#atozchallenge:P is for Poverty

Bonus P: Preorder Sign of the Green Dragon at Barnes and Noble, iTunes Apple and Kobo. You can also add it to your library at Smashwords. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for helping me out with this book launch. It will be up on Amazon by the end of this month. Cover ready. Just waiting for blurbs to come in.




Here's to a great AtoZ!

Join in the FUN.


This year I traveled to Cuba. You know, it's that little island that's spitting distance from Florida and should not be visited without special dispensation. I wanted to see it before MacDonald's arrived. I'm so glad I did. I learned a lot and I met some wonderful people. It seems they like us. Now there's a change!

I'll add a short T/F quiz to each post the same as I did last year about Burma, and I'll post the answers to the questions the following day. 





Answers to your T/F Quiz for O:

TRUE 1. Obispo does translate as bishop. In general it used to be "religious leader."
TRUE 2. Obispo is an Ancient Greek name that does come from those pre Christian times. The word it comes from is "episkopos", which translates as the overseer. "epi" meaning on or over, and "skopein" meaning to look. Aren't you glad you know this?



P is for Poverty

Every Cuban citizen is guaranteed an education through college. Every Cuban is guaranteed "health care." I put that in quotes because there are issues about that health care. So here's what happens. Everyone can go to school and see a doctor without a huge bill, but when he or she graduates, guess what? No jobs that pay enough to support a family. So people, for example, with doctorates in Botany are tour guides. It's a heck of a good deal for the tourist. It's not such a good deal for the people who would like to work in the field they studied.

Here's one of the guides at a national park. He was great because he did have a degree in Botany. He made my walk through this botanical paradise so interesting, and I should have taken notes because his tour was like taking a crash course in the native plants of Cuba.




Your T/F Quiz for P:
1. The average teacher in Cuba makes about $100 a month.2. The government provides free transportation to workers to and from work to help them financially.
Answers tomorrow.
Beware the White Rabbit (Anthology: They Call Me Alice), Leap Books, Summer '15
Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
Two and Twenty Dark Tales (Anthology story: Into the Sea of Dew