{Ikey at the market}
the market in Songum reminds me of children playing store. i don't think anybody really makes a profit. and i don't think making money is the point. it's more for fun than anything. the customers are your neighbors (and visitors from Yonglum, the closest villiage to Songum). they give away as much as they sell.
if, for instance, my children really wanted some peanuts but didn't have 20 toya the lady selling peanuts would give them a 20 toya coin so that they could "buy" nuts from her. or the boys selling mangoes would remember that Si really loves mangoes so they would slide a mango in Sisi's bilum as he walked by.
{selling buai at Songum market}
the reason for this is that it is not culturally appropriate to get ahead by making money on your "wantok"or one talk-meaning people who speak the same language (wantok has other meanings too). also culturally if you have somthing that someone else wants or needs and they ask for it you have to give it away...
i'm getting off subject now- i'll cover more on giving in PNG later...
xo-tiffany
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