Nancy’s Venezuela:  Reflection



Caracas, Venezuela

National Assembly

 I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity given me this semester to learn about Spanish culture, and in particular about the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.  I don’t know that this experience has changed my knowledge about Spanish culture.  Rather it has deepened my understanding of how its origin as a Spanish colony has played out in this country located at the top of South America.  I did not choose artifacts that might highlight this connection in an obvious way, such as dress or food or national dances, which could illustrate the heritage from Spanish colonial times.  I wanted to look at some of the things I knew about Venezuela that I could learn more about -- baseball, oil, and education.  I studied anthropology in college, so the indigenous people were an area to explore; additionally, I love the visual arts, and I knew nothing about artists in Venezuela. 

In choosing those five areas, I probably found baseball, the visual artists, and the oil economy the most interesting because each one had such interesting histories and development.  For example, the development of baseball in Venezuela included learning about all the teams that formed in every city, and sometimes many teams, as in Maracaibo where there were 30 teams at one time!  People seemed to love playing it and those watching it were raucous fans.  I learned that baseball there has become so Spanish that it has become part of the national identity, according to an ambassador to the U.S.  I loved learning about the visual artists, especially Armando Reverón, whose European studies in Spain led him to focus on the techniques of Francisco Goya and El Greco.  He returned to Venezuela making the geography and light of his country become his subject.  Alexjandro Otero and Carlos Cruz-Diéz not only created wonderful modern sculptures, but both founded schools for developing artists in Venezuela.

President Hugo Chávez Campaigning

The subject of oil was most fascinating to me because it is so closely tied to power and politics.  The county’s leaders have manipulated this industry for different purposes.  The government of President Hugo Chávez has used oil domestically to direct its profits to benefit the poor and the indigenous, long ignored by prior governments.   Internationally, it has used its huge reserve of oil sometimes as a weapon to wield against governments that it competes with.  If I were only to read or hear news on American television, I would probably like to see the overthrow of Chávez; in fact, there are rumors that an attempted coup in the early 2000’s was organized by us.  But I have come to see that this government has really moved to create rights for the disenfranchised and greatly expanded educational opportunities, building many schools, universities, and colleges throughout the country.  I have to respect that, and I do. 

Venezuelan School Children

Woman Celebrating in Costume

 

Does one need to study a foreign language to come to know a culture?  I don’t think so.  I do think, however, that knowing a language creates a natural curiosity about the places one could visit while speaking the language, and a desire to be able to take part in the culture of that place.  This is something I’ve experienced directly.  I studied French in college and immediately wanted to go to France and visit all the places we read about.  I always disliked the sound of Spanish when I heard it spoken and thought that French sounded much cooler.  I’m not sure exactly why I chose to learn this language in retirement; I think I was looking for a new challenge, and Spanish is now all around us.  In doing so, I have discovered interests I never had before.  First of all, a trip to Spain went to the top of my travel bucket list.  As we covered different Spanish-speaking countries, my curiosity about them grew.  And finally, this blog project really strengthened my interest in visiting Venezuela:  maybe to watch a ballgame, maybe to attend an art museum; maybe to visit some of the schools; or maybe to travel the countryside to see the llanos, the Orinoco River and Angel Falls, or the beaches in the north.  All that sounds cool to me now, including the sound of spoken Spanish.

National Park near Caracas

Margarita Island