Tyler and Emily in PNG

Six months ago in Madang the main town market was closed for renovations forcing new temporary markets to open along many of the side streets. The new temporary main market was moved to the outskirts of town. This has caused problems throughout town and therefore prices to increase slightly. Emily has found a small market she likes to visit frequently for broccoli, carrots, and potatoes. However, there are still some comforts of home that we can only find in the Highlands of PNG.

Two weeks ago we made a long weekend trip to Ukarumpa in the Eastern Highlands. Ukarumpa is the base for SIL in PNG. We went mainly for me to receive of shipment of solar panels that were sent from North Carolina via ocean container back in February. We also took the opportunity to have teeth cleanings at the dentist and visit friends. The highlight of the trip was to visit the local market on Friday for fresh highlands produce.

Emily has a strong desire for strawberries that are only grown in the highlands and cannot be found in Madang. The small local market is only open on M, W, F from 6 – 8 am. Early Friday morning we made the short trip to the market to load up on highlands produce such as lettuce, berries, carrots, and rhubarb. It was my job to be the money man while Emily took the joy to buy, buy, buy. We walked away with quite a load of produce which we are glad that we had the truck.

Of course I planned my Friday accordingly to be out of the house so I did not have to be involved in the washing, cutting, and chopping of the market produce which took the rest of the morning. After freezing the berries and rhubarb all weekend, we loaded the travel freezer full of goodies and headed back from Madang.