Nico Space

I was at a party about a week before I left Cardiff and one of the students in my programme asked me what was the the most important thing I learned this year. I hate picking favourites cause I think everything is important but some of the things one of my profs told us were really interesting. The critical thinking skills he taught us were really, really useful. He also showed us a breakdown of the world, if the world only had a 100 people. I think it was a great way to put things into perspective.
Here is an abbreviated version:

If the World were 100 PEOPLE:
Gender
50 would be female
50 would be male

Age
20 would be 0-14
67 would be 15-64
14 would be 65 and older

Geography
5 would be from North America
9 would be from Latin America & the Caribbean
12 would be from Europe
61 would be from Asia
13 would be from Africa

Religion
31 would be Christian
21 would be Muslim
14 would be Hindu
6 would be Buddhist
12 would believe in other religions
16 would not be religious or identify themselves
as being aligned with a particular faith

First Language
17 would speak Chinese
8 would speak Hindustani
8 would speak English
7 would speak Spanish
4 would speak Arabic
4 would speak Russian
3 would speak Bengali
2 would speak Malay-Indonesian
2 would speak French
45 would speak other languages

Overall Literacy
82 would be able to read and write
18 would not

Literacy by Gender
87 males would be able to read and write
13 males would not be able to read and write
77 females would be able to read and write
23 females would not be able to read and write

Education
76 males would have a primary school education
72 females would have a primary school education

66 males would have a secondary school education
63 females would have a secondary school education

1 would have a college education

Urban/Rural
47 would be urban dwellers
53 would be rural dwellers

Drinking Water
83 would have access to safe drinking water
17 would use unimproved water

Food
17 would be undernourished
Infectious Disease
<1% would have HIV/AIDS
<1%would have tuberculosis

Poverty
53 would live on less than 2USD per day
50 would live in poverty

Electricity
69 would have electricity
31 would not

Technology
34 would be cell phone subscribers
17 would be active internet users
1 would own a computer



Since I have a college education and I own a computer I would say I am one of the richest people in the world.
My mom called me this morning and told me that she met someone who knows my friend's boyfriend that lives in the United States. I thought to myself what a small world! But then I thought, what a small rich world. I know he has a college education and owns a computer. So we mix with the same small percentage of very rich.

Out to a Mexican restaurant with Des, Geroge and Melini. George is taking the pic

So this week has not been as horrible as I told myself it was going to be. I am too negative sometimes. The flatmates being gone, it has been a little lonely but really quite bearable. It has been nice to make a mess of the house and just hang out on my own a bit.

I had my last meeting with my supervisor and then got on the phone to try and book a flight home early but it would cost me an awful lot and I actually had quite a bit of work to do. It has been nice taking it easy on the final touches of my dissertation. A little change here and a little change there and suddenly it looks a lot better.

I have not touched anything so I have a lot of packing to do this weekend...and laundry. It is kind of odd to be leaving this place and not being sure when I will be back. I am planning on coming to grad next year but that will depend on work and money and all the other issues.

Tuesday at Des' was great this week. I think my crossword puzzle skills have come a long way this year. Crosswords are a strange thing. Even though the clues are random you get used to thinking in a crossword kind of way and if you do crosswords from the same author you begin to catch on to their pattern.



Des got his whole house rewired, it is definitely brighter and the switches are modern. The other light switches dated back to the 1930's. They were round, bulky and you really had to switch them on. They looked like the one above. They also made a kind of sizzle sound when you turned them on. It wasn't a gentle click.

I am going to miss the Tuesday night gang. But Des, George, Melini and I are going to go out for a meal on Friday night. We are going out at 8:30. Everything works about an hour or two later than it does back home. Lunch is usually at 1 or 2 and supper is at 7 or 8. Or maybe just an hour later than what I am used to.

My documentary is now recorded on CDs so I suppose I am finished tinkering with it. It is hard to lay things to rest that you have been working on for a while. I feel like it will never be perfect but nothing ever is so I will have to deal with it. I am getting the written portion bound tomorrow and I will hand it in.

I think it will take a while for me to realize this isn't going to be hanging over my head anymore.

Going out for lunch with Elaine today. She said she wanted to go for a British lunch so we must be going to a pub or something.