs, because they are cheap and fast. But, if you still want to use other service, there are three points you have to take into account.

1. Buses don't take cash, neither coins nor bills. Instead they use pre-charged magnetic cards you have to buy in advance in specific sell-points.
2. The frequencies at night are about three or four times longer than during the daytime. That means that It would be common to wait for a bus for a period of an hour.
3. We discourage you taking the bus at nights. It would be wiser to take a taxi cab, preferably not called in the street.

Where to buy the magnetic cards?

There are two sell-points near to the hotel in which this magnetic cards can be found. The nearest to the DebConf Hotel is located in the intersection of Buenos Aires and San Martin Streets and the other one at 1554 Colon Avenue. This is a full list where you could buy them too, most of them are not located near the DebConf Hotel.

Public Transport Fares

• Bus fare: $1.40 ARS(~ $0.45 USD)
• taxi cabs: $2.50 ARS and $0.25 ARS for each 160m (~ $0.80 USD and $0.08 USD for each 160 meters)

Hotel information

You are going to stay at Gran Hotel Dorá, a 4-star hotel in Mar del Plata:

Hotel Dorá
Buenos Aires 1841
(B7600EEC) Ciudad de Mar del Plata
Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina

Phone Numbers:

• ++54-800-222-7600 (toll free number in Argentina)
• ++54-223-491-0033 (land line in Mar del Plata)

Stuff that the hotel provides in the rooms:

• Clean sheets and covers
• Clean towels for each person in the room, everyday
• 1 Shampoo sachet, 1 Conditioner sachet and 1 soap for each person in the room, everyday
• 1 small comb
• 1 razor with razoring cream
• 1 electric hair drier
• TV and hot/cold air-conditioner, some rooms have mini-bar, others don't.

Check the Hotel's page for more information.

Weather

In Mar del Plata, the average maximum temperature in August is 14 °C (58 °F) and the average minimum temperature is 4 °C (39 °F). With 64 mm (2.52 inches) of rain during the month.

Last year, the maximum temperature in August was 17 °C (63 °C), and the minimum temperature -4 °C (24 °F), and there were 34 mm (1.35 inches) of rain. However, it looks like this is going to be a milder winter.

Inside the hotel there's quite good central heating, so you might not notice the cold weather outside, until you leave the building.

The hotel is just in front of the beach, a few hundred meters from the waterline, the temperature of the sea is about 9 °C in August, so don't go having a bath unless you really know what you are doing.

Exchanging money

You can change money at the "Bancos" at the airport (they have pretty good fares) or you can change money directly in Mar del Plata. There are two near by exchange places: Jonestur, San Martín 2574 (open hours: Monday-Friday 10:00-18:00, Saturday 10:00-13:00) and La Moneta, Rivadavia 2623. Many banks also change money, but they usually ask you to fill in forms, regarding the origins of your money, and so on.

If you have an ATM card, you might prefer to withdraw your money directly from an ATM. Please check with your bank beforehand to be sure that you won't be charged a fortune per extraction.

ATMs (in Spanish: cajeros automáticos) are very common in Argentina, there are 3 of them at the airport and over 120 in the city of Mar del Plata. Around the hotel, you can find at least one less than 3 blocks away (Corrientes 1740, it's a BBVA one).

Contacting the local-team

You can reach us at our cellphones:

• Margarita Manterola, in Argentina: 11-6598-5476, outside Argentina: ++54-911-6598-5476
• Maximiliano Curia, in Argentina: 11-4998-9027, outside Argentina: ++54-911-4998-9027
• Martín Ferrari, 15-6792-5006 (from Buenos Aires), 011-15-6792-5006 (from the rest of Argentina), +54-911-6792-5006 (from abroad).

Laundry

In spanish this is called Lavandero or Lavanderia. There is a "Lavandero" on Bolivar 2186 where you can get a load of washing done for 10 pesos. The load can be quite large - a container which is roughly 750mm x 300mm x 400mm and if you drop it off it should be ready after 2-3 hours on the same day.

To get there, turn right on leaving the Hotel Dorá, walk along through two intersections, turning right at the third one onto Bolivar. The Lavandero is on the left side of the street, shortly before the first corner (with Entre Rios).

Another laundries can be found in Entre Ríos 1748 and in Belgrano 2218. They do not speak english.

When asking for your laundry to be done you should request "Valet" (pronounced as in English - written in spanish as "valet" too). The word for ironing is "Planchada" so you will very likely want "no planchada" or something like that. Check with a local spanish speaker before you attempt this if you don't speak spanish already.

---