Ha, ha. I'm not laughing at you, just your sentiment as to how much "phone calls" have been minimezed on these things. Just gave me a chuckle.
Anyway, when you click the phone icon (should be in the dock bar) there are three tabs across the top. From right to left they are contacts, recent calls, and finally on the left, the dialer where you can push buttons and dial a damn phone number.

I've had several androids and this is how they all worked. It should be the same or similar for yours.