Charlie was really looking forward to Easter in Kundiawa. He would get 4 days holiday to rest and have fun in. Special holidays usually mean special meals as well so he thought it would be a good idea to go to the market and see what he could buy for a special Easter Sunday meal.

The market was fairly busy and different from markets in England. First of all he checked his money to see if he had enough small coins and notes because he knew people in the market often didn't have much change so it is helpful if he had the right money.

In Papua New Guinea the money is called Kina. The Kina coin is round and has a hole in the middle. One Kina is worth about 30p in English money. Then just like one pound is divided up into 100 pence in England, one Kina is divided up into 100 toea. (Toea is pronounced "toy ya".) The 50 toea coin is shaped the same as a fifty pence piece and then there is a 20 toea coin and a 10 toea coin. The notes come in K2, K5, K10, K20, K50 and K100. K is short for Kina.

Charlie knew that taking anything bigger than a K5 note was useless as he would never be able to get change. The biggest things can sometimes cost up to K5 for a really large pineapple or paw paw fruit.

But on this occasion Charlie wanted to buy something special, a chicken for the Easter meal. In England when Charlie wanted a chicken for dinner he would go to Tesco and buy one all plucked and prepared, ready to put straight in the oven. In Kundiawa he would have to go to the market and buy a live one to bring home. Charlie was not sure what to do about that so his friend Mono said he would come and help him choose the chicken and get it ready for cooking when they got home. Charlie was very pleased! Chickens cost a lot of Kina about K25 and they might struggle and flap their wings while they were walking round the market so Charlie and Mono decided to buy it last.

When Charlie got into the market he saw that all the fruit and vegetables were arranged into small groups according to their size. Then they had the price for one. So carrots were priced 20 or 30 toea each. Pinapples were K3, K4 or K5 each. Sometimes vegetables were sold in a small heap and the price was for a heap. Nobody ever haggled about prices. Each little stall only sold a few things. Most of the things for sale had been grown by the people selling them. That is how they lived. They would grow their own food and sell the extra to make money. Some stalls sold things that had been transported to Kundiawa from the coast like pineapples and coconuts because it is too cold to grow them in Kundiawa.

There aren't many sweets for sale in kundiawa so if the children wanted a treat they would buy a piece of fruit. Buying a piece of pineapple to eat while walking around is most popular but eating "panda nuts" is also common. These are small seeds inside a hard case. A bit like eating a chestnut but they grow in large balls made up of lots of nuts. They grow in the forest high up in very large trees. So they have to be transported to Kundiawa as well. You can buy just a few for 20 or 30 toea.

When Charlie got to the market he walked around trying to choose what to buy. In the end his favourites were pineapple and strawberries. Charlie remembered that in England when he bought strawberries he bought them in a plastic box. It is not like that here. People pick the strawberries leaving on long stalks and then tie them to a stalk they pick from the side of the road. They are sold in little bunches. Charlie bought one bunch for K1. "That will make a great pudding on Easter Sunday," Charlie thought.

It was an exciting trip to the market. Charlie loved talking and laughing with the stall holders. Then he climbed the steep hill home with his friend Mono carrying one chicken for Charlie and another for Mono. By the time Charlie got home he was tired and thirsty. "Let's eat the strawberries now," said Charlie.