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Student Reflections

Keeping in Touch

Martha Mead
February 3, 2016

Flags at the Alhambra
For safety reasons, Northeastern provided all of its students that are studying or cooping abroad with an iPhone 5s that comes with unlimited international data (there are fees for calling/texting). While this was not intended to be our main device, it is the phone I use most often. Having data has been SO HELPFUL. I mostly use it for Google Maps when I’m lost or looking for a bar/store/meeting spot. I also use it to translate words to/from Spanish on the go. Many of my friends on my trip have purchased pay-as-you-go SIM cards for their smartphones. Here in Granada, there are a couple of stores (Orange, Vodafone, Movistar) where you pay 10 euros for 1GB of data and specific rates for domestic and international calls and texts. This option is particularly good because once you use up the allotted amount, the card simply stops working—no overage fees or anything like you’d find in the US. For my personal iPhone, I purchased a pay-as-you-go SIM card that provides me with a Spanish phone number for calling and sending SMS texts within the country. I specifically chose a plan without data, and I really only got a local SIM card so that I could call for a taxi if I was out at night or trying to get to the bus station or airport. My Northeastern phone has allowed me to FaceTime with my family back home, and I downloaded an app called WhatsApp that offers free messaging and voice calls. I use this app to communicate both with my friends and my host mom, and so far it seems like everyone in Spain has an account. Nonetheless, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have a local calling plan, so I paid 5 euros for the card itself and loaded it with 10 euros. I don’t anticipate needing to refill it again, so overall it was a pretty cheap way to stay connected.

The Center for Modern Languages (where I take classes) has a computer lab with 20+ computers available for student use. They also offer free wifi, so students can bring their own computers to school and connect there. There are printers in the computer lab, and printing is free(!!!). Even around the city, there are tons of cafes or wifi hotspots where you can connect for free, and we’ve all found it pretty easy to stay in touch.

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