Meal lists

One of the nice things about Ukarumpa is that when you've been away for a while, they put up a meal list for you at the Post Office. What I mean by that is, there is a pinboard at the Post Office, where they put up a piece of paper with your name on it and the dates of the first three days that you'll be in Ukarumpa. Next to each date there are two columns, one for lunch and one for dinner, and people can write their name in a slot and sign up to have you over for lunch or dinner.

It is nice when you arrive in Ukarumpa not to have to worry about cooking meals straight away, especially when you're a new arrival like I was in December 2008 when I arrived from Madang to Ukarumpa.

I had a meal list when I returned from Alotau last week, and people had signed up for all three evening meals (didn't get any offers for lunches though!). I enjoy having meal lists as it is an opportunity to get to know people a bit better. Quite often I will sign up to have somebody over for a meal too.