Ramadan

Just like in the southeast United States where it’s almost impossible to drive anywhere without seeing a Christian church, here it is almost impossible to drive anywhere without seeing a mosque and minaret. Ramadan (or Ramazan) is a Muslim holiday that is being celebrated here in Macedonia and all around the world at this time. Ramadan is from August 22nd until September 20th. The Muslim world will be fasting and praying during these days. Macedonia has the 4th largest Muslim population in Europe, which makes up 30% of the population. Only the European countries of Kosovo, Albania, and Bosnia-Herzegovina have more Muslims. It is estimated that there are 600,000 Muslims in this small country of Macedonia. The majority of the Roma people living in Macedonia claim to be Muslim. Their ancestors adopted Islam after the Ottoman Empire (Turks) conquered the Balkans.

PINK!

Well 75% of you were right according to the poll on my blog. We're having a girl!! Our little girl weighs about 4 lbs. right now. She is no longer breech, for which we are very thankful! So now we're thinking and planning for pink!

Our friend in Ohrid

On Monday of this week we visited with our friend Suki and his family. They live in Ohrid, Macedonia. Sawyer really liked Suki's picanese doggy. I just hope he won't try carrying our baby like he carried the dog!:)

Macedonia 2 - Spain 3

Eric went last night with friends to the Macedonia vs. Spain soccer game. They had great seats that were only 3 rows above the pitch/field. They had a great time despite Macedonia losing. Macedonia still played well, especially considering that Spain has some of the most talented and highest paid players in the world. Soccer is the most popular sport here and this was a great opportunity for Eric to see that aspect of the culture. This match reminded Eric of the first professional match he enjoyed in Germany some years back.

30 week update

Many of you have asked how my pregnancy is going so here is a quick update...

I'm now 30 weeks pregnant. The due date is October 15th but I won't mind going a couple of weeks early. I will be delivering here in Skopje, Macedonia. I am using a private hospital only about 10 minutes from our home. They have all modern equipment and will be able to do a c-section on me if there are any complications during delivery. The baby appears to be very healthy! Yesterday we had a fetal ekocardiogram (standard test at this private hospital) on the baby's heart and the heart is perfect! We still don't know if it's a boy or girl but that's okay...we are going to be thrilled either way! We're still thinking through name ideas but for now we like "Stephen Thaddeus" for a boy and "Olivia Elyse" for a girl. I'd love to see some comments posted on what you all think of these names or other suggestions!