We went to Jessup for the Ubaldo Day Fiesta today. I had hear about the race but we never went until this year. We got there an hour early and walked around the town. We enjoyed some good Italian food and ice cream. I took both of my cameras and took pictures and video.
This race is unique as it only takes place in two places in the world: Gubbio, Italy and Jessup, PA. Here is some more information about the local tradition and the link between Jessup, PA and Gubbio, Italy.
See the video below for the highlights of our day in Jessup Pennsylvania.
My new antenna
I don’t have cable tv or dish network anymore. I was tired of paying for channels that I don’t watch so I canceled the dish subscription. I usually watch shows on the internet and I also have a Netflix account to watch some movies. I think the Netflix model is the way to go in the future. Sometimes, though, I want to see the local news and some of the local sports on the tv.
When the tv signals were changed to digital, it was possible to get a digital converter so one could watch the local shows. I bought the converter at Target and a digital antenna. After I got it all hooked together, the reception wasn’t that great and I only got six channels.
After reading and watching some videos on the internet, I decided to build a antenna out of old coat hangers. I watched three videos on how to build the antenna to get the basic instructions. Here, here, and here are the videos I watched.
I then gathered all the supplies and built the antenna in a few hours last Saturday. It was not that hard at all. After putting it outside, I was glad to see that I now receive 12 channels with very good reception. In the spring, I’ll put the antenna up higher to try and get a few more channels. I may also put some foil backing to increase the reception.
A closeup view
So if you’re looking for an inexpensive antenna for local channels, give it a try.
Here is a cool website where Robin guesses the gift you are thinking of. Take a number between 10 and 99 and subtract the first and second digit. Then use this number to find the corresponding gift. Just think of the gift and Robin will guess what it is.
Click the image to go to the site and give it a try. I’ll give some hints on how this works in the comments. Try it a few times and see if you can find the number theory behind Robin.
We got together with our wedding Ninong and Ninang last weekend at his church and home. Two years ago when we were here, we didn’t have time but this trip we wanted to visit all our friends and family. Our Ninong is a pastor at a small church here in DIgos. We were invited to their home on Sunday. Before we left, though, Jaycee received a text for us to come to his church as they were all there and it would be better for them to take us to their home instead of us trying to find it.
We found the little church on the other side of town and went inside. They had a small band and were singing so we joined in. It was a nice sermon as he mixed Bisaya and English together. I could understand some of what he was saying. After the sermon, we all went to their home, first stopping for some Durian and other fruits.
As you can see from the video, they live off the main road and we had to walk to get to their home. We all ate some Durian and lunch together and Jaycee talked about when she was younger and living in Digos. We also talked about what it’s like to live in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. After lunch, we walked around and they showed us the local high school and a river where some kids were swimming.
They have a new park here in Digos. Actually, it’s the same park, just updated. We went over there the other night after dinner to see what it was like. New to the park is a beautiful multicolor water fountain and brick surface. You can rent a bicycle for 15 pesos an hour. We all rented bicycles and rode around for an hour and had a good time. Enjoy the video.
I was out the other night taking some pictures with my camera and I wanted to see how the sky looked long after the sun sets. It’s referred to as the blue hour and this is the time where you will get a blue tone in your images. The picture of our store is in the blue hour, but the rest are a little past as I was using a high ASA to get some blurred images of the moving trikes.
I brought with me a monopod to help keep the camera steady. It’s not as steady as a tripod, but it works good enough. In these images of our neighborhood here in Digos, the large clouds are a familiar site. They usually build into rain clouds during the night that produce copious amount of rain. We really need a few sunny days here with no rain.
Yes, those two topics go together and we had to deal with both the last few weeks. Fortunately, everything worked out for the best.
Last week we had a party for little Kevin’s first birthday. But in the beginning of the week we had a bit of a scare. KayceeAnn woke up with a fever one day. She had the fever on and off for two days and we were worried that she might have Dengue fever. Here in Davao del Sur, Dengue fever is at epidemic levels and there were over 375 confirmed cases with 10 fatalities last month. We’ve had lots of rain and there are too many mosquitoes here.
We took her to the hospital the next day
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Here are some pictures and a short video of a few of the events that happened around our neck of the woods. Earlier in the week, we all went out for lunch at the local barbecue chicken restaurant with the whole family. The next day, I heard some loud noise and wondered what it was. Turns out that the barangay was spraying for mosquitoes all around and they did our property too. I also have a short clip of me riding my motorcycle around the block.
Yesterday, as I was out walking around taking some pictures and someone was showing my wife and daughter the new baby goat, (kanding), that was just born. I took a few pictures as my daughter was having so much fun with the baby goat and all her new friends.
This past Sunday, July 4th, my son Kevin was baptized at the San Isidro Catholic Church in Digos, Philippines. There were six other children baptized during the ceremony. He has five Ninongs (Godfather) and five Ninangs ( Godmother). As you can see in the video, it was a beautiful ceremony even though there was no air conditioning.
After the ceremony, we had a party for family and friends with a roasted pig, fish, and chicken along with lots of rice.
I kept the video to less that two minutes to avoid any bandwidth or buffering problems. I used my new camera, the Kodak Ni8, as it takes very good video.
We are in Somerville, New Jersey and across the street is the fireman museum. Today they were demonstrating the old pumper used in the 1800′s. It took many dedicated hours to restore the pumper to it’s original condition and today they were showing how it worked. Here is some video of the pumper working. Next weekend is the town’s 175th birthday for the fire department and there will be a big parade.
We’re getting ready for our trip to the Philippines on Sunday. Our plane is leaving Sunday night via China Airlines. It’s our first time using China Airlines and leaving from JFK in New York. My last day of school was Monday and I’m looking forward to our trip to see the family.
