Call me!

I set up a paid Skype account so that anytime I'm on my computer, anyone can call me from their regular, everyday phones. Isn't that awesome!? I do so much love technology. This is for calling only, though, which means that you should not try to text my skype number from your phone. Just e-mail me instead. Or IM me (my Skype name is just angelinacarnevale if you've got Skype yourself and just want to chat to me that way). Or facebook me (yes, I just used "facebook" as a verb in a non-ironic way). Or leave a comment on here. Or snail mail. Or carrier pigeon. There are about a million ways to get text to me while I'm away, but if you simply must hear my voice and all you've got on you is your phone, then here's the number to call:

(401) 244-5986

There's a seven-hour time difference, though, so keep that in mind. So, when it's 1:00 PM in the U.S. (Eastern Standard Time), it'll be 8:00 PM for me in South Africa. Of course, I'll be calling it 20h00 rather than 8:00 PM, but that's inconsequential.

So, as for how much it will cost and such:

It costs me 2.5¢ per minute to call any phone in the U.S. but it is free for me to receive phone calls from any phone in the U.S.

It costs you whatever amount of money it normally costs you to call a Rhode Island phone number. It costs you whatever amount of money it normally costs you to receive a call from a Rhode Island phone number.

So, how this works is, whenever I have internet, which is going to be 1:00 AM - 2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (8:00 AM - 9:00 PM South Africa Time), I will be able to receive/make phone calls on my computer.

As for calling me at other times when I don't have internet access, tough luck.

Actually, I plan on getting a cell phone when I get there, and using prepaid international phone cards to call home on non-internet time. If you want that phone number when I get it, let me know. Keep in mind, though, it will be an international number, which will probably cost you a bazillion dollars to call, so only do it if you really, really love me, or, if you're just that loaded (in which case, why haven't you given me a pony yet?).

Preparations...Part 2

Today I bought my plane ticket! Huzzah!

(Totally maxed out my credit card to do so...but that's okay)

I'll be leaving from Boston on New Year's Day. I plan on spending a week in Johannesburg just being a tourist, and then flying to Hoedspruit, where the people from the Southern African Wildlife College will pick me up at the airport and drive me to the college.

I also bought traveler's insurance, after having my bank card denied and having to call them up and raise my spending limit per transaction...I didn't even know I'd had a limit. Eh, better to discover it now when it's easy to change.

The other thing I did was to fill out some paperwork for URI so that they'll give me class credit for going over there to volunteer. After it taking longer than I expected to purchase the plane ticket and traveler's insurance, I don't have time to drop the paperwork off today, but I'm going to be on campus tomorrow morning for work anyway, so I'll just drop it off then and hope they accept it. I'm going anyway, but it'd be nice to get credit for it.

Things are really coming along. I needed proof of travel (a.k.a. - a plane ticket) before I could even apply for a visa, so now that I've done that, I can get the rest of my shit together to plan a trip to NYC to visit the South African Embassy and get my visa (because you still have to do it in person).

Yay for getting shit done!

Next up:

Apply for visa

Go shopping (it's going to be hot down there, and I've only got like two pairs of shorts...plus I need adapters and things)

Preparations...Part 1

Last month I began actual preparations for this trip. I went and got my annual physical and then got referred to a travel medicine clinic where they gave me loads of shots and prescriptions so that I don't get any foreign diseases. Four shots, one set of pills, and three prescriptions to fill later, I'm assured not to get: the flu (it would suck to get sick on the plane), polio, hepatitis A, tetanus, typhoid, and malaria. I've also got a couple prescriptions for broad-range antibiotics, "just in case". Luckily, South Africa is yellow-fever free, so I don't have to worry about that (unless my flight stops over in a yellow-fever country on the way there, in which case I'll need to go back, but I'll keep that in mind when I go book my flight, so as to avoid it).

I persuaded my little sister to take care of my turtles while I'm gone.

I also found my passport.

You wouldn't think that'd be too hard to do, but it was. Normally, I'm a pretty organized person (I'm going to be a librarian, for Christ's sake, you'd think I'd know how to put things where they can be easily found). In particular, you'd think I would know precisely where an important document such as a passport was kept. But apparently not.

At first I thought it was in my old purse at my parents' house. But it wasn't. Then I thought it would be in my top dresser drawer at my parents' house. But it wasn't. Then I thought it would be in my closet at my parents' house. But it wasn't (I did find a card that had my passport # and expiration date written on it, though, which was reassuring because it'd been a few years since I'd traveled outside the USA and I didn't know if it had expired yet...luckily it hadn't). Then I thought it would be in the drawer in the kitchen where all our birth certificates and important papers were. My sister's passport was there, but mine wasn't. Then I thought it would be in a junk dresser in the front closet at my parents' house. But it wasn't. Then I thought it would be in the back closet behind my closet at my parents' house. But it wasn't.

Next, I thought, "Well, maybe it's at my apartment." So, I checked the top drawer of my dresser at my apartment. It wasn't there. Then I looked in the box labeled "Important Papers" in my closet at my apartment. It wasn't there. Then I looked in five other boxes in my closet. It wasn't in any of those, either. Then I went through everything on my bookshelf and all the papers on my desk. It wasn't there either. I did finally find it, though. Where? Behind a bunch of medicine were two boxes in my closet that I hadn't checked yet. Was it in either of those boxes? No, of course not. It was slid between them. What the fuck? Why the Hell would I put it there? I don't even remember putting it there. Excuse my language. But really. So unnecessary. If you had any idea how much I was freaking out for like two months because I couldn't find my passport, you would understand.

At any rate, I inadvertently got a lot of cleaning done. Totally re-organized both closets, threw out a ton of old papers, organized the rest, and started setting things aside to go from my apartment into cold storage at my parents' place when I'm gone. I want to slowly move things out of the apartment so that when I actually "move out" at the end of December it won't be a huge deal. Just my turtles and a couple bags of clothes and whatever leftover food I have. But that's a little ways off to think about just yet.

However, a couple of things that need to happen soon, now that I've found my passport, are: obtaining a visa, & booking my flight.

Angie goes to Africa

Hello, and welcome to my blog, "Angie in Africa", where I will be detailing my upcoming adventures in South Africa.

The plan is to leave the first week in January 2010, spend roughly four months volunteering at a small college library in South Africa, and come back the last week in April.

I might add some details about planning and preparations before I leave, but that's all pretty boring, I'm sure, so check back in a few months once I'm actually gone for some real adventures.