Countries Cultures

Countries Cultures
My definition of culture is simply “what people of a specific group do, and why they do it!” I enjoy learning everything there is to know about countries cultures. To get specific, I enjoy studying the culture of what people eat, create and wear. By exploring their ancestry, their heritage and their geographical location, it usually makes sense why they eat what they eat, do what they do and wear what they wear.

For instance, you wouldn’t expect people to eat whales if they live in a desert on on the equator. And by the same token, you wouldn’t find a lot of recipes with bananas as the main ingredient if you live in Antarctica. We eat what is abundantly available. The same thing goes for handmade ethnic jewelry. Various types of jewelry is made from the product available various countries culture.

Lifestyles and Cultures

Included on this site is information about the countries cultures as they pertain to people, the "magic" gemstones of the geographical areas and the handicrafts, particularly jewelry of the various countries cultures. The fundamentals of jewelry and jewelry making as it pertains to these cultures will be deeply explored.

It is easy to understand how food can be reflective of each and every countries cultures, but I am amazed when I see over and over again how each and every culture has its own specific jewelry designs, unique to their very own geographical area. Incredibly, there is at least SOMETHING about jewelry that is definitive of each and every countries cultures or I could even get down to each and every community!

The history of jewelry is interesting, in itself. It is rumored that necklaces were invented because the tribes needed a way to carry their gemstones so they strung them and hung them around their neck. They probably ran out of “neck space” and used their arms, their ankles, etc. But what about their ears. It’s so funny when you think about it. Did someone look at their reflection, probably in the water, see their ears and say, “Look at these, I probably should hang something from them!” I wonder if that’s how it happened, as I wonder how a lot of things came about in the very beginning. But then again, that’s part of studying countries cultures.

This particular page is more of an outline to guide you into all of the countries cultures I have written about, as well as to inform you of all the ones I will write about in the future. It will be necessary to include a little geography lesson, as I divide the continents up into the countries within them.

First up for discussion are the various countries cultures of North America, consisting of three countries. We own some other islands, etc. but, for now, I will just mention the three. In order to fully understand culture, we must talk about cultural diversity which is the differences amongst the cultures. Lots of misunderstandings stem from not being understanding of one’s culture. Think about all the various cultures just within the states. There are the are the Native American Indians and extensive information about their Indian Costume Jewelry,. the African Americans, the Amish, the Latinos and cultures within the North, the South, the East, the West, and on and on. Certainly this list is not all inclusive of the cultures within the US.

Maybe we can be considered an internet culture. Interestingly enough, the Kynd culture is actually the culture of the hippie generation. I am a little post hippie, but remember a lot of it. Many of my own jewelry designs are based on that era because that’s when I grew up and that’s what I like. We all seem to gravitate toward the era in which we became adults, giving us a culture of our own. The first jewelry I ever made was the macramé necklaces of the seventies which is, therefore, indicative of the "kynd" culture!

I really got interested in sea glass art in the US. What a fascinating art! The first time I heard of sea glass art, I was incredulous. Imagine litter as becoming collectible! I wonder who the first person was who discovered the sea glass and when they decided to make things from it. Now it has become a US cultural thing, but I'm curious what other countries are doing with it. If anyone out there knows, contact me! There's lots to say about the US and all the things we do with jewelry, so that will be divided into numerous parts as my website grows, for now, I better move on to Mexico.

I was amazed that the Mexico culture is so incredibly different than our countries cultures, considering they are so close to us. When I lived in Long Beach, CA, we often took a ride into Mexico. The first time we went into Tijuana, I was in shock. There we were, in beautiful San Diego, and two seconds later we were on cobblestone roads with huge holes in them. There were people on the streets yelling that we need to get our car upholstery done and children everywhere selling Chicklets and begging for money.

I really assumed that Tijuana would be more "Americanized" since it's so close. We never did figure out what the upholstery deal was. Maybe lots of Americans go there to get their upholstery upgraded. Again, anyone who can answer this question, please let me know. I wouldn’t think there would be a huge market for upholstery, but what do I know?!

Another thing I really thought was funny was being offered a great price on breakfast Margaritas at every street corner in Tijuana. When I declined the "bargain of a lifetime" , the persistent peddlers would continue lowering the price. I said, “I don’t care if they’re free, I don’t want a margarita for breakfast!” Aside from having to beat off the peddlers, I really like going to Mexico. For a couple of dollars, a mariachi band will serenade you for as long as you want. The weather is beautiful, the coastline is beautiful, there's bargains galore and of course the margaritas are plentiful!

I guess I got off the track a little, but the jewelry in Mexico is plentiful. There's lots of silver, seashells and gemstones used and of course they have their own distinct jewelry designs. I will add more about Mexico as my site grows. Mexico also has cultures within cultures.

Part of the Mexico culture is the Yucatan culture. For centuries, the people living on the Yucatan Peninsula were isolated from the rest of Mexico. I never thought of the Yucatan as being part of Mexico and rightfully so. Largely due to geography, Yucatan residents have always communicated more easily with parts of North America, the Caribbean and Europe. They even have their own language, aside from speaking Spanish. Therefore, it’s safe to say that the Yucatan culture is within the Mexico culture. Soon I will develop a detailed page on the culture of Mexico and mainly talk about their art, food and jewelry. Next on the list of countries in North America is Canada.

I don’t think it’s a “newsflash” that Canada is our northern neighbor. I am mainly discussing the countries cultures where I have found cultural treasures and am offering them in my store called Jewelry Jewelry Online. Unfortunately, I haven’t found anything too exciting in Canada so far, but I am looking for exclusive jewels from the North Pole!.. I have seen some unique items made from the Arctic, etc., but I haven't found anything like that yet that's for sale. Of course I am mostly searching for ethnic tribal jewelry from underprivileged countries cultures and that doesn’t quite define Canada. On second thought, when you're talking about handicrafts, there are starving artists in every country! Still, even if some countries aren’t underprivileged, I have included a few other countries cultures simply because I have found artwork that is so genuinely interesting and unique to the heritage, history and tradition, that I just can’t resist. Such is the case in Europe, as I am truly mesmerized by the Baltic Amber in Poland.

Poland is on the Baltic Sea, so one of their main industries is Amber where you can find some of the best and most plentiful amber in the world. My fascination with amber is that it takes millions of years for mother nature to create. The story of amber is enchanting and the pieces of handmade ethnic jewelry created using amber are tremendous. For more about Baltic amber, click here!
Aside from Baltic Amber, there is so much information on European costume jewelry. Ireland has a Celtic design in jewelry that is all their own and will be up for discussion soon. There are also lots of various Italian Jewelry Designs including the mosaic, filigree, Venetian glass, and Italian gold, to name a few. Greece bring us numerous ancient Grecian designs. Austria and Czechoslovakia are known for their glass and crystal. There's Scandinavian jewelry from Norway, Switzerland and Sweden. Here we go again, I'm being very brief here because there are many more countries cultures to discuss pertaining to Europe. This will be updated soon!

Moving on to the countries cultures in Asia where probably most of the designs I found came from. Of course China has so much to offer with some of the largest mines in the world being there. Some of the most exception gemstones come from Burma, Mogok.