Do you need to use your cell phone, or is hotel phone/ payphone an alternative?

I would check out some calling cards. Personally, I'm using Net2Phone Direct for making int'l calls to europe etc. 5 cents a minute, but a monthly fee of 1.49. Think you can use those cards from most other countries - at least Europe, but that doesn't help you at all.

www.net2phone.com

And just a tip, don't even try to wire or transfer money - they're horrible at that. Other calling cards might even be a better choice, but I'm kind of "locked in" to them for the moment since I was smart - and added 100 dollars to my account...