Oriana Isabel Colombo Stenstrom is from Venezuela and is currently pursuing an MBA in management in Akron, Ohio. She provides an overview of Venezuela, including facts about its geography, government, culture, economy, and everyday life. Some key points include that Venezuela has a population of over 28 million people, Spanish is the main language, and the economy relies heavily on oil exports but has experienced challenges in recent years.

1. VENEZUELAYOUR TOUR GUIDE: ORIANA ISABEL
COLOMBO STENSTROM
KNOW YOUR COMMUNITY
KNOW YOUR WORLD
A PROGRAM OF GLOBAL TIES
AKRON

2. INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER PROFILE
Oriana Isabel Colombo Stenstrom
Topic:
• Moved to Akron to do a MBA in Management
• I was born and raised in Venezuela
• My future plans are to obtain a PhD degree in
Industrial/Organizational Physiology and work in a
prestigious Company.

3. COUNTRY MAP

4. COUNTRY QUICK FACTS
• Full name: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
• Population: 28,515,829 (2019)
• Capital: Caracas
• Largest city: Caracas
• Major language: Spanish
• Major religion: Catholic
• Life expectancy: Male: 71 years Female: 77 years
• Monetary unit: Bolivar Fuerte (BsF)
• Main exports: Oil and minerals
• GNI per capita: $17,900 USD

5. LANDFORMS

6. LANGUAGE:
• Hello: Hola
• Bye: Chao
• YES: Si
• NO: No
• THANK YOU: Gracias
• YOU’RE WELCOME: De nada
• PLEASE: Por Favor
• I LOVE YOU: Te quiero Mucho
• HOW ARE YOU: Cómo Estas?
• COOL: Chevere

7. Government
 LEADER: The current president has
been disputed between Juan Guaido
and Nicolás Maduro since January 10,
2019
 GOVERNMENT: Socialist
 VOTING AGE: 18 years old

8. CURRENT EVENTS OR KEY ISSUES

9. ECONOMICS
• Known for: Petroleum, gas, aluminum and bauxite, Steel, Chemicals and
agricultural products
• Imports: Corn, rice, barley, wheat, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic
invertebrates
• Exports: Crude petroleum, refined petroleum, Iron reductions, petroleum
coke, Sesame, coffee, cocoa, cotton, snuff, sugarcane, pepitona, tuna, and
shrimp.
• State of economy: Is largely based on the petroleum sector
and manufacturing. Since Hugo Chávez imposed stringent currency controls in
2003 in an attempt to prevent capital flight, there have been a series of
currency devaluations, disrupting the economy. Price controls, expropriation,
and other government policies have caused severe shortages in Venezuela and
other goods, including medical supplies.

10. EVERYDAY- ECONOMICS
• Public and private banks . Credits and loans are available.
• Jobs: People start working depending on their economic bracket. The
extremely poor start as children, the poor start as pre-teens and the middle
class and rich start in college years.
• Students and money: Middle and high class kids get an allowance; it
varies for the poor because their work earnings are all meant to help the
household.

11. CURRENCY
One US Dollar = 688 Bolivares Fuertes

12. EVERYDAY LIVING
Typical Day Schedule:
• Meal time are different: Largest meal is between 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm, small
dinners between 6:00pm to 7:00 pm.
• Many people start the business day early morning like 5:00 am – 6:00am.
• Most of the company start at 7:00 am with a break time for lunch between
12:00 to 1:00 pm . Then people return to work until 5:00 pm.
A School Day/ Week:
• The school experience for an 11-12 year old in Venezuela is similar to the US,
but the system is different. Venezuelan have primary and secondary education
and college.
• Most of the students have extracurricular activities throughout the school
year such as, music, dance, sports and school tutoring.
• Uniforms are required to students.

13. EVERYDAY LIVING
• English as a second language is commonly taught in urban school in the
secondary school and college, but to a better understanding of the language
many people take extracurricular courses.
• Competitions and tournaments between schools are sporadic. Cheerleading
programs are non-existent.
• In the urban cities the most frequents weekend are in the beaches, nightclubs
and parks.
FAMILY LIFE:
• Families are extremely important. Most of the time children move to another
house when get married.
• Grandparents move in with their children when they cannot take care of
themselves. Retirement homes and communities are rare and are destined to
those who have no family.

14. EVERYDAY LIVING
• Acquisition of pets is common, with people mostly choosing dogs.
• Parks are common in large cities and people usually go before or after work .
• In smaller cities and towns, parks are rare. People use the main plaza at the
center of each town as a place for gathering.

15. GENDER- ROLE OF GIRLS / BOYS –
MEN/WOMEN
Growing up: Emphasis is given to school and family life. Recreation
activities vary between cities and small towns. After the school programs
are rare.
Dress: Typical dress varies from region to region. In urban areas, typical
dress is saved for Venezuelan holidays.
Gender rites: Quinceañeras

16. GENDER- ROLE OF GIRLS / BOYS –
MEN/WOMEN
Education: Equal among both genders. For higher education, more men
go to college and finish their degrees, but there is an increasing numbers of
women attending and graduating.
At Work: There are sill some male dominated professions, but women’s
rights are being introduced and occupying key positions.
At Home: Most traditional gender roles, even among highly educated
couples.
Roles in Society: Leans towards traditional roles, but new trends are
appearing as a result of the women's rights movement.

17. TRADITIONAL COSTUMES

18. NATIONAL FESTIVALS-HOLIDAYS

19. NATIONAL FESTIVALS-HOLIDAYS

20. VENEZUELA IS RECOGNIZED FOR:

21. VENEZUELA: ANGEL FALLS AND MOUNT RORAIMA

22. VENEZUELA: BEACHES

23. VENEZUELA: PICO BOLIVAR

24. NATIONAL FESTIVALS-HOLIDAYS
EVENTS
Date Holiday name
1-Jan New Year's Day
16-Feb Carnival
17-Feb Carnival/Shrove Tuesday
19-Mar Saint Joseph´s Day
2-Apr Maundy Thursday
3-Apr Good Friday
19-Apr Declaration of Independence
1-May Labor Day / May Day
24-Jun Carabobo Battle
29-Jun Saint Peter and Saint Paul
5-Jul Independence Day
24-Jul Simón Bolívar´s Birthday
15-Aug Assumption of Mary
12-Oct Indigenous Resistance´s Day
1-Nov All Saints Day
24-Dec Christmas Eve
25-Dec Christmas Day
31-Dec New Year´s Eve

25. MARRIAGE
Venezuelans practice open-ended marriages, meaning there are few legal
restrictions as long as the person marries someone of the opposite sex and of
legal age. In actuality, however, there are several concerns regarding whom one
should get involved with, particularly in terms of class and racial distinctions. It is
expected and predominant that people marry others of their same or higher
social class standing—including racial status as well. The ideal is generally to
marry somebody "whiter" or at least of the same racial status; the opposite,
although not completely rare, is seen as going against the norm.
.

26. SPORTS

27. FOOD
Arepa
Pabellón Criollo
Tequeños

28. FOOD
Hallacas
Cachapa
TostonesEmpanadas
Pan de Jamón
Navideño

29. LINKS
Tourism:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/venezuela
History & Anthropology:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela#History
News Media:
http://www.eluniversal.com/
http://www.el-nacional.com/
http://globovision.com/
Culture:
http://www.everyculture.com/To-Z/Venezuela.html

30. What have you learned that
was most surprising or
interesting ?