The Gapminder: a fact- based worldview.

I found a really amazing program called the Gapminder the other day. (No it's not a delicious Pittsburgh meal, but it's pretty great). 

Gapminder was created by Swedish doctor, Hans Rosling. Gapminder helps people to develop a fact- based world view. This program allows people to easily compare data from a variety of variables, many of which we discussed in this course. 

Follow the link to and select Gapminder World. From here you can manipulate the x and y axis of the graph and select specific geographic regions and countries to look at.  Take some time to play around with this-it's user friendly, has a nice aesthetic, and provides a wealth of information! 

Pittsburgh n'at.

I've been feeling really nostalgic lately. Nostalgic for my beloved city, Pittsburgh. Later in the week I'll have some classic Pittsburgh cuisine coming your way but until then I'll leave you with this. 

Regional Dialects: Pittsburghese. 

"A dialect is a regional variation of a language distinguished by distinctive vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation" (Rubenstein, 110). 

Fondly referred to as Pittsburghese, Pittsburgh has a unique and distinct regional dialect. Want to pick up some Pittsburghese? Check out this website. 

Also, enjoy these: Pittsburgh Dad. 

This native Pittsburgher has a series of videos on youtube called Pittsburgh Dad. It's pretty ridiculous but also a pretty accurate depiction of the Pittsburgh accent and dialect. 

HDI: Measuring development in India

Developed, developing? What does it mean? 

In the last post I described India as a developing country. I kind of just threw the term out there without any explanation. Until recently, I often heard and used the terms developed, developing, undeveloped etc. to describe a place. I never really knew what these terms meant or if they had any real descriptive value. How is it determined if a county is developed or developing? Who determines this? Do these terms really mean anything?

Well, it turns out there these terms do have meaning and they are something human geographers use to talk about a place. There is an objective set of standards that measure various aspects of a country to determine its development status. This is known as the Human Development Index (HDI). Measured and monitored by the UN, the HDI "is a summary measure for assessing long-term progress in three basic dimensions of development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living" (Human Development Report 2014: India, 1). This is a pretty broad and general statement. How do you quantify and measure something like access to knowledge or a decent standard of living?

The UN's got this part figured out too...

• A long and healthy life is measured by life expectancy. 
• Access to knowledge is measured by: "i) mean years of education among the adult population, which is the average number of years of education received in a life-time by people aged 25 years and older, and ii) expected years of schooling for children of school-entry age, which is the total number of years of schooling a child can expect to receive if prevailing patterns of age-specific enrollment rates stay the same throughout the child's life." 
• Standard of living is measured "by Gross National Income per capita." 

India's HDI value and rank 

In 2013, India's HDI value was .586. This in the medium human development category. India ranked "135 out 187 countries and territories" (HDR: India, 2).

What can we learn from this table? 

• India's HDI value increased from .360 to .586 from 1980 to 2013. . This is an astounding 58.7% increase. 
• "Life expectancy at birth increased by 11.0 years"
• "Expected years of schooling increased by 5.3 years"
• "GNI increased by about 306.2%" (HDR:India, 2)

Inequality-adjusted HDI 

The HDI is an average. And like all averages it has the potential to "masks inequality in the distribution of human development across the population at the country level" ( HDR:India, 3). It's basically the HDI discounted for inequalities (3). India's IHDI is .418. This is 28.6% lower than it's HDI. "As the inequality in a country increases, the loss in human development also increases" (3). IHDI reveals inequality in the distribution of the three dimensions of HDI. 

Gender Inequality Index and Gender Development Index 

In addition to the HDI and IHDI, the UN utilizes the Gender Inequality Index. The GII reflects gender based inequalities. Like the HDI, this is determined using three dimensions "reproductive health, empowerment, and economic activity" (HDR: India, 4). India's GII value is 0.563, ranking it 127 out of 152 countries (HDI: India, 4). 

Introduced in 2014, the Gender Development Index is a new measure that will be utilized by the UN. The GDI "measures gender inequalities in achievement in three basic dimensions of human development-health, education, and command over economic resources" (HDR: India, 5). 

The Human Development Index and all of the additional measures that go with it, provide a comprehensive analysis of a countries development status. When studied in context, these things can be really useful tools for human geographers and provide a lot of insight to the daily workings of a country. Additionally, they provide useful information that can be used to provide people with a greater access to knowledge, standard of living, and longer and healthier lives. 

Resources: 

United Nations. 2014.  Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience. India. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/IND.pdf

You might also want to check out: 

United Nations Development Programme

Why food?

So you may be wondering, why food? What can food really tell us about a place? A lot. Examining a countries food preferences can give us insight into not only the cultural customs of the people but also to the environment, climate and agricultural practices of that region.

Let's take a look at what food and agricultural practices can tell us about India. 

Culture of Food Preferences 

Taboo: A taboo is " a restriction on behavior imposed by social custom" (Rubenstein, 88). Religion dictates many food taboos. For example, for those who practice Hinduism, "eating cows is prohibited, as it is thought of as God's useful gift to mankind since it provides dairy products and is the basis for other products". Here is an article that shares some basic information about food taboos around the world. 

                              

Diet 

Diet is determined by a combination of the following: level of development, physical conditions, and cultural preferences. 

• Level of development:  "People in developed countries tend to consume more food and from different sources than do people in developing countries" (Rubenstein, 223).  India is a developing country. 
• Physical Conditions:  "Climate is important in influencing what can be most easily grown and therefore consumed in developing countries" (223).  Below is a climatic zone map of India. India has great diversity in climate, ranging from montane (mountainous), to tropical, to arid.                                                                                             

• Cultural Preferences: "Some food preferences and avoidances are expressed without regard for physical and economic factors" (223).  (e.g. the food taboo discussed above) 

Food and Nutrition in India: Interpretations and Facts 

This article, published by Princeton, provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of food and nutrition in India over the last 25 years. The publication includes several excellent maps, graphs and charts that provide information about: rural calorie consumption, calories from cereals, percentage of households reporting lack of food etc. This is a really wonderful resource, please take a look! 

Resources:

Deaton, A. & Dreze, J. (2009). Food and nutrition in India: facts and interpretations.  Economic and Political Weekly, vol 44, (no 7). Retrieved from https://www.princeton.edu/~deaton/downloads/Food_and_Nutrition_in_India_Facts_and_Interpretations.pdf 

Rubenstein, J. M. (2010). Contemporary human geography. Prentice Hall: Glenview, IL. 

Welcome to India!

Hey folks!


Sorry for the long lapse in posting. It was a crazy busy week! But I'm back. And now we're off to India. Over the next week we will delve into different parts of Indian geography and culture.
This week I made delicious Indian food! I'm no stranger to cooking Indian food-it's usually a weekly occurrence at my house. My mother-in-law is from Nellore, a city in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. I was told, when I got married, I'd have to learn how to make at least a few dishes :) Fortunately for me it's my favorite type of food!
My mother-in-law is from a Brahman family: they are strictly vegetarian. Most of the Indian food I cook is vegetarian (my husband eats meat so we sometimes make chicken curry or chicken vindaloo).
On to the recipes!



Indian cuisine varies greatly depending on state, region, religion, and caste. Telegu cuisine is incredibly spicy (supposedly the spiciest of all Indian foods- I know from experience :) ) Andhra cuisine is mostly vegetarian, though there are those who eat meat as well as seafood because of it's close proximity to the Bay of Bengal. Cuisine is heavily spiced and utilizes dal (lentils), tomatoes, and tamarind flavors. 

Vegetable Korma

Ingredients: 

1 small yellow onion, diced                                                    Coconut oil (or veg oil)                                                                                      

4 cooking potatoes, cubed                                                       1 tablespoon  minced fresh ginger

1 bag of frozen carrots and peas                                            salt (to taste-you'll need a lot!)

1/2 bag of frozen cauliflower                                                  4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced                  2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
1 tablespoon minced ginger                                                   2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric                                                                    1 tablespoon garam masala (more or less to taste) 
1 14 oz. can of whole tomatoes                                               1 tablespoon salt (more or less to taste)
1 cup heavy cream 

Prep work: 
Dice onion
Cube potato (bite size piece)
Create ginger garlic paste-put garlic gloves and minced ginger and a little bit of water in a blender or food processor-blend until paste like) 
Blend whole tomatoes in blender or food processor (keep tomato liquid) 

1. In a thick bottom pot, heat a tablespoon of olive oil or coconut oil. Add the cumin and mustard seeds to the oil (on medium-low heat), moving constantly to not burn. When the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the onions. After about 3 minutes add the ginger garlic paste, the excess water will cook off. Mix the ginger garlic paste and onions well.

2. When the onions are translucent, add the cubed potatoes. Add turmeric, mix turmeric, potatoes, and onions well. Add about a cup of water (this well help the potatoes soften).Let cook for about 10 minutes. 

3. When the potatoes are soft, add the tomato puree. Add the garam masala and salt (more or less depending on taste- I typically add extra cardamom, cumin, and coriander b/c my husband does not like heavy clove flavor). Stir well.  Let simmer for a few minutes. 

4. Add frozen vegetables. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes. 

5. Slowly add the heavy cream (more or less depending on how tomato-ey you like the korma), be sure to stir constantly so that it does not curdle. Taste for spice. If needed, add more salt and garam masala. 

6. Serve with jasmine  rice or  chapati . Garnish with coriander leaves (cilantro).

Often people use cashew paste rather than heavy cream. I am allergic to nuts so I am not able to do this. Also, I tend to cook this food without a recipe, so I do  a lot of "to taste". Experiment! Have fun! As my Amma says "Indian food is supposed to easy, healthy, and economical."  Use what you have and be flexible. :) 

Pachadi 

(I'm trying to upload a picture of the many jars of pachadi I have in my fridge but it's not working)
Pachadi ( or pickle) is a quintessential Andhra Pradesh food. Pachadi is a mix of heavily spiced pickled vegetables  or fruits. Pickling fruits and vegetables is a great way of preserving them from the heat and extending their shelf life but also a way to ensure that no fruit or vegetable goes to waste. In a place, where historically, famine and hunger are very prevalant, pachadi makes excellent use of scarce resources. Pachadi is eaten mixed in with rice, rice and yogurt, or spread on idli, naan, or chapati. 

Random post of a super cool map

I stumbled across this SUPER cool map the other day. It's called the Racial Dot Map. The racial dot map uses data from the 2010 Census to show the racial distribution of people in the United States. One dot equals one person. You can manipulate and zoom in on the map. It's pretty amazing. Do you notice any general trends? Are you surprised by anything?

I know this is an unrelated post but it was too cool not to share! Up next (hopefully tomorrow).... we journey to India! Specifically the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh!

Folk and Popular Music of Turkey

"As music is a part of both folk and popular culture traditions, it can be sued to illustrate differences in the origins and diffusion of folk and popular culture" (Rubenstein, 82). 

Folk Music 

Folk music is of particular interest to geographers. Folk music provides insight to the daily activities and cultural values of a people group. Typically passed down orally from one generation to the next, folk music may change slightly over time to reflect the current live and values of that generation. Folk music provides an oral history of the migration, values, and daily life of people. 

"The Turks who migrated to Anatolia brought their traditional folk music with them. This music expressed the feelings and beliefs of nomads who sang about love, sorrow and happiness" (Kneib, 86). 

I found a great resource Purdue University. Follow this link and scroll down to the section on Turkish Folk Music.  They have some really high quality recordings of Turkish folk songs organized by region.  There is also a lot of other great information about Turkey on this page.

                     

Popular Music 

"Popular music is written by specific individuals for the purpose of being sold to a large number of people" (Rubenstein, 83). 

Sources: 

Kneib, M. (2004). Turkey: A primary source cultural guide. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. : New York, NY. 

Rubenstein, J. M. (2010). Contemporary human geography. Prentice Hall: Glenview, IL. 

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~turkiye/Turkiye.html