Volunteer Teaching Took a detour to Alaska before heading to South American and Africa for teaching...

In just a few days, I will embark on a trip that has been two months in the planning.  I don't recall planning so extensively for any previous trip - maybe because this one involved multiple countries overseas, or maybe because I'm just not 20 years old anymore.  My 24-year-old well-traveled son told me repeatedly over the last two months not to try to bring my amenities and my culture into a foreign country.  Just go, he would say.  Not everything needs to be worked out in advance.  Easier said than done - for a 54 year old. And so I immersed myself in decision-making.  Lots of decision making.  It first began with the decision over which program to purchase for learning Spanish (Rosetta Stone). Peru would be my first destination (Uganda and Israel, second and third), and I would be teaching English in  rural schools.  It was recommended that I come knowing some Spanish. I'll spare you the details on all the other decisions, and just tell you that in my household over the last two months there were extensive discussions and extensive time spent on the following topics: purchasing hiking books - and which ones; purchasing travel clothing from quick dry underwear to jackets for rain and jackets for the cold (Do they breathe? How warm are they? Will they fold up to near-nothing?; virtues of bringing a laptop or an ipad, and iphone - or nothing (my son told me to leave them all at home; which camera to bring; how best to communicate once I'm there (Skype? Viber? Facetime? Email? Local phone/SIM card?; shots and medicines (yes - lots of them from Typhoid to Diphtheria, to  Yellow Fever, Polio, Hepatitis A and B, medicines for diarrhea, malaria - and probably other things that I'm now not remembering; managing money and banks - yikes, this was a biggie--how best to avoid foreign transaction and processing fees and which banks to use to get the best deals overseas on use of debit cards and credit cards; books to take with me to read and getting them on the iPad, and then getting other books formatted for kindle onto the iPad (thank you, techie family members!); luggage (after many trips to REI and actually purchasing a travel pack to wear on my back, I decided that it just wasn't going to work for me.  Another one of those - "I'm not 20" realities; walking sandals - when Chacos don't work, then one is left searching high and low for sturdiness and comfort. I gave up on stores and ordered 10 pairs on line. Luckily, brand J41 worked; travel plans for weekends and other off times - what to see and where to go; and yes - teaching - I almost forgot!!  The reason why I was going.  When the basics of living were taken care, I could then focus on preparing to teach.  That proved to be more difficult, as the details of the age of the children and their level of English were as of yet unknown to me.  Instead I read, gathered and took notes on general activities that I know all children love, activities that can be adapted for learning a language (my camp background came in handy here).  Wow. Take a deep breath. Almost ready....My main advice to anyone my age who decides to embark on a long journey out of one's comfort zone - give yourself plenty of planning time. I needed the past two months to get ready physically (I ran almost daily) and mentally - and to feel prepared - to know that I would be safe, and that I had what I needed, and was able to leave behind what I didn't need - and to get to the point of being able to identify which items on my list fell into those two categories. It wasn't always easy - but I made it, and I"m ready. My family was a huge help.  And now for the real journey...