A whole year?

Hey there

Chloe is in southern Spain and I was in southern California for a week. She called from a payphone on the Costa del Sol today (did I ever dream that I'd have a reason to type those words?) and was lucky to catch me home: "Didn't you hear me call yesterday?" No, from Palm Desert I couldn't hear our home phone ringing. "Oh, that's right; you've been gone, too." On such a fun and exciting trip it's easy to forget that the people back home have lives, too.

She said it's been amazingly fun and amazingly beautiful and it's just amazing and we have to spend at least a couple of days in Seville because it's so amazing. There are only fourteen or fifteen kids on the trip so that's been really fun having such a small group. Riding on the bus with the other exchange students has been as much fun as all of the things she's been seeing. And getting to compare their exchange experiences with hers has been interesting. She found out that a girl who went on the San Francisco visa trip (that saga starts here) came home soon after she arrived in Spain, but doesn't know why.

After a few minutes, the real reason for the call: she's wondering about the money situation. I transferred some money into her account after she left, but she didn't know that and she was worried that she'd spent too much money on the trip. Besides buying souvenirs, birthday presents for friends (the ones who have birthdays in April, and you know who you are), and a Mother's Day present, eating lunch is expensive - a small coffee-something-or-other (I don't drink coffee and hence am woefully ignorant in this java capital of the world) at Starbucks was over $5.00. Sometimes these kinds of trips can be really fun and sometimes they can be a drag, so it was great to hear that she's having so much fun. Even better considering we had to pay extra for the trip.

International monetary matters

In case you’re keeping track: Staples the walk-in store does not accept international credit cards, either (like their online counterpart). Amazon.com, however, does and they shipped Alicia’s new Kodak LS743 camera today.

Don't leave home with only it

Credit cards are universal and accepted worldwide, thus making international travel that much easier and convenient.

Don’t count on it. We’re trying to buy Alicia a camera. I didn’t think to tell her to bring her ID with her and Kit’s Cameras would not accept her Visa without it (she has not had a problem with the few places she’s used her Visa without ID so far). Sears wouldn’t authorize it. And Costco online does not accept international credit cards (the stores do not accept Visa at all), nor does Staples online, even though one of the options on the billing-address form is International (the customer-support guy said he was going to send a message to remove that option from the Web site). And it was declined at the dentist. JCPenney and The Spanish Table, however, happily accepted it with no questions asked. And Wal-Mart, the store that all but demands that you leave your passport and your first-born at the customer-service desk before you further darken their doorway (and don't even think about buying model paint or hairspray if you're under 18), accepted her Visa card with no questions and no request for ID.

Chloe said her Visa debit card is not accepted at many places, either, so she has to go to a cash machine more often, but I’m not sure if it’s been declined or that there are more places that don’t accept Visa there (like the place where she bought her school uniform). I’m not sure why so many places are refusing Alicia’s Visa, but I’m guessing that the merchant agreements between some smaller places and the credit card companies preclude accepting international cards, and bigger companies that operate on small margins, like Sears, have decided not to bother with the potential fraud involved in accepting a card issued outside of the United States.

But the reason doesn’t matter. Just know to not depend solely on credit or debit cards when living abroad.

It figures

Today we opened a checking account for Chloe so she’ll have a debit card to use abroad. That way she won’t need to open a bank account in Spain because her funds will be as close as the nearest ATM and she can use the card anywhere that accepts Visa. She was told that you have to be 18 to open a checking account, which I knew. I said, "Even if I'm on the account?" The bank employee seemed a little surprised, "You're willing to be on her account?" Of course, how else do the thousands of under-18-year-olds get checking accounts?

Our bank has a high-school intern program that Chloe’s been interested in since the first time she saw it on a student’s name tag, about four years ago. The interns work as tellers a couple of afternoons a week and every Saturday for two years, after which they can usually continue on as a regular employee while they are going to college. Halfway through the checking-account-opening procedure, the woman asked Chloe if she knows anyone who’s going to be a junior this coming year who is not going away for the year. They’re looking for a student intern.

Still no more news on getting A here on time. I'll wait until Wednesday to inquire because their appointment with the embassy in Madrid is on Friday, but A's parents won't be home from the beach until the 21st.

Paying for it

I heard about a high-school girl who helped pay the fee for her year in France by making and selling things at craft bazaars. I learned this after it was too late for Chloe to do something like that (should be done before the holiday season, and may take a couple of years), but it's a great idea and I wish we would have thought of that.