I'm sorry they grapped the money like that, but as you say, it's one big bill taken care of. If you had contacted them, perhaps you could have made smaller payments over a period.

Concerning your cell phone.... isn't it a lot more expensive to use that, rather than a normal phone? It is here. There are several ways of ringing cheap, one is using Skype, and I'm not sure if that's only for international calls, but have a look at this site: http://www.alltheweb.com/search?cat=...&_sb_lang=pref

Hope you won't be starving! At least you have your job.