We were able to exchange money at a slightly better rate with a friend of Jim Robbins who has an import business. Kina is the currency in PNG and the polymer notes are clearly made by the same people who make Australian currency. They both feel like they are made of plastic and have clear plastic “windows” in them as a security measure.
The notes depict several items important to Papua New Guineans, such as the stone hatchet in the center of the two kina note. These stone axes were used before westerners arrived with metal blades.
On the right side of the 50 kina note is a collection of ceremonial masks from different regions of the country.
The current exchange rate for 1 kina is about 37 cents.
Today was a fairly typical day in conducting business in a developing country. This morning we had a required meeting with a government agency for our collecting permits—but the people we needed to meet with were not there and no one knew when they would be in. Luckily this meeting turned out to be a formality, so we were able to introduce ourselves and thank the agency before leaving after spending less than five minutes in the office.
Our second stop was to another government agency, which was supposed to open at 9, but which still wasn’t open at 9:30. When we came back at 10:30, they were open but the guy with the key to the cabinet we needed to get into was nowhere to be found.
Our third goal of the day was to exchange US dollars for PNG Kina. After visiting three banks, we learned that the first bank had the best rate (the same as the currency exchange at the airport, which we had been told was a HORRIBLE rate). By the time we figured this out the original bank had closed, so we’ll go back first thing in the morning.
Today we learned that due to cyclone Charlotte, the seas are much too rough for the 150-foot cargo boat that is taking our field supplies ahead to Alotau, meaning that it is very unlikely that we will head out on our much smaller boat in three days. We have already started making back-up plans for collecting on the mainland around Alotau while we wait for the seas to calm.
We had a full day today of running errands. We first went to Boroko Food World where we spent about 1500 kina (PNG’s currency) on the nonperishable provisions for 10 people for three weeks. We bought the nonperishables here because they are four times more expensive in Alotau, where we will buy perishable items like onions, garlic, and fruit. My favorite food items of the day were powdered coconut milk and sago (tapioca); combined with our sugar, these two will make an excellent pudding!
At PNG Arts we got our souvenir purchases out of the way (and had them shipped back to New York). I bought several items from different tribes that sell their art by consignment in the store. Each month the store sends payments to the tribes for the items that are purchased; it’s a wonderful way for remote people to make a living and share their culture with the world.
One of my favorite purchases is the carved bow of a canoe. The carvings represent different things important to the tribes that are meant to bring good luck. Once the boat is no longer usable, they saw off the carved end and ship it to the store.
I also got several masks, lime pots (used to store the crushed lime chewed with the betel nut—more on this later!), two nose flutes, and quite a few penis gourds.
We are settled at Lamana Hotel. It’s actually quite posh—a little ridiculous for fieldwork, but security is the priority in Port Moresby, which is regularly ranked as one of the world’s hardest cities to live in. Our flight from NYC to LA was nearly empty, which gave us all an opportunity to stretch out across several seats, the best rest we got in 27 hours of travel. We’re going to try to stay up as late as possible tonight to get over the jet lag quicker.
This afternoon we went to an outdoor fruit market and saw about 20 different varieties of bananas (Musa species), far more than I have ever seen in the American or African tropical countries I have visited. But banana cultivation began in New Guinea, so such a high diversity of bananas is to be expected.
New Guinea is also the origin of taro cultivation (Colocasia esculenta), an important starch crop worldwide. You can check out Katharina Neumann’s 2003 article “New Guinea: A Cradle of Agriculture” in the journal Science for some background on crop origins in PNG.
Before I could leave, I had to frantically try to finish a collaborative proposal to the National Science Foundation. I managed to get all of my files to my colleague Paul Fine but it came down to the wire—I was typing all the way to JFK.
Some wonderful friends helped with last minute preparations over the weekend. We took several trips to the local hardware store for rope, tape, digging tools, rechargeable batteries, etc., but the best help of all was Dave and Ely’s constructing two sweet clipper pole bags. These bags will make transporting the 16 poles in each set much easier in the field.
We somehow managed to get all of our gear packed into nine bags (only one over the 70 lb. limit!). Here are six of them.
I met up with John, Doug, and Tim at the airport. Thankfully, our gear made it through security…. We’ll be flying to Los Angeles, connecting to a 14-hour flight to Brisbane, Australia, then on to PNG’s capital, Port Moresby. Hopefully we’ll end up at the Lamana Hotel in about a day and a half!
