Papua New Guinea
Stories 3

Money grows on trees

Currency takes many forms in Papua New Guinea. Paper money is the Kina, named after the first form of money in PNG - pearl shells cut into crescents and worn around the neck. While travellers nowadays can pay their way with paper or plastic, local people still prefer to make substantial payments, such as a dowry or for building a house, in solid traditional style. Depending on the area they might use pigs, shell bracelets or necklaces, carved wooden bowls, stone axes, Bird of Paradise plumes, grass skirts or a root vegetable — the Yam.

Dog's canine teeth used to be such a popular medium of exchange that pre-war German colonists had porcelain imitations made and shipped out. They still retain the same value as the real thing.

Out and around the Trobriand Islands women make their own money. Fresh banana leaves are scraped against a board that is engraved with the family seal. Strips of the impressed leaf are bundled into hundreds and are worth about one Kina/one dollar. Long hours needed, but it's a sure way to make a buck.

Trobriand Teens

From puberty through to marriage Trobriand adolescents are permitted, even encouraged, to be sexually active with other clan members. Affairs often start with a gift of betel nut and assignations taking place at night in purpose built huts. Girls drink a secret herbal potion the day after to prevent pregnancy. Everyone gossips and rumours fly, but nobody tells.

In their early 20's they marry and monogamy is par for the marital course. Healthy, calm and rarely visited, Trobriand people are perhaps the most attractive ethnic group in Papua New Guinea.

Tok Pidgin

Papua New Guinea has a population of less than four million, yet there are over 700 different languages there. With this kind of mutual incomprehension it's no surprise that a lingua franca has developed. Called Tok Pidgin, it's mostly based on simplified English, and is interesting and occasionally hilarious. For example:
yumi = we
ples bilong yu we? = where are you from?
wantok = friend (one talk)
mi no klia gut = I don't understand
bugarup = doesn't work/broken
haus monie = bank
numba wan pikinini bilong missas Kwin = Prince Charles
bigpela mixmasta bilong Jisas Krais = Helicopter
bigpela yu paitim tit e crai owt = Piano (fight/pat his teeth)
lukim yu bihain = see you later

Papua New Guinea travel story 'Hair Tomorrow'

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