Kazan — summer 2012

While I was in Spain I decided to charge my Russian cell phone so it would be active as soon as I arrived. Then for kicks I turned it on. To my shock, it had connected up in roaming mode with Movistar, a Spanish phone company. I was amazed and pleased. It meant I didn't have to get a Spanish SIM card for phone calls, which I ended up not having to make. But I did pass my number on to my brother, and he gave me a call so that I could talk to one of his Russian crewmembers.

So this morning I checked my phone balance, and it was drastically lower than I expected. Turns out that that six minute and thirty-four second incoming phone call cost me 483 rubles, i.e. a bit more than sixteen bucks. Next time I'll get a Spanish SIM card.