[mpich-discuss] A good starting point for programming and understanding MPI, and parallel programming in general.

Hello from Greece! Being new in this field, what would be a good starting point to master MPI and parallel programming in general? First of i don't have a cluster, so all the computations are going to happen to a modern day linux laptop. However if i get familiar with MPI, i will have the chance to work with a cluster remotely on some text retrieval algorithms (yea right :P) for my bachelor thesis. So, looking for starting points and speed learning about MPI (and parallel programming) in general. Any tips and advices are welcome.Thank you :)