{"id":92,"date":"2015-11-03T01:18:20","date_gmt":"2015-11-03T01:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/?page_id=92"},"modified":"2015-11-03T01:18:20","modified_gmt":"2015-11-03T01:18:20","slug":"a-trip-to-berbice","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/a-trip-to-berbice\/","title":{"rendered":"A Trip to Berbice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>This article was last updated on the 2nd of November, 2015 by <a href=\"http:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\" target=\"_blank\">Patrick Carpen.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_2825\" dir=\"ltr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-93\" src=\"http:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/51\/2015\/11\/home.jpg\" alt=\"home\" width=\"720\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/51\/2015\/11\/home.jpg 720w, https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/51\/2015\/11\/home-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/51\/2015\/11\/home-600x800.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/>Berbice is the &#8220;ancient Dutch county&#8221; &#8211; one of the three counties of the country of Guyana. I had lived in Berbice for the most part of my life. Two and a half years ago, I left for Brazil. I spent six months in Brazil and another two in Lethem &#8211; the Guyanese city that borders with Brazil.<\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1446511951034_4301\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_3018\" dir=\"ltr\">For the past two years I was working at the Takutu Hotel as a receptionist and doing a small business. My friend, Rayborn Lewis, from Berbice had been inviting me to come back to Berbice for a short holiday. I kept delaying the trip but last week, I had a good reason to return. Some important land documents had been forgotten at my old residence and I felt compelled to go and get them. Nevertheless, I thought, I will only spend one day, get the documents and <em>fly<\/em> back to Lethem.<\/div>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_3019\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_3116\" dir=\"ltr\">Rayborn owned a car parts store and when I left Berbice, he had been working on renovating his house. Turns out he has a knack for austerity and creativity.<\/div>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_3020\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_3115\" dir=\"ltr\">On the 10th of October, 2015, after two and a half years of living in the south, my feet finally touched down on Guyana&#8217;s coastal soil once again. As the car I was traveling in sped down the highway, my eyes skimmed the houses at the side of the road. There were so many &#8220;new buildings&#8221; all over. It turns out there has been a lot of &#8220;progress&#8221; from the time I left to now.<\/div>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_3021\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_3114\" dir=\"ltr\">The car finally pulled up to Rayborn&#8217;s driveway and I got out. So much had changed. There was so much upliftment to the general appearance of the environment.<\/div>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_3023\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_3035\" dir=\"ltr\">But stepping into Rayborn&#8217;s house was like taking a leap into a future century. The floor and walls were exquisitely tiled. An aquarium was beautifully nestled into a cavity in wall, and beautiful fishes graced gently about. The hallway and dining room were furnished in austere good taste.<\/div>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_3119\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_3120\" dir=\"ltr\">As I entered the kitchen, I had a hard time turning on the faucet. Rayborn had to demonstrate how it works. I also couldn&#8217;t figure out where to get detergent, until Rayborn showed me the fountain from which it flowed.<\/div>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_3121\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_3122\" dir=\"ltr\">The next morning, I took a shower in the bathroom with glass doors and so many faucets.<\/div>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_3156\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_3157\" dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;Come back some time soon&#8221;, Rayborn told me. &#8220;I sure will&#8221; I replied.<\/div>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_3158\" dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"yiv8768605685yui_3_16_0_1_1444933588804_3159\" dir=\"ltr\">Indeed, I was pretty impressed with the progress made in two and a half years by most Berbicians, and in particular, this Berbician, Rayborn Lewis.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article was last updated on the 2nd of November, 2015 by Patrick Carpen. Berbice is the &#8220;ancient Dutch county&#8221; &#8211; one of the three counties of the country of <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/a-trip-to-berbice\/\">Continue Reading &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Trip to Berbice - Stories Of My Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Patrick Carpen writes of his trip to his hometown in Berbice.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/a-trip-to-berbice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Trip to Berbice - Stories Of My Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Patrick Carpen writes of his trip to his hometown in Berbice.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/a-trip-to-berbice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Stories Of My Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/51\/2015\/11\/home.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/stories-of-my-life\\\/a-trip-to-berbice\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/stories-of-my-life\\\/a-trip-to-berbice\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Trip to Berbice - Stories Of My Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/stories-of-my-life\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/stories-of-my-life\\\/a-trip-to-berbice\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/stories-of-my-life\\\/a-trip-to-berbice\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/stories-of-my-life\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/51\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/home.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-03T01:18:20+00:00\",\"description\":\"Patrick Carpen writes of his trip to his hometown in Berbice.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/stories-of-my-life\\\/a-trip-to-berbice\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/stories-of-my-life\\\/a-trip-to-berbice\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/stories-of-my-life\\\/a-trip-to-berbice\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/stories-of-my-life\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/51\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/home.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/stories-of-my-life\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/51\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/home.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":960},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/stories-of-my-life\\\/a-trip-to-berbice\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/stories-of-my-life\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Trip to Berbice\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/stories-of-my-life\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/stories-of-my-life\\\/\",\"name\":\"Stories Of My Life\",\"description\":\"By Patrick Carpen: The Greatest Writer On Earth\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/stories-of-my-life\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Trip to Berbice - Stories Of My Life","description":"Patrick Carpen writes of his trip to his hometown in Berbice.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/a-trip-to-berbice\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Trip to Berbice - Stories Of My Life","og_description":"Patrick Carpen writes of his trip to his hometown in Berbice.","og_url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/a-trip-to-berbice\/","og_site_name":"Stories Of My Life","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/51\/2015\/11\/home.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/a-trip-to-berbice\/","url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/a-trip-to-berbice\/","name":"A Trip to Berbice - Stories Of My Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/a-trip-to-berbice\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/a-trip-to-berbice\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/51\/2015\/11\/home.jpg","datePublished":"2015-11-03T01:18:20+00:00","description":"Patrick Carpen writes of his trip to his hometown in Berbice.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/a-trip-to-berbice\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/a-trip-to-berbice\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/a-trip-to-berbice\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/51\/2015\/11\/home.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/51\/2015\/11\/home.jpg","width":720,"height":960},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/a-trip-to-berbice\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Trip to Berbice"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/#website","url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/","name":"Stories Of My Life","description":"By Patrick Carpen: The Greatest Writer On Earth","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PekbIS-1u","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/92","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/92\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/92\/revisions\/96"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/stories-of-my-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}