People Watching

That's the thing I like most about waiting for people at the airport. Or actually, it's one of the only things I like about waiting at the airport. People watching. The other thing is that if I'm actually at the airport myself, it means someone I know is coming in. Like tonight. The McCright girls are here. Safe and sound.

While I was waiting for them, I smiled at the droves of tourists coming through. Some missions teams in matching T-shirts and matching luggage. Lots of people who seem like they made some salesperson at REI's day with their Columbia shirts and convertible pants. Keen sandals are definitely the in thing among tourist. And a few walked off with safari hats. Only a true blue tourist can get off an airplane at night at put on a hat that would fold flat in your luggage with no problem!

There were also the off-the-beaten-path tourists: Two guys with bicycles, looking ready to hit the road right away and cycle across Africa. I was curious as to the guy behind me telling the other waiting drivers that those guys come with no cars and no maps. They go wherever the road takes them. Hmmm. I doubt it. But then again, who knows!

Oh, there were the Taiwanese tourists with Motorola two-way radios, connecting their group. "We're walking out right now." "I know. We're right behind you." The Kenyans just stared. Good thing no-one else understood the dead-serious dialogue.

And the prize winner: A family either returning home, or coming on vacation from somewhere where they didn't quite know it's no longer the 80s. The dad wore the shortest shorts straight from the 80s! In a culture where grown men rarely, if ever, wear even long shorts ("Only boys show their legs!"), this family got major stares from all around.

There was a lull between the flight from Dar es Salaam and the one from London. The first passenger to walk through on the London flight was no-one less than Liam Neeson. He had a few Kenyans whisk him right through customs with his one Louis Vuitton bag. Someone else was probably following with the rest of the luggage.

And then came the girls. Tired, but full of smiles. Excited, for sure.

We'll fly to Eldoret tomorrow morning. Then the real adventure begins! Without 80s shorts or Louis Vuitton bags. The real deal: Village life.