forecaster
08-26-2003, 05:50 PM
These answers are in for the Belize campus new students:
Phone service takes about a week but the drawback is that the deposit is $500 US. The bright side is that the phone company (Belize Telecommunications Limited/ BTL) has a good track record of returning your deposit in a timely fashion (a week).
Most of us actually purchase a 'pre-paid' cellurlar phone here. It costs $299 Belize ($150 US). You have to pay for everycall, BUT you can receive calls for no fee. This is a good option if you mainly have people trying to contact you. If you want to call out, you'll need to get a LAN line, and pay the $500 deposit. I've heard talk about a system at www.yaptalk.com that will allow you to make calls to the US for $.07 per minute. You might want to check that out.
There is internet at the school which is available 24 hours a day so you can always access your email etc.
If you want to get your own internet hookup, it costs a flat rate of $20 US per month for 10 hours and then you are charged for every minute after that - which adds up fast. There are four internet cafe's which have some good student specials - so this is the better way to go unless you have to have the convenience of working from home.
There are three banks on the island - one is new so don't know much about it. I don't believe any of them have an online bill paying service, but I could be wrong.
You cannot rent a car but you can rent a golf cart and they run for about $500 US per month. Most of us ride our bikes or walk. Some have bought a used cart ($2000 - $3000US) and share it with others. There are some fifth semester students who do have them and will need to sell them at the end of this semester so maybe wait and see what works best for you.
Insects - Deep Woods off works.
The things I wish I had brought are mainly in the food department. I like to eat sunflower seed while I study but you cannot get them here - so I'll be bringing several bags back. I like three ring binders and found it difficult and expensive to get them down there, so again - bringing more back. I like a certain kind of deodorant which I could not get here. There are several US brands that you can get, but not my 'favorite'. Sunscreen is expensive downhere - bring as well as solarcane or aloe vera. I like rice so I brought a small rice cooker - simple and easy. Rain gear will be needed this semester - fron what I've been told. I also found that it makes my life easier if I have a good 'bookholder' so that I can read my book from a standing up position. A camera and film. Scissor, tape, pens, highlighters, ruler. That's all I can think of for now. I'll write more after I do some shopping.
Best of luck and see all you new students in Belize!
Phone service takes about a week but the drawback is that the deposit is $500 US. The bright side is that the phone company (Belize Telecommunications Limited/ BTL) has a good track record of returning your deposit in a timely fashion (a week).
Most of us actually purchase a 'pre-paid' cellurlar phone here. It costs $299 Belize ($150 US). You have to pay for everycall, BUT you can receive calls for no fee. This is a good option if you mainly have people trying to contact you. If you want to call out, you'll need to get a LAN line, and pay the $500 deposit. I've heard talk about a system at www.yaptalk.com that will allow you to make calls to the US for $.07 per minute. You might want to check that out.
There is internet at the school which is available 24 hours a day so you can always access your email etc.
If you want to get your own internet hookup, it costs a flat rate of $20 US per month for 10 hours and then you are charged for every minute after that - which adds up fast. There are four internet cafe's which have some good student specials - so this is the better way to go unless you have to have the convenience of working from home.
There are three banks on the island - one is new so don't know much about it. I don't believe any of them have an online bill paying service, but I could be wrong.
You cannot rent a car but you can rent a golf cart and they run for about $500 US per month. Most of us ride our bikes or walk. Some have bought a used cart ($2000 - $3000US) and share it with others. There are some fifth semester students who do have them and will need to sell them at the end of this semester so maybe wait and see what works best for you.
Insects - Deep Woods off works.
The things I wish I had brought are mainly in the food department. I like to eat sunflower seed while I study but you cannot get them here - so I'll be bringing several bags back. I like three ring binders and found it difficult and expensive to get them down there, so again - bringing more back. I like a certain kind of deodorant which I could not get here. There are several US brands that you can get, but not my 'favorite'. Sunscreen is expensive downhere - bring as well as solarcane or aloe vera. I like rice so I brought a small rice cooker - simple and easy. Rain gear will be needed this semester - fron what I've been told. I also found that it makes my life easier if I have a good 'bookholder' so that I can read my book from a standing up position. A camera and film. Scissor, tape, pens, highlighters, ruler. That's all I can think of for now. I'll write more after I do some shopping.
Best of luck and see all you new students in Belize!