Kite Flyers

Kids of various ages fly kits every afternoon. It’s kinda fun to watch.  I have counted as many as 25 of the things flying high above Garut.

There are kite eating trees and wires everywhere. I often see string hanging. Perhaps it is the old Peace Corps mentality I have that makes me wind up the strings I find. I have no use for these bundles of different colored string and fishing line.  I just roll them up and save them.

Today I discovered why I collect them. I was the first teacher to get to the school today.  I thought there was to be a meeting of English teachers. I guess I was wrong. I’m told school is to start tomorrow so perhaps tomorrow I will meet my counterparts and learn what classes they teach.  There’s time. As I was standing in front of the door to the men teachers’ room waiting for the guard to get the key, I looked across the courtyard at one of the big trees there. High up in a branch was a big white owl. The poor bird was tangled in kite wire, dead. The guard got the owl out of the tree after he opened the door for me. Now I know why I can’t leave string in trees.

I probably wouldn’t be so upset if I hadn’t read through all the Harry Potter books during Ramadan.