Teop market with Mum and Dad

Mum and I walking along the aisle, looking at what’s available:

Some smoked fish:

Mum and I choosing some choko shoots to buy:

Teop market with Emily

The Teop market is our small local market which happens on Thursday and Saturday mornings. Here are some photos of the Teop market from Emily’s perspective…

The overall view of the market area:

Smoked swordfish:

Smoked shark – this is one of my favourites! I always have to buy it if it’s for sale at market.

Buai (betelnut), spring onions, snake beans, long beans and aibika:

Buka market

Buka market is our big town market. It is nowhere near as bit as Kokopo market – just one shelter, although there are areas for certain items, for example, the smoked fish at one end, then as you walk down there is the other cooked food (eg. kaukau, tapiok), then fruit and vegetables and at the other end there is the sort of tourist section where they sell a lot of shell necklaces, baskets and other items.

Lots of things in this picture – you will need to click on it to view it larger if you want to see everything well. Here we have: Aibika (greens), mature coconuts, drinking coconuts, bok choy, cucumbers, tomatoes, Mum’s legs, pawpaw and cooking bananas.

And here is a wider shot of the overall market under the shelter.

A selection of necklaces, earrings and bracelets/armbands:

Market series – Kokopo market

With having visitors in July to take photos, I have some market photos from various markets, so I’m going to post a series of market blog posts.

First up is the Kokopo market (near Rabaul). It is really nice and it’s HUGE! There are different shelters for different categories, eg. Fruit, Vegetables, Crafts.

Now for the photos…

Bananas, greens, coconuts, peanuts and kaukau:

Shelter and food in the aisles – spot Dad and me!

Lovely bright display of small capsicums:

Greens, long beans, spring onions and green beans:

Madang market (post by Bill & Liz)

Madang has a market that operates every day except Sunday. It is quite big and sells fruit, vegetables, many varieties of potatoes, peanuts, bilums, meri blouses and craft items.

Some of the sellers are undercover and have tables, while others have to sit outside on the rocky ground which can turn muddy after rain.

We were a regular visitor to the market and mainly bought fruit and vegies there.

Here’s Liz and Julie looking at craft items.

Julie buying peanuts.

Part of the open air section of the market.

Goroka (post by Bill & Liz)

We had a day trip to Goroka which is about a 2 hour drive from Ukarumpa. The road is sealed and in pretty good condition, except for one or two places where it has subsided and is in need of major repair. There is dramatic scenery along the road which you can see in the following picture.

There are many villages and roadside stalls along the way.

The locals travel by PMVs (Public Motor Vehicles), which sometimes looks a bit scary. Hold on tight!

Goroka has some large supermarkets and second hand stores, along with government buildings. Of course there is the market too, where the white people stand out.

Kainantu (post by Bill & Liz)

Kainantu is the nearest town to Ukarumpa. It has shops and a market for all your shopping needs. It is on the Highlands Highway, where the road splits to go to Goroka or Lae. To our Western eyes it is quite a messy place.

Kainantu shopping precinct:

We visited several shops, the Cultural Centre and the market. We feel very conspicuous walking among the local people and they have no inhibitions about staring at the white strangers.

The market had separate areas for bilums and clothing and there was some undercover fruit and vegetables with sellers sitting at tables. Others were sitting on the open ground with their produce on a plastic sheet in front of them.

Kainantu market:

Ukarumpa market (post by Bill & Liz)

Three days a week, local villagers come in to Ukarumpa to sell their home grown produce at the market. It starts at 6am and finishes at 8am, so you have to be up early!

All sorts of things are sold there, such as the familiar bananas, spring onions, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, strawberries and more. Plus there are some more unusual items like: strange green leafy things, which can be used like spinach, various types of kaukau (sweet potato), sugarfruit, black raspberries, 'pitpit' and some other unknown things.

Here's Liz and Julie checking out the strawberries:

Several ladies with their produce for sale:

Buka town and market

For the past three weeks I have been the kitchen manager for the Centre here while we have people attending meetings and workshops. Now the last course is winding up at the end of the week. A large part of my job was to drive to town with the two cooks, who do our market shopping, and I buy whatever food we need from the shops. We went to town three days a week to buy supplies for the kitchen (Monday, Wednesday and Friday). Today was our last trip into town for shopping.
 
Buka is a nice, basic little town and it is clean and tidy too (see picture above). There aren't many fancy Australian products in the stores, but they do have cheese sometimes. I bought a 250g block of Mainland cheese for myself the other day for about $5 (AUD), which I think is probably double what you would pay in Australia!
 
The market has fresh fruit and vegies, cream buns, banana chips, smoked fish and traditional tourist items (eg. shell necklaces, woven baskets). I don't know who their tourist market is though, as there aren't many overseas tourists here, but there are several aid organisations around who have expats working here.
 
I am thrilled that they have banana chips. These are made from savoury bananas and they salt them, so they are just like a regular packet of crisps (potato chips), except with bananas instead. I love them. They cost about 50c for a small bagful.
 
Most of the market is under a shelter, which you can see in the background two of the photos above. In these photos, you can see some outside sellers, and people buying peanuts.

Markets

There is a market at Ukarumpa three days a week selling fresh fruit and vegies. I usually go just once a week and buy enough to last the week. Compared to Australia, the price of fresh food is really cheap. I bought all the food in the picture below for about AUD$5.

During village living, there was a market just outside our village twice a week. I went to it on both days, mainly just for socialising and observing, but I usaully also bought a few things, like cherry tomatoes, spring onions or green beans, and maybe some cooked food to eat as a second breakfast.

Here are some market scenes from village living:

Foster families/Selling at the market

Over the past few weeks we have been spending time with foster families. These are local families who have volunteered to be foster families for the students at POC. In Tok Pisin we call them our ‘wasfamili’.

We have visited them in their village and had dinner with them there and last week we stayed overnight too. I started to learn how to make a ‘bilum’ (a string bag) on that visit. Going to the toilet is an event because the toilet is a little house by itself with a hole in the ground.

On Saturday I went to the town market with my foster mother to sell sweet bananas. We set up in an undercover area where we had a table and a seat. Thankfully we weren’t outside in the sun and sitting on the ground, so we were quite comfortable.

I had a great time at the market. I enjoyed sitting there watching everyone pass by and just observing everything. I was also a bit of a novelty – everyone thought it was amusing to see a white person selling food at the market, but they were happy about it too. I think it was also a selling point!

I was out all day and using Tok Pisin in all my interactions. I didn’t find the day stressful at all. I actually felt happy and at peace afterwards because I hadn’t had any time pressures on me. I don’t like rushing around to fit into a time schedule, I like taking my time, so I think I’m going to appreciate the slow pace of PNG life.