Skype

Over the last two days Matt and I have "Tangoed" with Sarah and Daron, as well as "Skyped" with my family.

In case you aren't aware, Tango is an application you can get for your iPhone (aka God's Gift) so you can face-to-face chat with ANYONE, ANYWHERE!!! And Skype is the stationary version of that. Skype is used on any computer (or able mobile device) to communicate while seeing the other person.

Though Matt and I discovered Skype a little over a year ago when my girlfriend Tressa moved to Paris, we didn't start using it regularly until our friend Thomas moved to Malaysia. Long story short, his sleep schedule is always irregular to the norm in his time zone, so we'd often catch him at the most opportune times for us. Thus began our obsession.

Since then we've kept in touch with our German friend Max this way as he has lived in Paris and NYC, as well as our friends and family back home in the states while we've been in Germany.

Before I left the states, my grandmother Dot Dot told me of the time she and my grandfather and the family were stationed in Japan. They didn't fly there, first of all. They took a boat. And she had no idea what to expect. But the hardest part, to me, would be that she had only letters to communicate with family and friends. Sure, there were telephones. But it was not affordable, and only used OCONUS (outside the continental united states) in cases of emergency or as a special treat.

Picking up and moving somewhere completely new is hard enough. Make it a different time zone, and things get hairy. But it is quite difficult to think about leaving those you know back at home, and Skype makes all the difference.

Yesterday I was talking to my parents and grandmothers on Skype, and it was so fun to see how excited they were that my face was on the screen! I kept thinking, I bet Dot Dot wishes she had this a few years ago.

And just now I got done talking to my brothers and nieces and nephews. Now I love my parents, and I adore my grandmothers, but there is something about seeing those little munchkins that really makes your heart melt. If even for a second.

The fact that I'm not with them hurts. Especially if you sit around and dwell on it. But how cool is it that I just showed my nephew how much snow was on the ground...in GERMANY! Pretty neat.

So if you are out there and haven't utilized this most amazing piece of technology, look into it. That is all :)

Much love from us to you,
Britt and Matt