Goroka

I'd like to take you on a little journey called "Shopping in Goroka."  Long gone are the days of hopping in your car and running to the store for some milk or that one ingredient you're missing for supper.  Here, grocery shopping is an all day affair.  To start with, we're 40 minutes from the nearest town of Goroka, so we don't make the trip often.  We try to plan a "supply run" every two weeks but depending on our schedule it can be a lot longer than that inbetween trips.  Thankfully, the main mission center (which has it's own little store) is only about 25 minutes away and we make two trips there each day to drop off/pick up our school kids.  The store is only open on Mondays and Thursdays, so sometimes we give a list to the "school bus drivers" (aka the missionary men) to pick us up any "I need it now!!" items. 

Becaus a trip to Goroka takes a whole day, we always make sure we're remembering everything we need.  A checklist might include:  Mission Checks, P.O.'s, cash, water, hand sanitizer, toilet paper (you never know), cards to play while you're waiting two hours for a meal, snacks, food coolers, comfy shoes for walking in, mud shoes for the veggie market, umbrella for rain, a hat for the sun...basically everything short of a tent and sleeping bag.    

We travel about 20 minutes on this dirt/mud road...

...and another 20 minutes on lovely stretches of highway such as this dodging people and animals. 

Usually on the way into Goroka we stop at the main mission center store to buy things we know we can't get in town.  Food here is a mix of food bought bulk from town, or shipped from Australia and the States.  Treats you can sometimes find here are Cheerios, Nutella, American mustard, and Parmesan cheese.

Welcome to Goroka.  The pink "odd shop" is one of our favorite Second Hand Stores. :)

Aerial view of the Goroka area.

Our first stop in town is always the veggie and fruit market.  We are so fortunate here in the cool Highlands to have perfect growing weather for fruit and vegetables.  The weather is perfect...the parking lots aren't.

Here's where those mud shoes come in handy.  Optional, as you can see.

Beside the market (and behind the hardware store) is the place to go to buy yourself a chicken.  Because you never know when you'll need a live chicken.  You can also see fire wood for sale on the left. 

No matter how busy our day is, there's always time for Second Hand shopping!  This is my personal favorite - "Bikpela Klos Stoa."  And in case you're not fluent in Malenesian Pidgin, that says "The Big Clothes Store." 

No change rooms so a camera helps.

Your local Toyota dealership.  You have your choice of a White Landcruiser or a White Landcruiser.  Tape deck included.

Papindos is usually our next stop.  Cooking can be daunting when you first arrive here, not having all the ingredients you're familiar with back home.  But it's fun to try new things (often with names in languages we can't read) and discover great substitutions for the ingredients you're used to.

Rice, anyone?

Your choice of colors in laundry soap.

One of our favorite parts of the day - lunchtime.  This day we decided to eat at a "Kai Bar," one of dozens of similar eateries around town where you can usually find fried chicken, fries, rice, and other quick meals on the go. 

No shirt, no shoes?  No problem.

Pacific Gardens is another place we love to eat.  It's out of town in a quiet area with great food.  This is where the deck of cards comes in handy, though.

Look, another White Landcruiser!  That ones ours (Interface's). 

In a typical afternoon downpour, any place with a roof is instantly packed with people.

Loading our supplies into containers strapped to the roof.

Vendors line the sidewalks in one section of town selling everything from string bags, baskets and bows and arrows, to fossils, paintings...and in this case high heels and men's loafers. 

  

Security guards.

When our day starts at 8:00am, we're happy to finally be home by 5:00pm - usually exhausted, dirty and with an infamous "Goroka headache," but home!