I mentioned a couple months back how much I love Skype and now I'd love to sing the praises of Magic Jack and YouTube, the latter I appreciate much more now that I live abroad.
I'd seen a number of commercials on TV advertising Magic Jack and I it always sparked my interest, especially as I knew I was going to/wanted to live outside the US and this product seemed perfect for expats. So I was sure that I wanted to buy one once a friend of mine told me that her brother, who's in the Army, uses one while he's in Iraq, Afghanistan, and even Uzbekistan. He later told me himself how great it was and how he had requested an area code to match that of his mother, making it easier for her to call him. I knew I was moving to Brazil so this sounded perfect to me. Not only is the Magic Jack good for me, but it makes it easy (and free) for my family and friends to call me.
We bought the Magic Jack about a month ago and started using it while we were still living in Florida. It turns out that a lot of Americans buy it and use it as a home phone, or for a second line. It's only $19.95/year (if I'm not mistaken). Very easy to use, even though you do have to plug it into the computer and leave the computer on if you're going to use it to make/receive calls. HOWEVER, if the Magic Jack is turned off, people can leave a voicemail which is recorded and sent to your e-mail. I can download the message in seconds and listen to it even if the Magic Jack is turned off. This is priceless. I can pick up the phone and call friends, family, Amazon, AT&T, and my bank back home in the US and the call sounds the same as if I were in Florida or down the street from my mom in New York. AND we requested the same area code as my mom and my older sister and a number of friends. They don't even need to dial that when they call me. It's WONDERFUL.
Thank you Magic Jack for creating such a simple product that has saved me money and let's me be in touch with my family and friends back home. I can also call any business I need to in the US to "handle business" and not bother my family to call on my behalf. I couldn't be any happier with the service. It's been nice to be able to give people in the States a "local" number.
Along with Skype and Magic Jack, I've found YouTube to be very convenient here as well. I don't know if you remember, but some time back I wrote a blog post about what I was watching on TV and I mentioned "Meet the Browns". Well, E and I love that show and yet we haven't been able to watch it on TBS.com here. I don't know if it's a location thing...? I tried at home and at school. No luck. We can watch the commercials (the previews), but not the show. But it's on YouTube; it may not be the same, but at least we can laugh out loud here in Brazil, too.
So thank you to these three companies for making my life easier and better.
The day that I downloaded Skype onto my laptop was the day I really opened up communication between me and my family who live miles and miles away. Don't get me wrong, we spoke prior to having Skype, but we couldn't have these pseudo face-to-face conversations. And I missed those. It's difficult to live so far away from family - to not be able to hug and kiss, sit around and talk, and of course open Christmas presents together. This is what I miss most. Skype attempts to bridge that gap.
It's difficult to live thousands of miles away and still try to watch your nieces grow. Whenever I hear one talk or cry in the background when I talk to my sister on the phone I feel my heart tear a little. Skype can help, even if it's not a complete solution to the problem, it does help. And I can't tell you enough how I love to hear my sister tell me that she hears, "Aunt Mere, Unk E, 'puter" as my oldest niece taps on her dad's laptop.
But what I don't want to do is to focus on the negative, on the fact that I'm far away and so using the computer to stay in touch is the best way; instead, I want to sing Skype's praises and express my gratitude towards my family for embracing technology and buying webcams and/or downloading Skype so quickly so that we can converse more often and easily. And web cameras are not just for bringing families together, they're a great way to keep in touch with friends as well as making free international calls. I know I talked to the travel agent who bought our plane tickets via Skype and neither of us had to pay a dime.
As a result, I have compiled a number of reasons why I'm thankful for Skype and some of my favorite experiences so far using this program to stay in touch with people that I love.
1. I can watch my infant niece experiment with her vocal cords, learn to crawl, and smile as she sees and recognizes my face.
2. I cannot get enough of my eldest niece screaming, "look Aunt Mere!" or "Where's Unk E?" or showing me the dinosaurs and Mickey and Minnie dolls we bought here when she came to visit us. And of course hearing her get excited about Shamu is exciting. And of course, hahahahaha, one day she even yelled out, when seeing E just in shorts, "Unk E is naked!". She's toooooo cute! (and funny)
3. We were able to have our Brazilian Christmas on the 24th of December and then wake up on Christmas Day on the 25th and open presents with my parents and my youngest sister via Skype. They were in New York and we were here in Florida. Priceless. I felt like we were all in the same room (almost).
4. I think it's funny when my sister jokingly put my eldest niece in front of the computer once and said "watch her" and acted as if she were serious and was going to leave the room. I wish I could babysit.
5. My best friend from Manaus has recently moved to Azores, yet we can still talk and joke as if we were sitting in her apartment like we have so many times in the past. Her husband and son can join in on the fun and they can taunt my husband by talking about all of the delicious food from Manaus that he misses so much. We just laugh and remind each other of all of our dear memories.
6. I can talk to my mom and stepdad, and youngest sister. Or I can watch them get up, walk away to play the piano and/or sing, and hear them cook and yell from the other room. It almost makes me feel like I'm right there with them.
7. There have been wonderful conversations with one of my best friends who lives in New York, and who I miss greatly. While talking to her I've been able to speak with her sweet mom, her sister, and niece and nephew. It's been fabulous "seeing" them all!
8. And finally, Skype is an excellent way to ensure that my nieces remember who I am and how much I love them.
I'm forever grateful that my family understood the importance of Skype to me as I live away from them and especially as we know we will soon be even farther away. And I don't even feel silly hugging the computer and acting like I'm going to bite my niece's finger off because I know she loves it by the way she laughs out loud for half an hour each time.
