Thanks for the help!

Thanks to everyone who responded to my query re: money, phones, etc. Y'all rock. ^__^

I've had a lot of people mention Skype to me in the past year. Right now my computer is not equipped to handle it (for starters, I have no microphone function). I wonder if this is something that could be added easily/cheaply. I probably wouldn't need videorecording or anything like that; just a way to talk into my computer and have someone else hear me. ^__^

Internet search reveals... I can get one for $5. That seems more than reasonable.

So with Skype I could receive incoming/outgoing calls on my laptop, as it were. And I can set that up before I leave, and hold off on whether or not I need a cell phone when I am not laptop-adjacent. (I'm hoping I won't.)

I've got Rs 1000 with me right now, which I got about a month ago. I did the travelers' checks thing when I spent a summer in Canada, and it was a huge inconvenience; people wouldn't take them, people would charge fees to exchange them, etc. So I'd rather not do that.

Opening up a bank account might be a good way to go. I'm figuring that I will get hit with fees regardless, both officially and unofficially (thank you, Maximum City). So using ATMs won't bother me too much. If it's only a few cents on the dollar then it is already cheaper than the fees I get at most of the machines here (yes, I know, I should only use the ATM associated with my bank, but... um...).

And I can get all the adapters I want once I arrive. Yay!