To Market, To Market ...

I felt it was time to give some insight into PNG from a female perspective. So here is my blog. I hope you enjoy it!

We've been in country for about a week and a half now. I'm learning a ton about how things are done here. One of the things I get to do a couple of times a week is go to market.

Imagine with me a farmer's market, except with fruits and vegetables you have never heard of, with people who speak a language you don't know, and with money that is unfamiliar to you. It's quite and adventure! I'm beginning to get the idea of how market works, but I still walk around looking at some of the items and wonder what I'm looking at. Is it a fruit or a vegetable? Sometimes I don't know. Thankfully there are familiar things are well. Here is what I purchased today...
2 heads of lettuce (1 kina each)
1 papaya (2 kina)
5 potatoes (2 kina)
a dozen carrots (1 kina)
2 tomatoes (50 toea each =1 kina)
1 avocado (50 toea)
1 zucchini (1 kina)
some day maybe I'll get brave enough to try some of the more
exotic items, but for now I'll stick with what I know.

We'll have a yummy salad with dinner tonight.

One important distinction here is that we have market (for fruits and veggies) and then we have the store. The store is where we go to get everything else. I have been pleasantly surprised by the good selection the store has. I've been warned, though, that if you see it and you think you might want it, buy it. The store often runs out of things and may take quite some time to get it back in stock. Oh, and the store is not open on the weekends and closes at 4 PM every day. Planning ahead for meals is VERY important. One of my favorite features of the store is the grocery delivery. Since many people here on center don't have vehicles (us included) you can go to the store, purchase you items and then have them delivered to your house. It brings me back to the great days of Webvan!