I, Tyronza, thought I’d share some concerning the shopping
and food preparation for ourselves in PNG. To begin you must first get into
town from Kudjip. The nearest town is Mt. Hagen approximately 30 miles away and
the drive takes around 45-50 minutes. Actually, you have to start by getting a
ride with one of the missionaries going into Mt. Hagen and we have to have a
watchmon (a guard) with us. Basically, the watchmon keeps an eye on the
vehicle.
After we pick up the watchmon and have a prayer for safe
travel, we depart Kudjip and start dodging the many and deep potholes on the
road to Mt. Hagen. We also keep an eye out for all the foot traffic along the
road.
Upon arrival in Mt. Hagen, the bank is often the first stop
to obtain the necessary kina (PNG money) for purchases. The current exchange
rate is slightly less than two to one. Our first exchange at the airport of
$200 gave us 377K. There are several small stores in Mt. Hagen. The main ones
we shop in our Best Buy, the largest grocery, Brian Bell, it carries small
appliances and Westpac, a very small grocery and meat market.
Food is expensive and anything other than the locally grown
fruits and vegetables can be hard to obtain. If you find it, buy it, because it
probably won’t be there next trip! Items I purchased in town recently range
from a slow cooker (159K), napkins (6K for a package of 100), large can of
mushroom pieces (5.5K), medium jar of mayonnaise (22.5K), 2 kilo brick of
cheese (79K), 8 oz. butter (7.75K), pork mince (22.5K/kilo), large can tuna in
water (20.95K), lamb necks (14.95K/kilo), beef mince (27.9K/kilo), can of cocoa
(17.9K), can of tomatoes (5.75K) and small box of cereal (11.80K).
The final stop is the fresh market where there is a large
variety of fresh produce and fruits sold, also live chickens. I purchase
onions, potatoes, kaukau (yams), pumpkin (squash), kumu (greens), bell peppers,
garlic, ginger, pineapple, bananas, coconut, and many other interesting
edibles.
After the return trip to Kudjip, groceries are sorted and
stored away and fruits and vegetables are soaked in a diluted bleach solution
for around 20 minutes. Then they are dried and stored for later use. As the
meat is rather tough, the slow cooker gets frequent usage. I bake bread every
3-4 days. Scot and I typically have some of the other volunteers or
missionaries over for meals once or twice a week. It is the evening’s
entertainment.
My little oven and I are getting used to each other, but I
certainly miss my Kitchen Aid! Scot is a great help in the kitchen, when he is
available. We brought a “yonana” appliance with us and are enjoying making
smoothies from the local fruit.
More to come later,
Tyronza
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