Joe Ragan

On Monday afternoon while watching the news on CNN, the station went black.  I changed the channel to see if the satellite was messed up.  All the other stations were still broadcasting.  Well, it has been almost 24 hours and there is still no CNN.  I’m not sure what happened, but with the elections coming up I wanted to stay abreast of what is happening… I don’t think I can fathom watching BBC News often but may not have a choice now…

UPDATE: CNN is back on… yippeeee!

I have grown to love drinking coffee.  Earlier this year, a family in Wichita Falls sent me a box of flavored coffees with different ways of fixing and mixing flavors with flavored creamers.  I bought an espresso machine and have been testing out different recipes.

Wikipedia says this, “When using the term in English jargon, “barista” refers to one who has acquired some level of expertise in the preparation of espresso-based coffee drinks.”  Well, I cannot say I have become a “barista” however I am learning.

There is a great coffee shop in Kyiv called, Gloria Jeans.  Actually, there is one in Almaty and Budapest also.  On my recent trip, I asked one of the baristas at GJ how to make Caramelatte.  It is an incredibly tasty drink.  They didn’t have any caramel syrup for sale, so I found some in one of the grocery stores and packed it away in the suitcase.

I am preaching tonight in the church I attend.  I know that it is Tuesday, but it is also Transfiguration day in the Baptist Church in the fSU.  I am practicing at home and decided to fix me a cup of Caramelatte.  So I am in the kitchen using some wonderful coffee from the US called Caramel Truffle.  I wanted to see how it would taste with the caramel sauce I found.

All I can say is WOW!  It is so tasty.  While it is not a good as GJ, i am proud of what turned out on my first try!

I may try to get Starbucks in Wichita Falls to teach me some other drinks while I am home on vacation in November.  Maybe I can become a barista after all

I arrived back in Kstan on Saturday morning after an all night flight.  The plane wasn’t full and I had an entire row to myself.  I laid down and tried to sleep to no avail.  I finally sat up and was able to sleep an hour or so.  I was tired when I arrived!

After sleeping a couple of hours I got up and drove home.  A friend from Karaganda rode home with me from Astana and his wife prepared a traditional Kazakh dish with horse meat, so I stayed and had dinner with them.  I finally got to my apartment after 7 p.m.

I made it till 9 p.m. and went to sleep.  Boy, was I tired, but I got a good night’s sleep…  Now I am getting ready for a FULL day…

I came across the blog about Georgia’s confict with Russia and their apparent love for America.  Click here to read.

By now, most people know of the conflict in the Republic of Georgia.  I have some people who live in the capital city, Tbilisi.  Please remember to pray for the people there.  Pray for a quick resolution to the problems.

I had a good time at our annual meeting.  God has been speaking to me lots recently.  Please pray for me as I seek His face.  I will not have internet connection often so I am not sure how often I will be able to update…

It was a year ago that I got the call that mom had cancer in both lungs.  To receive that kind of news over the phone was hard to take, especially with all I had going on last July.  I was able to get a ticket home to DFW and God miraculously provided the funds for the ticket.

I left early on Thursday morning (Wednesday afternoon in Texas) and endured a more than 24 hour trip back to Wichita Falls.

Most of you know that I was able to visit with my mom on Thursday night and during the day on Friday.  Mom was pretty much out of it by Saturday morning and by Saturday evening she had left her earthly body.

Those last few hours were hard (and a blessing).  Singing songs, remembering her life… wow, has it already been a year.  Has it only been a year???

Time passes by so quickly that we don’t say the things we wished we could say… so I have decided to write a letter to my mom in remembrance of her… boy do I miss her…

Mom,

Not much has changed in my life in the last year.  I am STILL single (LOL).  I know you wanted more grandchildren and someone to carry on the Ragan name.  However, in God’s providence (or my unwillingness) that hasn’t happened yet.  I continue to pray and seek God’s favor…

Sometimes I watch a TV show with a parent and child in it or see a kid on the street and think how much I desire to be a father.  Time is slipping away I fear.

I miss calling you the most.  I know that I didn’t talk much.  You wanted to talk and tell me old stories of people I didn’t even know, so I would listen to you.  Sometimes I would get a little agitated about you retelling me stories that I had already heard a hundred times before, yet, you told the stories anyway.

I guess you taught me how to listen.  I still do that a lot even today.  I have friends who call and I listen to their problems, their situations in life… I enjoy that… (maybe I am in the wrong profession…)  I have one Russian friend that calls me often and begins to talk and I just listen to him… I really never converse… just listen.  At the end, he always thanks me for being a good listener…

It was so hard to see you that last day, struggling for every breathe, in pain, hurting… I thank God I was there to be with you, but it reminded me so much of the last day dad was alive.  Both of you died in such similar ways.  When you took your last breath, it was if the life had been sucked out of me…

Yet, life goes on and now I live in Kazakhstan.  I am planning to be home for Thanksgiving this year, but it won’t be the same without your dressing, dumplings and lemon merangue pies (even though we have made them the last few times!!!)

Thanks for teaching me how to prepare those things, however, they will never be as good as yours.

I’m sorry I never called you enough or told you often enough how much I love you and how much I miss you.  You and dad instilled some great qualities in me.  I pray I will be able to live up to the Ragan name.  Thank you for all you did for me and what you continue to  do in my live, even through your death.

I love you mom and really, really miss you…

It has cooled off the last two days.  We even had a minor eclipse today (about 20%).  I drove around and took some photos that I will try to upload next week.  I leave for Kyiv Saturday for our annual meeting…

I arrived in Astana yesterday and I have decided to change its name!  Atlanta is called Hotlanta and now we have Hotstana!  Yesterday the temperature gauge in my car read 40 c (104) and the weather site said 100.  Several friends arrived in Hostana before me and went sight seeing.  They called me shortly after lunch complaining about the heat.  Needless to say, they gave up on seeing the capitol.

I got to the Combs’ apartment and quickly opened their windows.  Usually they have a nice breeze blowing through, however, there was no wind last night. Fortunately, the fan to push the air around and provided some relieve during the night. The temps are supposed to stay in the 100 degree range for a couple of more days and then it will cool off.

I saw that the temps in Kyiv are much cooler, so I am looking forward to that this weekend.  I may try to find a place to go swimming later on Thursday or Friday…

I left Karaganda last Saturday afternoon and endured a 19 1/2 hour ride to Almaty.  The group made it in time to attend service at a new church plant.  After lunch, we took an excursion back up to Medeo so that another group could see the beauty of the region.

We traveled through the city and wound up at Mega Mall.  We had a great time there and I enjoyed a great cup of coffee at Gloria Jean’s.  They have a coffee drink called Mocca Caramelita.  Wow!!!

Monday evening we got back on the train for a 19 hour ride back to Karaganda.  We arrived mid-afternoon on Tuesday, and I quickly prepared Spaghetti for all of us for dinner.  The group visited one another one last time.  Andrei left early on Wednesday morning (7 a.m.) on a train bound for Moscow and then onto to his home in Lithuania.

Then the rest of the group got in a mini-van bound for sightseeing in Astana.  I finished up necessary paper work in Karaganda and then joined them mid-afternoon.  I am tired!  I will see the group off tomorrow morning and then I will finish up some things here in Astana before boarding a plane bound for Kyiv on Saturday morning.

On the road for sure…