Planning the trip of a lifetime..Geez who knew ?

Ok, so most of you who know me as more of a SPA & golf resort kind of gal. When I began to tell people about my journey to South Africa teaching children how to read and right or is it write? (joke) everyone first laughed then said with disbelief ..."What made you want to do that?" Maybe it was all those years of watching OPRAH and being brainwashed by the Angel Network but something got in my head.  The volunteer organization I'm going through is i-to-i. http://www.i-to-i.com/ They have volunteer services all over the world. The trip was sponsored by http://www.jaxbusinesssolutions.com/ and Masiphumelele township  http://www.kevandton.com/id1.html is where I 'll be part of the time. For info on how to arrange a trip like this one go to www.twitter.com/travelwithjax
Planning for this has been consuming to say the least. The flight itself is quite long and it will take me two days to actually arrive in Cape Town. I've arranged to fly Virgin Atlantic (my ab-fav airline in the world) Wednesday Feb 2 from NYC to London stop off there and meet up w friends then much later that night fly from London to Cape Town arriving Friday Feb 4th around 10am local time. I'm getting there a few days before my teaching young Africans the English language or at least a deep south /New Yorker/ all-American version of English. First words: "ya'll" and "forgetaboutit". I've decided to treat myself a little and stay at two luxury hotels, Pepper Club Resort and One and Only. (google). Just a few days before we have to head out to the Volunteer house and out of civilization as I know it. The other volunteers and I have been chatting via email & Facebook getting to know one another before we actually meet. (God I love technology) They are from all over the world. I think I'm the only one representing the good ole U.S. of A. ...Manhattan & Columbus, GA in da hooouse!
Everyone will be happy to know I passed my background check to work with children (pause for re-read of last sentence) so lets see if I can make it through customs with my stash of AMBIEN. Usually a hepatitis vaccine is required to travel there but I already had one during my medical school years & a pill is taken for malaria. Playing hockey for the SLED DOGS means I've already had my flea & tick shots.(woof..SD humor).
My local advisor there said because I'm white, blond, blue eyes, American & tall (yes, tall...working with small children automatically puts an adult in the TALL category) I will get the most attention because it's so rare in the villages where I'll be working. Rare?? Humm, maybe I should bring some hair bleach & blue contacts for everyone instead of books. I mean everyone should not only have the right to read but also to have golden locks. HA! Keep watching out for more posts...JAX