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Travels bring back sweet memories
Source: Manila Bulletin
Author: None
Date: 2001-12-20
 
If philantrophist Teresita Tambunting Liboro has any obsessions in life, it must be traveling. It is not that she is footloose, but Tereret, as she is fondly called by friends, considers travel to be educational. Nowadays, she goes abroad three or four times a year to recharge her batteries, so to speak.







Tereret was still in high school when she first traveled abroad. A student at Assumption convent, her parents sent her off with a group of 40 high school students, chaperoned by two nuns, for a four-month tour that took her to Europe and the United States.



“Mother Esperanza Cu Unjieng organized for the first time a group of students to go on a tour around the world for four months,” she recalls. “I was crying at the airport when I said goodbye to my parents, since it was the first time I was traveling alone.”



The group was chaperoned by Mother Espy and Mother Mart for the duration of the trip. She remembers that, when they were in Spain, they would travel in two huge buses of Viajes Melia, a Spanish travel agency.



The first leg of their sojourn took the students to all the famous palaces and museums in Europe. They admired the paintings and art works and were impressed by the cities they visited.



The last leg of the European tour was in London. From there, they were driven to Southampton, where they boarded the Queen Elizabeth I luxury liner to cross the Atlantic Ocean for New York.



Tereret says it was a totally fabulous experience. For four nights, they dined first class, tasting some of the most delicious meals of her youth.



It was also onboard the QEI that the Assumption students met Gregory Peck, who was then traveling with his wife and three children.



“All our eyes popped when we saw him,” she says. “After dinner, we knocked at his cabin and asked for his autograph. I almost fainted when it was my turn to be near him and get his signature.



It was from her cabin that she got her first sight of the Statue of Liberty. New York was totally different from Europe, she says. They were met by friends and other Filipino students studying in New York and Washington DC. For nights, they were treated to Broadway plays, ballets and operas, and they got invitations to some of New York’s hottest night clubs.



However, she says she won’t forget the time she met Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. She and her classmates looked for her apartment and sat at its lobby to wait for her. She remembers that it was a spring morning.

“We waited for Jackie to pass by for her early morning walk,” she adds. “We got to talk to this beautiful, so slim and so refined lady.’



It was at Washington DC that she first met Andy Liboro, her future husband-to-be. The Assumption girls were invited to a dinner dance at the residence of Ambassador Tom Benitez and his wife Conchita Liboro Benitez, who was Andy’s sister. Andy was then studying business and foreign service at Georgetown University.



She remembers the experience to be a little bit tiring, but it was a well-spent four-and-a-half months.



Four months after their wedding, Tereret had an abortion which led to an operation. The doctor told the couple that she wouldn’t be able to bear children.



Instead of letting the news break them, they agreed to make the most of their lives and enjoy their time together. They decided to travel at least twice a year.



“I remember flying to Switzerland or Japan just to be on top of snow-capped mountains and ski during winter,” she says.



Andy and Tereret learned how to ski, even hiring a professional instructor to guide them. Although Andy was just content with the flat beginner’s lane, Tereret was more daring. With her ski guide, she tried to ski downhill, and almost got hurt in the process. Because she couldn’t stop her skis, she went down fast. However, her guide was able to reach her in time and grabbed her to stop from falling any further.



“I fell, but I just threw my body flat on the snow,” she recalls. “Thank God I didn’t break my ankles, but I did have terrible backaches after that. I should say that I was a fast learner when it comes to skiing.”



Because of her love for skiing, there were times when she and Andy spent their Christmas out of the country. One of her memorable Christmases was at the Akakura Mountains north of Tokyo, where they skied in the mornings and went to dinners and dances in the evenings. The houses at this mountain town look like Swiss chalets. At that time, they were the only foreigners there.



One night, the cosmopolitan women in the community organized a mini fashion show and invited Tereret to participate. The show was held in the formal dining room of the Japanese inn where they were staying. The painting that served as a backdrop for the stage represent the houses at the Akakura Mountains.



“They were amazed at how beautiful my piña one-strap evening dress was,” she says.



Surprisingly, Tereret and I have something in common. We both love the Excelsior Hotel in Rome. During the Jubilee Year in 2000, Andy and Tereret were fortunate to have an audience with Pope John Paul II.



But when it comes to countries, the Liboros love Spain. They love it so much that often they would stay for two months in Spain.



“While I am taking flamenco lessons from a top Spanish teacher, Andy would be roaming around the city by bus. Never did he get bored,” she says.



With her friends Perla Primicias, Emma Estrada and Baby Antonio, they would take the bus from Pepa’s studio to the famous “El Retiro” Park. On weekends, they would go sightseeing at nearby towns.



“Once we went to the fiesta in Sevilla where we danced at the casitas and made merry dancing until the wee hours of the morning,” she says.



It was on one of these weekend jaunts that she and Andy drove to Salamanca in Alba de Tormes where they visited the church of Santa Teresa de Jesus, her patron saint. They managed to go up to Santa Teresa’s cell and they were touched by the paintings of San Andres Apostol’s apparitions to Santa Teresa de Jesus.



“Andy and I were so touched to the core, since they are our patron saints,” she says. “The inspiration led us to donate two pavilions for the handicapped children of Elsie Gaches Village.”

The pavilions were named San Andres y Santa Teresa de Jesus after their patron saints, while the other one was named San Ramon Pavilion, after the patron saint of Tereret’s late brother in whose honor the pavilion was built.



The inauguration of the pavilions at Elsie Gaches Village in Muntinlupa City were attended by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the Tambunting matriarch Doña Aurora Paraiso Tambunting.



I wish Filipino families could also travel as much as Tereret and Andy. It’s so nice to meet different people and to see the world’s many attractions. It is a luxury that is well worth the effort.



Merry Christmas to everyone!

 

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