On my way to Nairobi

Let me start off with the plane ride from Amsterdam to Nairobi, as it was one that I do believe I will remember...forever. The gate to our flight was a loud and bustling array of families, all speaking Swahili or another Eastern African language. As we stood in line to board the plane, babies and toddlers were running everywhere, families hugging and reuniting. The dutch security guards were having fits, as they tried to organize us into two lines. I stood next to a mother with five kids, and a group of white missionaries, who stood out... even more than I did.
After boarding the plane, I found myself sitting next to an old woman (80 or 90) who did not speak a word of English, but yet was one of the most friendly and endearing people I encountered throughout my 20 hours of traveling. After about 5 minutes of getting settled she began speaking to me in what I believed to be a tribal language of Kenya (It sounded similar, but not exactly like Swahili). After she realized that me speaking back to her in her language was a lost cause, we established a form of communicating, just as effective as any spoken language. She would use hand motions to ask me questions about the TV screens and dinner menu and I would respond with similar gestures. She would grab my pillow from behind my head point at it, and I would know that she wanted me to help her adjust her own (due to her frailness, she found it hard to maneuver in the squished space we were given to sit in for 8 hours.) She reminded me of a witch doctor, ancient, wise and mysterious. After half an hour she was taken to the back of the plane by a doctor, because she began to feel very tired and sick. I didn't see her after that, but the image of her wrinkled face, her black head dress and her frail fingers remain clear in my mind.
When we arrived in Nairobi, I felt flustered and a little afraid. I had just read in my cynical, British Travelers Guide to Kenya that Nairobi was nicknamed "Nairobbery" for a reason, and that airports could be hot spots for petty theft, especially for obvious foreigners such as myself. What I found was that there was nothing to fear. The security and workers at the airport were so friendly and understanding of my situation and they were a wonderful representation of the loving, positive people of Nairobi.