Up,Up, and Away!
My plane took off from JFK Airport at 4:30 pm. It is still hard to believe that I am en route to Nairobi, Kenya. I am truly blessed to be afforded this opportunity. As I look out the window and see lush green trees and landscape, I wonder what awaits me. What will Africa look like? Does it look like the pictures we always see on TV and in the movies? I plan to photograph everything, especially the routine and daily activities of the people of Nairobi.
By 5pm we were flying over Massachusetts. We are expected to arrive in Amsterdam 45 to 50 minutes early at approximately 5:30 am. The pilot says we will make it to Amsterdam in 6.5 hours as opposed to the ticket time of 8 hours. That will give me more time to explore the Amsterdam airport.
“Madmen” is currently on the TV. It’s one of my favorite TV shows. I wasn’t expecting AMC Channel on board.
I met 2 friends in the airport who are also on this flight. Elizabeth Martin and Doug Curry. Elizabeth is a lawyer who runs an amazing web site that provides legal referrals and assistance to women in violent relationships across the entire U.S. We first met several years ago when I was in Washington DC at a Lifetime television event. The Website is www.womenslaw.org. You can find a link to it on my blog.
Dinner was served at 6pm EST. It wasn’t too bad. I had a spicy chicken entree with oven browned potatoes and a black bean and corn salsa. The wine was complementary.
Around 7pm the movie came on after several TV shows. The movie was “Star Trek”. I don’t think I am a Trekkie but I did enjoy the movie.
We landed in Amsterdam at 5am (11pmEST), 45 minutes ahead of schedule. As I made my way to the F9 gate for my connecting flight, I was amazed at how empty the airport is. I am the only one now seated at gate F9 and my flight does not leave for 5 hours. There is a Casino in the airport but it is not open. It seems odd that it will be daylight soon and I haven’t even been to sleep. This is the first time that I could not go to sleep on the plane. It was a relief to see that the signs in the airport are in English even though the overhead system announcer was not speaking English. Maybe I’ll take a walk and see the airport. My next blog will be from Africa.
I arrived at Kenya International Airport at 12noon EST (7pm in Kenya)
777 Airplane
. It was dark outside. As we flew over Africa the landscape was a beautiful olive green color. When you fly over the US, the land looks like a patchwork quilt. Africa is basically all one color, with mountains, water and areas of greenery. I saw an occasional light from a house. When we got closer to the ground, I could see that cars were driving on dirt roads that were pitch black, no street lamps. Downtown Nairobi was just like any other city. There was a lot of traffic. They don’t have bridges or overpasses. Police direct the traffic, not too skillfully, I might add. You could wait up to 15 minutes depending on how the traffic is directed. Dr. Cabelus and her driver, Purity picked me up at the airport and we went straight to where Dr. Cabelus lives. She is considered to be a diplomat and lives on a compound with gates and security staff. She is driven wherever she needs to go. Her home is gorgeous, complete with 3 bedrooms and a sunken living room. Unlike the US, the bedrooms are downstairs. There was a faint whistle like noise when we arrived. I thought it was birds, but it was frogs! Oh well, those of you who know me well know that I am petrified of frogs. Stay tuned!
