Thought I was fucked... now I'm fine.
After waiting 6 days for my new PIN to be sent to my old flat I phoned the bank, the lad informed me that it was totally not possible to have any for of letter sent from the bank as I was not authorised to do any form of phone banking. And no I can not set up phone banking now, no he can not help, no there is nothing I could do, no Bank of Scotland is not connected to any banks in Uganda, no visa card services does not apply even though I have the visa logo on my card, and no you can't do anything in Uganda you will have to contact your branch, no they don't have a phone.
I was fucked. no access to my money, all this waiting here for nothing. I had been living pretty cheap, eating bananas and avocados but even then I would have enough money for only a week. Insurance couldn't cover it. I have a credit card at zero but without earning money I wouldn't be able to pay it back until I left Africa. I know my mother would help me, I could open a bank account though my friends dad at the bank of Cairo and get my mother to put money in... after Africa return to Scotland physically withdraw my money from the bank and pay her back. It was all shite.
Then while I was attending a free lunch help by the Cairo bank I got a phone call from David in Edinburgh. He said "A bank letter arrived for you, shall I open it." In my mind David had both angel wings and a Superman cape on his back at this moment... it was my PIN. It works, I have money, I have freedom, I have possibilities. I even have my tolerance for Christian Evangelists back.
So I'm trying to get in touch with Flic who is already in Rwanda to see if I can catch up with her (takes 2 days to get the visa)... if not I might just head for Tanzania. There's no work for me here, but I'm in touch with a volunteer organisation that is based in the Arts in Tanzania maybe I'll have more luck there.
Turns out I, um, did forget my bloody PIN. Instead of putting all my cards onto the number I had used for the past 4 years, a couple of weeks before I left the UK I changed them all to a new one... one that I forgot in ATMless Sudan. Yep, I'm an idiot.
I was fucked. no access to my money, all this waiting here for nothing. I had been living pretty cheap, eating bananas and avocados but even then I would have enough money for only a week. Insurance couldn't cover it. I have a credit card at zero but without earning money I wouldn't be able to pay it back until I left Africa. I know my mother would help me, I could open a bank account though my friends dad at the bank of Cairo and get my mother to put money in... after Africa return to Scotland physically withdraw my money from the bank and pay her back. It was all shite.
Then while I was attending a free lunch help by the Cairo bank I got a phone call from David in Edinburgh. He said "A bank letter arrived for you, shall I open it." In my mind David had both angel wings and a Superman cape on his back at this moment... it was my PIN. It works, I have money, I have freedom, I have possibilities. I even have my tolerance for Christian Evangelists back.
So I'm trying to get in touch with Flic who is already in Rwanda to see if I can catch up with her (takes 2 days to get the visa)... if not I might just head for Tanzania. There's no work for me here, but I'm in touch with a volunteer organisation that is based in the Arts in Tanzania maybe I'll have more luck there.
Turns out I, um, did forget my bloody PIN. Instead of putting all my cards onto the number I had used for the past 4 years, a couple of weeks before I left the UK I changed them all to a new one... one that I forgot in ATMless Sudan. Yep, I'm an idiot.
posted by Rachel | 4:38 pm
2 Comments:
Glad to see you're still attracted to the bikes! Get a sock (preferably a well-used, sweaty one) and always have it handy (in one of your zip-lock bags) for use in the mouths of verbose Christian Evangelists. If that doesn't work, swear at them a lot. They usually go away if you do that. God finds it very useful in similar situations (Evangelists know more about God than He does Himself!)
Good advice. I'm going to need a lot of socks. there are quite a few of them here telling populations with 33% HIV rate that condoms are evil... and also that AIDS can be cured by faith: as long as you give all your money first. www.bennyhinn.org currently on tour in Uganda.
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