Society and Culture
Venezuela and some World’s English Speaking Countries; Ireland.
Ireland is a British Country located in The United Kingdom while Venezuela is placed in Southern of the American Continent, languages spoken in each country is different, even their culture and the way of life. Ireland is a windy island with a cool climate while Venezuela is a tropical nation. Society and Culture are products of their history and geography, besides each one of them have something that has marked the socio-cultural development of the nation.
Firstly, let’s talk about Venezuela’s features taking into account its Society and culture, Venezuela’s literature is very rich, moreover it has been developed trough centuries; its genre focuses on drama, tragedy, love, Romantic, fiction and so on, the most popular and known Venezuelan writer is called Romulo Gallegos; one of his great job is: “Dona Barbara”, this novel talks about a woman’s life who is brave, fighter, strong, wild and suffered; besides she doesn’t trust in men any more, also she is very powerful being the owner of a very important lands in that era, adding some main other poets and writers like: Andres Eloy Blanco, Aquiles Nazoa, Arturo Uslar Prietri among others, while in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, Ireland’s Literature has always been a rich tradition, it is a place where has grown big writers and one of the most known has been: Oscar Wilde (The Happy Prince), Jonathan Swift (Gulliver’s Travels), James Joyce, Samuel Beckett among others; who are recognize by their great anglo-saxon literature works, adding that there are many Irish language some of them are: Pádraic Ó Conaire, Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Séamus Ó Grianna and Nuala Ni Dhomhnail. Countries’ Architecture is always a heritage that they have forever and also it identifies them as a civilization having its own custom, culture and society itself. The Architecture in Venezuela is characterized by being modern since 1930, and the best examples of this are several Government Buildings, The Ministry of Public Works, The Teresa Carreno Theater, The Olimpic Stadium, The Towers (located in Caracas, “El Silencio), Carlos Villanueva is the main architect of the country and one of his great works is: “Aula Magna”; that is placed in UCV the main university of the nation. Expressing Architecture, Sculpture and Sculptors of these nations Venezuela and Ireland both have different kinds of works for instance Irish Architecture Works are based on stone age; and they have a gothic and neo-gothic style, it is famous for its ruins, Anglo-Irish castles and intact today some examples are: The round tower at Glendalough, it has approximately 330 meters, Saint Patrick ´s Cathedral, Ha´penny Bridge since 1816, Fourts Courts in Dublin, Huntington Castle, also kown as Clonegal Castle was built in 1625 but by the way Venezuela has some cities such as: Coro which has a very rich heritage of the nation known as a “Zona Colonial”; which the downtown and it has many houses of the centuries ago and intact too, a bridge in Maracaibo which is the main one of the land while Irish Sculpture works are relevant made of bronze, stone, marble, metal, wood, Dublin spike; the main works are these: Queen Victoria Statue by John Hughes in 1904, Oscar Wilde Statue 1854 – 1900, Patrick Kavenagh Sculpture, Daniel O´Connel Monument, Jim Larkin Statue; all of them are symbol of history in the green island.
Music: Composers, Cultural Institutions, Orchestras, Films.
Each country in the world performs a kind of Music that recognizes it as a style of culture, besides it determines its rhymes and instruments played all across the earth. Starting, Irish Composers are well known because most of them are also big players of piano, conductor of Orchestra Players, professor of music, classical composer and so on for instance: Hamilton Halty; pianist and organist he was much respected, Brian Boydell was a professor of music and founder of the dowland consort, conductor of the Dublin orchestral players, lastly Richard Kearn who is known for his variations of works, besides He composed several pieces for Jazz, on the other hand very famous composers in Venezuela known around the world for their great work are called: on one hand, Simon diaz; he is a Venezuelan Music Composer some of his songs are: “La Vaca Mariposa”, “Caballo Viejo” also he is known as “El Tio Simon”; on the other hand, Jose Antonio Abreu; a big musician, director and founder and he is known as “El Maestro Abreu” who is the Orchestra's first director and its founder in 1975, besides he has achieved many international awards such as: Asturias Prince First Category, A very good reception in The United States and in The United Kingdom; nowadays This National Symphony has a director called "Gustavo Dudamel" he has been the artistic director since 1991 who is named the best one of the world and also he has got many awards in the world because of his great works gotten.
The Dublin Philarmonic Orchestra (DPO) founded in 1997, its members are the best musicians players and ist artistic director is named Derek Gleeson others professional Irish orchestras are the following: RTE National Symphony Orchestra; reaches a great number of listeners, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Orchestra of St Cecilia and some other non Professional like: Dublin Orchestra Players while Venezuela has a very famous and known Orchestra named Venezuela Simon Bolivar Orchestra; founded by “El Maestro Abreu” and directed by Gustavo Dudamel who is known now as a the best and youngest artistic director’s Orchestra of the world. The major Cuture Institution in Venezuela is “The Teresa Carreno Theater” and the Irish Culture Institution is named “Art Council of Ireland”, “Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs”, “Culture Ireland” that is a agency to promote and advance Irish arts internationally.
Cinema in Ireland stars at the 20 century and opened in December and The Volta Cinema is Dublin’s first movie theater, Irish Films Industry has grown thanks to these two filmmakers: Neil Jordan and Jim Sheridam, besides the island has a film industry and a house of Cinema such as: Ward Anderson: Cineplex, Omniplex, United Cinemas International, Cineworld (UGC Cinemas) Irsih people really likes watching movies and Ireland has cinema by county whereas in Venezuela that is characterized by a very famous filmmaker named Cesar Bolivar, he has made great cinema works well konown in the country such as: “Secuestro Express”, “Hermano” his works are based on social, politics, economy manners of the country, also he has been recognized national and internationally in order to reward his works.
Traditions: Social Habits, Attitudes, General Behavior.
Venezuelan people is well known for being a high sociable population, friendly, polite, too cheers, they enjoy being very kind with tourists from other nations, besides they wake up very early every morning to work because they are seldom hard worker, Venezuelans like partying all time it doesn’t matter the time maybe on weekends or not, the thing is that have a good time for them is a base of the daily life in the country, besides they are good and big drinkers for instance: they love drinking coffee in the morning, juice or coke at midday also for dinner but for celebrations they always drinking the most popular drink of the town “Beers” in few words Alcoholic Beverages and other like: “Cocuy” is a very traditional beverage (extracted from the “Cocuy penca” it is a plant likely “Agave” that is used for making “Tekila” in mexico). Women and men are characterized for being fighters who likes and work hard to achieve their dreams and goals. Family Structure in Venezuela is characterized by a couple conformed by a man and a woman, it is totally legal marriages between them and they don’t have more then 3 or 4 children per marriage, so it means no more than 5 or 6 members per families, both of them have to work in order to get money to support their children. In Venezuela there is a wedding to celebrate and it is really common to invite some friends and family for the special moment and the wedding celebration depends on people’s religion.
In addition, the Irish people are generally, warm, kind, respectful, helpful, besides they are not very physically demonstrative and they are uncomfortable with loud, aggressive, and arrogant behavior very similar with Venezuelans, on the other hand Marriages are seldom arranged in modern Ireland and it is the most famous celebration taking place in autumn, moreover children’s names are often selected to honor an ancestor (usually grandparents). Irish people are passionate, happy and pleased. As well as in Venezuela and Ireland, it is totally legal want a divorce when it is necessary; divorce has been legal since 1995 in The Green Island while in Venezuela is established legal since 1904.
Typical Food
All across the globe, people like eating and they are big eaters, Countries’ traditional food is based on their geography and customs. In Venezuela there are several traditional dishes but the most popular is named: “Pabellon Criollo” (prepared with black peas, fries banana, rice and meat) this dish is often eaten with a drink named “Papelon” (it is a mixer of lemon, water, ice and papelon) the other drink is very known and drunk in all places “Beers”, but also in the country is eaten many kinds of food such as: fish products, chicken, pork, beef, goat, chiguire (this is very common for holy week) fruits, cereals, sandwich, arepa ( made from corn flour), cheese, milk, chocolate, “cachapas”, sausage, spaghettis, sauces and so on.
Ireland is an island as we already know and of course “shellfish” are a very common food in the maritime coast of the country there is an emphasis on the comsuption of meat, cereals, bread, and potatoes, but the most popular dishes in the country are named: Irish Stew (made of vegetables like carrot, potatoes, beef and cilantro), on the other hand Colcannon, Boxty, Crubeens (made with pork legs) are very popular there, in addition Guinness is a synonym of Irish beer and this is the most trendy drink also a symbol of the green island. The Irish diet is similar to that of other Northern European nations.
Sports
Baseball games are the most popular in Venezuela, people likes the season of this games drinking beers with family and friends together, in spite of some other games like: horse racing, football, basketball, swimming, Karate, Racing cars are also practiced in the nation, besides Venezuela has a very good teams and players well known around the world due to their talent for example: Andres Galarraga (Baseball player), Pastor Maldonado ( F1 car racer and the winner of the Spanish Championship), Milka Duno (F1 car racer; the one woman from the country) Carl Herrera (basketball player in the NBA), Michael Malamed (marathon Racer and he is a good example for people who want to achieve their dreams “if you dream, let it happen”) and some others, while Ireland belongs to the United Kingdom and the most popular sport there is named: Gaelic Football; besides there are many sports practiced in the islands which are the followings: Boxing, Tennis, Cricket, Hurling, Horse Racing and Baseball like in Venezuela nation, I think they are very funny and popular sports worldwide.
Every country has its particular instruments and dances for instance in Venezuela is played three regular instruments named into spanish: “Cuatro”, “ Arpa” and “Maracas”; they are very known in the town and they identify the Venezuelan Music, while the instruments of the Irish music are: the fiddle ,the bodhran, the uileann pipes( scottish bagpipes), the guitar, the banjo, the harp (the same in Venezuela), the flute , the accordion , the piano and some others. The most popular dance is named “El Folklore” or Venezuelan Folk, the dancers commonly dress a very long skirt (women), a white blouse while men dress a beige pant with a white t-shirt and they always wear “Apalgatas” (the traditional shoe of the dance and country) whereas in Ireland the most famous dance is performed by a traditional group, they can be divided into social dance and performance dances as an example of it: Stepdance and Riverdance.
In addition to this feature of these countries, festivities and celebrations are focused on their customs and history for instance in Ireland the most popular celebration is held on March 17, every year and it is named St. Patrick’s Day, besides it also celebrated in Ireland and in countries with large colonies of Irish some other celebrations and events are held depending on dates for instance: in January; Temple Bar Trad, in February; Dublin International Films Festival; in March; Dublin Book Festival, in April; Pan Celtic Festival, in May; Dublin Dance Festival, in June; Dublin Writers Festival; in July; Galway Arts Festival, Walton's Guitar Festival of Ireland, in August; Puck Fair, September; Galway Oyster Festival, October; Cork Jazz Festival, November; Cork Film Festival. Venezuela’s Celebration are always held with happiness some important dates are the followings: on 1st January; the first day of the year, February; Carnival, April; Holy week, On July 24th; Birth of Simon Bolivar, November; Chinita’s Day held in the Zulia State- Maracaibo City, on December; Christmas which a tradition season in the country, people visit their family and they share a lot, besides it is the biggest shopping month of the year and “Hallacas” (made of beef meat, pork, chicken, corn flour, many vegetables and covered with plantain leaf) that is a typical dish in this month and finally they are eaten a lot by population in the land and everybody is exited waiting the new year and the new luck. Religions in these nations are free to practice and the Roman Catholic Religion is the popular one.
I think all the traditions, customs, societies and cultures are related to each others, overall The typical food; it is almost likely one dish with other dish of the countries named before, but the thing is that everyone is identify as a very good and happy person living their way of lives and representing a particular nation and nationality such as: Canadian, English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, American and Venezuelan; the most important feature which is actually relevant is that each one of them is going to leave his foot prints as human beings on earth representing very interesting and amazing countries worldwide.







