So around 9:30 last night, I answered a call from my friend in Venezuela with my computer. For free.

While listening to DMB on iTunes, checking my Gmail, transfering funds on my B.O.A. page, and updating my FB profile, I carried on a Spanish conversation with mi amigo in the Southern Hemisphere.

Computers are awesome.

Even my mom, who is as technologically backwards as they come, has begun to embrace my dad's old IBM laptop, parking it on the island in the middle of the kitchen and advising any nearby residents to "Google it."

Mom, what's the capital of Alaska? Google it.

Ma, what's the weather gonna be like today? Google it.

Hey Mom, where's Dad? Google it.

The fact that Google is slowly taking the place of my mother is slightly creepy, but computers are still awesome (and Ma, you still have all the answers).

The call from my friend last night reminded me of how great a tool the internet is. It's easy to forget as everything from on-line banking to on-line dictionaries become a daily and forgetable part of my life, but the internet is the Mother of all tools (ha, sorry I had to). One of the best tools I've found is a program I stumbled upon while living abroad: Skype.

Skype is a peer-2-peer telephony network. AKA I can download the program FREE onto my computer and call other computers with the program. FREE. You can also use Skype to call any landline or cell phone in the world - "SkypeOut calls" - but for a small fee. Other features include chatting, video phoning and user searches. All you need is an internet connection, speakers/headphones, and a mic (I bought the mic/headphone combo, which makes me look more like an air traffic controller than a chatty cathy but hey, it works).

Living in a country where cell phones were paid for minute-by-minute, Skype was a huge money saver. I could call my friends' computers across the city to make plans without wasting my cell phone minutes and without adding charges to my host family's landline. "Free" is a globally-loved concept.

My best memory, brought to me by Skype, was Thanksgiving '06. I was missing the turkey and football of U.S. so I set up a "Skype Date" with my family. Calling from Valparaiso, Chile I spoke with my family in Hampton, NH; aunt in Syracuse, NY; and cousin in New Delhi, India; all at the same time. Times like that make you realize the ways the internet is working as a tool to make the world a little smaller everyday.

So some friendly travel advice: if you are planning to live/travel abroad, or know someone who is, tell them about Skype. Most hostel computers have the program available and once you have an account, you can access it from anywhere in the world. Like I said: awesome.

Oh, and I just Googled my mom. No hits. So I guess the internet has not completely consumed her. Yet.