<p>Just found out D1 was accepted to study in Madrid for all of her junior year .Actually at a university 20 miles outside of Madrid. To those of you who have had experience.... What did you do about health insurance? How did you handle communication - did your student get a satellite phone? Did they ever come home- like for winter or spring break? What would you/they have done differently?</p>
<p>The program usually offers international health insurance. Travel agencies also sell 'travelling' health insurance for periods as long as a year....</p>
<p>My son studied abroad in Vladivostok, Russia last summer and continued on to study in London for the fall semester. I took out additional travel/medical insurance for the entire 6 month period (June-December) through an agency recommended by the University. If you Google "student study abroad medical and travel insurance" many reputable agencies come up. But first i would check though the program she is going with. They will usually have recommendations. As for a phone, in Russia he bought prepaid phone cards and in London he bought a cell phone. However, he usually called home using either prepaid phone cards or the AT&T International calling card I got before he left. We text messaged a lot when he was in London. It was much cheaper than calling.He also used calling cards all through Russia and Eastern & western Europe as he travelled between Vladivostok and London.</p>
<p>My son spent an academic year in Japan. The program itself provided health insurance (through the college), so we did not have to worry about it. He bought a cell phone over there. However, when he called home, it was usually through the center where he studied, using a calling card. Or we would call him, since we got international calling put on our home phone when he was there. We also did a lot of IM communication and emails. He did not come home for Christmas--just too expensive. He travelled north to Hokkaido to see families he had stayed with while on a high school overseas stay.</p>
<p>He had a blast, by the way, and is anxious to return to Japan.</p>
<p>I studied in Germany, a long time ago, and my program got me covered under the local health insurance system. It was great! I got free prescription poloroid sun glasses.</p>
<p>My son is currently studying at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. We were offered a health insurance package through the university itself. Hebrew University also offered a deal on international cell phones that my son took advantage of--calls within Israel are about 4.5 cents/minute, international calls are 10 cents/minute and calls to one designated number in the US (my cell phone) are 7 cents/minute.</p>
<p>My son sends one long email a week to keep us and a host of friends and family informed of what he's been up to, but he also calls home about every 4 or 5 days, for my peace of mind. He also has explicit instructions to call home immediately, no matter the hour, if anything dangerous has happened in Israel, even if no where near him, because he travels around the country so much with his friends.</p>
<p>He will be in Israel for 61/2 months total--we will be visiting him the last 2 weeks of his stay so he can be our tour guide!</p>
<p>My daughter just returned from a semester in Lyon, France. She loved it. Our health insurance covered her while she was over there. </p>
<p>She got a cell phone while there. In France, she was not charged minutes if someone called her, so I usually did the calling. The hard part was getting a good plan. I ended up with one that I got with our Bell South land line. Calling a cell phone overseas is very expensive. I also called her at a friend's house using 10-10-987. That was very inexpensive per call. </p>
<p>We did not send her packages while in France. I just put money into the account she used with her ATM card. One of her friends had to pay massive duties to get a birthday package from her parents. </p>
<p>We went to see her in late October/early November, while she had a week off. We spent time in Paris, Lyon and Prague. It was a great trip. We lived in London for 3 years, while she was in upper elementary school. We had been to Paris, but wanted to see just a few things that we had missed. Prague was new to all of us (DH, DD, and I), so we decided to go there for a few days. </p>
<p>We bought her an inexpensive lap top to take with her, instead of her good one. My husband will use it for travel, when he doesn't take his work one, now that she is home. </p>
<p>The biggest glitch we had was her credit card. Somehow, someone used her number to buy things in the Phillipines. (She never went to the Phillipines.) Fortunately, I was also on the account, so they called me, and they cancelled the card and reversed the charges. However, getting a new card to her was a bit of a challenge. I don't know what I would have done differently, but people stealing credit card numbers is on the rise overseas. I would at least consider what you would do if that happened. I was glad that my name is on the cc account. Otherwise, it would have been much more of a hassle.</p>
<p>DD spent 7 months in Siena, Italy. She was covered by my Blue Cross policy, but the only thing she spent money on was a prescription, and she forgot to save the receipt, so I couldn't file a claim. Not too big a deal, in the long run. </p>
<p>On communication, email was fairly easy. She could usually find a computer at school. She ended up buying a European cell phone from a student who was leaving to come back to the US. It was the kind she had to recharge with minutes. US cell phones won't generally work in Europe, but there should be plenty of choices once you get to Spain.</p>
<p>An "international" or "triband" cell phone which uses GSM service will work all over Europe -- the issue is simply that GSM uses a different frequency in the US than in Europe, so you need a phone that handles multiple frequencies. Many of the newer phones are 'international' in any case -- so if you have GSM service already, the first thing is to simply check to find out what type of phone your daughter has.</p>
<p>ATT, T-Mobile & Cingular provide GSM service.</p>
<p>With Cingular, you also have to activate international service as part of your payment plan -- this doesn't cost anything, but the international calling is kind of expensive. Great for emergencies, not a good idea for long conversations. However, Cingular does not charge extra for international text messaging - rates are the same regardless of where the messages are sent. Cingular phones also send & receive email, and the text messaging can be linked to AIM. [Note: 3000 text messages sent in a month at 3 cents a message is $90. I speak from experience here] </p>
<p>Since I have Cingular, I don't know what rates are for T-Mobile & ATT or what plans are available. If anyone offers unlimited text messaging, that would be the way to go. </p>
<p>If the international phone is "unlocked" then it is possible to switch the SIM chip, so you can put in the US SIM chip for calls/emails home, then switch to the European SIM chip for local service. But I think that it would be easier to have 2 phones, one for calls home, one for local. A local cell phone might not be necessary in any case -- after all, there will probably be phone in your daughter's room or house that she can use for local calls.</p>
<p>My S spent the fall semester in Scotland, and was able to call home on his computer for next to nothing ( 1 cent per minute??)...I forget the program he used, but I will ask him and get back to you. His laptop had a built in microphone - the calls were clear and we never had a problem.
We flew over there mid-semester ("reading week" for him) and traveled together...by then he had enough experience with trains, buses, etc. to really be a great travel escort!</p>
<p>My son is currently spending a semester in New Zealand. Health insurance was offered/required through the university he is attending. Like most of the posters above, we communicate by email and him making calls with international calling cards. Before he left, we all set up Skype on our computers - I believe that is the program referred to above - which ostensibly would have allowed us to speak to him using headsets over the computer for nothing. Unfortunately, the internet service available through the university in New Zealand does not allow/support Skype so that plan quickly went out the window. The other thing my son has done is set up a web site where he posts a journal, pictures of places he has been and seen, etc. so that family and friends are kept abreast of everything that is going on. That website has been a godsend.</p>
<p>Were any of these study abroad programs done through AFS? Does anyone have any input good/bad about AFS?
thanks
Georgiamom</p>
<p>We have a free program on our computer called Skype. Anybody else with a computer can download the same program (Skype.com), and can call other Skype users for free. You need an inexpensive microphone if you don't have one. (Can use a web cam with it, too.) With Skype, you can also call people with regular phones, but there is a fee for that. I learned about it from a friend who is doing a study abroad in Scotland. She says she talks to her mom daily. It works great, sound is very clear.</p>
<p>"the university in New Zealand does not allow/support Skype"</p>
<p>Is this common at US universities? [Tech. Alert -- Do you know how it's done? (e.g. blocking particular ports or whatever)]</p>
<p>My son calls me over the computer and we talk. I know he uses skype. We also both have triband phones and I pay from here. When he travels he uses the cell. Otherwise he doesn't. The cell systems in Europe are better and usually cheaper. My phone bills here I am sure are the cheapest on the planet. The old state run company has to compete with outsiders and they don't want to give up their position in the market and man, is it a good deal for the customers right now!</p>
<p>Daughter spent a year in Italy. She had health insurance through her university but, during her travels, also made use of the national health care system in the country. I assume that Spain also has a national health service (I believe every developed country in the world other than the US does), and it would be worthwhile to find out through your daughter's program whether she has to do anything as a foreigner to sign up for it, or whether she'll automatically be able to use it since she'll be there a whole year.</p>
<p>Our daughter got a cell phone there, because, at least in Italy, it's difficult to get new phone lines. We mostly called her, then let her call us back, since that was cheaper for her. We got a country specific long distance calling plan for our home phone (something like $7 a month for calls to Italy) and I think it saved us a lot of money. Being kind of a sleepless person, I loved the time difference -- someone I could actually call in the middle of the night when I was wide awake. The other thing I loved was hearing all the sounds of Italy through her cell phone when she was talking while walking down the street, shopping for vegetables in the market, passing street musicians in the piazza.</p>
<p>She didn't come home, but we visited her. (Highly recommended towards the end of the stay if you can swing it.) We asked her permission first, of course. At the time, the dollar was doing much better against European currencies, but also she was able to use her acquired expertise to find us good, cheap lodging, to negotiate trains for us, pick out the cheap but good restaurants, and generally enable us to get off the beaten path.</p>