11. Cubans Like to Read
Cuba has one of the highest literacy rates in the world. Stats peg it at 99.8% (higher than the United States, United Kingdom and Canada). It wasn’t that way before the revolution. An ambitious year-long campaign to educate the country through a predominantly volunteer “literacy brigade” was launched in 1961, and was a remarkable success. Education in general is valued in Cuba, providing quality free schooling for all including post secondary levels.
12. Antique Road Show
Up until 2011 there was an import ban on cars in Cuba. The vast majority of wheels on the road are vintage 1950s American classics. It’s like stepping back in time seeing fleets of pre-embargo Chevys, Chryslers and Cadillacs still in active circulation on the island. These Detroit relics from a bygone era have been lovingly maintained. This is not so much out of a sense of classic car nostalgia but out of sheer mechanical necessity. Cubans have to resort to creative ways to keep the cars running (think chicken wire, duct tape and hacked Russian auto parts). Mint condition vehicles are mostly used for the tourist trade, whereas clunkers often serve as taxis.
