Choosing a Culture: Assignment One

Assignment One 

Activity #1

Map of Venezuela

The country I have chosen for my cultural portfolio is Venezuela, a country at the top of South America, whose entire northern boundary is the Caribbean Sea.  When I was a child, I learned that my favorite Chicago White Sox player, a shortstop by the name of Alfonso “Chico” Carrasquel, was from Venezuela.  That was the first time I had heard that country’s name.  Later, the Sox recruited another Venezuelan named Luis Aparacio, who also played shortstop like Chico; more recently the Sox won the 2005 World Series with Venezuelan Ozzie Guillen, as manager.  More recently, I learned that Major League Baseball has been very actively involved in running training facilities in that country for a number of years.   Other things I know from reading the newspapers and watching the news on television are that Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the Western Hemisphere and that politically, its President, Hugo Chavez, is not well liked by the U.S. government.  Because of these experiences, I have chosen to learn more about the culture of Venezuela, particularly its history, politics, educational system, present-day economy, among other things, as they affect the lives of today’s Venezuelan Spanish-speaking citizens.

Activity #2

The Flag of Venezuela

1)  As a definition of culture, I would suggest it means all the aspects of human activity within the confines of time, place, and resources that a given social group of humans create for themselves.  That includes language, economic activity, religious or spiritual beliefs and practices, social stratification and organization, norms and values, marriage and family life, geographical resources and foods available for consuming, customs, and leisure activities and arts.  A society’s cultural beliefs and practices, I think, determine the course and quality of life for each member of that society.  As such, I believe it is the underpinning that helps individual members of that group survive and, hopefully thrive.

Placed alone on a small desert island, humans by themselves would likely lose the structures as well as the know-how to survive for long.

Plaza de Altamira, Caracas

(2)  The 3^rd Edition of the Oxford Encyclopedia English Dictionary provides this definition: “(2a) the customs, civilization, and achievements of a particular time or people, or (2b) the way of life of a particular society or group.  (1996, p. 347)  My definition does correspond to the dictionary’s, though I have tried to include more specifics. 

(3)  Like most of us, much of my culture was the product of my parent’s experience.  I was born into a family in the Midwest of the United States by first generation Americans of Scandinavian heritage at the end of World War II.  So much of my early years were shaped by values and practices of that time and place:  being educated as far as I could go; belief in hard work and achieving; being informed and engaged in civic affairs; being a good protestant in the Lutheran Church; giving unstinted love and support to family members; using good “educated” language (no swearing or using uncouth words!).  These provided a backbone.  In college, I chose to major in the liberal arts because I felt it important to study the great ideas and thinkers of the present and past and to read works of great literature.  College tuition was very cheap then, too!  These studies have definitely been crucial in shaping my curiosity and interest in literature, philosophy, the arts, history, foreign language, sociology, anthropology, politics, and science.  I am a ‘60’s kid who still loves rock n’ roll and who did get involved in the civil rights struggle and protested against the Viet Nam War.  Teaching school introduced me to the challenges as well as the delights of helping young people become the best they can be.  Now retired, I have found that my income is about 55% lower; I am no longer upper middle class.  My desire to travel will be affected by that situation.   One additional note about my experience: I lived in Canada for 12 years, and that has impacted and strengthened my earlier liberal views about the role of government, especially health care.  On the other hand, while I was there, I always felt American, never Canadian, which is why I ultimately did not seek citizenship there when I could have.

Simón Bolívar

(4)  As mentioned in the first activity of this portfolio,   I know that Venezuelans play American baseball, that oil is their major export, and that their President currently is Hugo Chavez.  I’ve also learned in this class that their national hero is Simón Bolívar who was their father of independence, and that their political history is rather mixed with elements of disruption—coups and dictatorships—as well as years of calm and democratic government.  In the 16^th century, Spanish colonial explorers arrived to search for gold and other riches, while missionaries came to convert the Amerindian natives and build Roman Catholic missions and churches. With them they brought their language and governmental forms which they imposed on the native populations.  This history is pretty typical of Spanish colonization in the Western Hemisphere of all the Americas.  I’m ready now to learn more about the culture of Venezuela.

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Reference

The Oxford encyclopedic English dictionary. (1996). New York: Oxford University Press.