Recollections of Childhood in Tiwi - #1
One of the more vivid recollections of my childhood was that of a Toyota Coaster, a mini bus servicing the big hotels in Legaspi— Mayon Imperial Hotel, La Trinidad Hotel and Albay Hotel—stopping by daily in front of our house, always bringing a bevy of multinational tourists led by a distinctly loud tour guide who descended the concrete steps towards the house, where artworks and products made of abaca and other native materials were mounted on a wall display in the sala. My grandparents were known proponents of the local handicraft and cottage industries in Tiwi since the 1950s and were featured at the height of their business in the Philippines Herald, one of the leading newspapers at that time, in a section titled Little People Making Big. per said article- “they stopped the exodus of women from Bicolandia” which I will also write about in a future post. Looking back? It was always fascinating as a child to watch the awestruck faces of those tourists as they examined the framed artw