Response to Terri's questions
Omari Jackson
These are the answers to Terri's questions and some additional information as well.
-We are fine with the ground transportation in Detroit and Punta Cana. We can put our money in the account by next week.
-We are fine with paying additional to offset Quetta’s costs. We can put this money in the account by next week as well.
-Kanika and I did register ourselves on the government travel site. Thanks for this Terri!
-We contacted our doctor about vaccinations that may be necessary and he said that none are necessary unless we are going to the more rural areas.
-Terri, I have downloaded the Spanish lessons on my phone…this guy is funny…but good!
-I cannot stress this enough, please take a look at the crime information that Terri sent out. While I am not too worried because we all have a bit of street knowledge, it is still different. Developing countries (the more politically correct term for Third World…lol) are on another level. Also, having knowledge of people trying to get over on you in an area that you are familiar with (in Detroit) is completely different than an area that you are unfamiliar with. One section speaks about how a person may shake your hand and place a bag of cocaine into it. A cop will be watching and will make you pay him money so that he does not take you to jail. I will be giving friendly people the pound!!
-I contacted our medical insurance and they do pay for healthcare in foreign countries, but it must be for treatment in an emergency room. I read, in Terri’s resources, that hospitals in the D.R. often times make you pay for medical care up front. I asked our insurance if we pay up front, will the insurance company reimburse us. Our insurance company said that they do not reimburse, but that the D.R. hospital must contact them. I am a little worried about this because what if the hospital cannot reach them? Kanika and I are very likely to pay for the additional insurance for this reason as well as any unforeseen circumstances regarding the baby. Contact your health insurance provider to see what its policy is.
-Yesterday, I called Sprint and added on an international plan. It is $4.99 per month. However, it can be prorated, which is $0.66 for the days that we will be in the D.R. Usually, it costs $1.99 per minute for calls while in the D.R. With this plan, it will be $1.69 per minute. Outgoing text messages are $0.50 and incoming text messages are $0.05. Lastly, the representative advised that we turn the data function off on our individual handsets (go to your ‘Settings’ menu) because data is very expensive and not worth it. I imagine that if you do not do this that when you receive an email or mistakenly open your browser that you will be using data and will be charged. He did say that you can still use wireless internet connections on your phone for free.
Omari