South American Culture

South America consists of a variety of natural resources and populates a small percentage of the world’s people (Shields, 6). Sandy beaches, swampy lowlands, and green plateaus are just some of the different geographical areas and climates located in Venezuela (Shields 9). Some of these landscapes consist of the world’s driest desert and some of the world’s tallest mountains (Shields, 6-7). “Situated in the North East corner of the South American continent, Venezuela is bordered to the North by the Caribbean, to the East by Guyana and the Atlantic Ocean, to the South by Brazil, and to the West and Southwest by Colombia,” (Venezuela Weather). Since Venezuela is located near the equator, its climate remains warm year-round. Venezuela, officially

On the coast you will find high quality fish, shellfish, crayfish, and fish soups as well as fish stews; another dish is the pargo (red snapper) or the Dorado (Typical). A famous dish in the Andean region is the “arepa.” It is made from wheat instead of cornmeal (Typical). The main ingredients in Venezuelan food consist of yucca, corn, beans and bananas; some people even eat turtles, tapirs, monkeys, birds and deep fried ants (Typical). Arepa is the most famous dish from Venezuela, and is a “cornmeal cake that can be grilled, baked or fried. Unlike in neighboring Colombia where it is normally eaten unadorned, here in Venezuela it is split open and filled with a variety of cheese and meats. Arepa is a basic part of the Venezuelan diet and is eaten in place of bread in most meals,” (Typical). Hallaca is another very important dish to Venezuelans. It is a very laborious and involves lots help from the family. It is performed during the Christmas season and usually lasts a whole season (Typical). “The family forms a line starting with the filling of beef, pork, capers, raisins and olives that are then wrapped in cornmeal dough (the same dough used for arepas) and then bound with banana leaves. While generally men do not involve themselves in the cooking process, avoiding hallaca making is impossible and men are most commonly found cleaning the banana leaves and tying them together for steaming,”

It involves four riders and they have to fight, wrestle, and grapple among the other players to get the bull’s tail and pull it down while riding a horse. It can be somewhat dangerous but one must admit that these coleaderos (the riders) are very adept in riding a horse and dauntless as the bulls,” (Sport). Baseball and soccer are the two most popular sports played in Venezuela. Luis Aparicio and Miguel Cabrera are two well-known baseball players in Venezuela (Sport). “Venezuela won its first Olympic medal in 1952 when Arnoldo Devenish won bronze in the Men's Triple Jump,” (Sport). “The National Venezuelan Baseball team is also regarded as one the most competent teams that plays world-class baseball,” (Sport). Venezuela has one a total of twelve Olympic medals since joining the Olympic games in 1948 (Sport). Five of these medals they have received were earned through boxing, and they received one gold medal in 2012 in fencing (Sport). Venezuela has a wide variety of sports that is becoming more popular