Source: /cirosantilli/ciro-santilli-s-10-month-stay-in-coventry-united-kingdom-in-the-year-2000

= Ciro Santilli's 10 month stay in Coventry, United Kingdom, in the year 2000
{c}

In the year 2000, Ciro lived with his parents for 10 months in the <Coventry> because his father took some courses at the <University of Warwick>. This was Ciro's most important educational experience, more so than any other in<Ciro Santilli's formal education>, because it taught him the Holy Language of <English (language)>, which infinitely expanded Ciro's <Internet> horizons, and shaped Ciro's <having more than one natural language is bad for the world> philosophy. When he came back to Brazil, Ciro skipped dozens of levels in his English school in <Santos, São Paulo, Brazil>, a Brazilian chain called https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultura_Inglesa[Cultura Inglesa], and was put to study with much older teenagers who marveled at Ciro's incredibly cute, but since lost, British accent.

Another huge advantage of Coventry is that the https://hearsallacademy.org/[Hearsall Community Primary School] where Ciro studied was a regular British primary school but with two classes dedicated to foreign students to learn English before integrating with the British students. There were a several kids from Kosovo there due to the <Kosovo War> which was just ending, and it was there that Ciro made his first <Chinese> friend, yet unaware of course of the <Ciro Santilli's campaign for freedom of speech in China>[role the country would later play in his life]. One particularly fun memory was that of playing <soccer> on the school playground with a sponge ball to avoid breaking the windows. Then one day it was raining, <british weather> of course, but Ciro still went for a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Header_(association_football)[header], and the soaked sponge ball was soaked and splashed Ciro with dirty water all over. Good days.

Ciro also played a bit of Rugby in those days in a local club.

Some other good memories are of reading the first two <Harry Potters>, <games young Ciro Santilli played>[playing and mostly watching other kids play Pokemon on their Game Boys and Pokemon trading cards], and going to a nearby commons playing field and woods, as it typical throughout the UK. Ciro also played some rugby with a local boys team TODO name? but for some reason his team was always crushed when they went to nearby towns to play against other teams. And Ciro also went with his family or with school to some nearby attractions, like Stratford-Upon-Avon (Shakespeare's hometown), and some castles.

\Video[http://youtube.com/watch?v=jIic9_ZhyC8]
{title=When https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_G[Ali G] met the Beckhams by Comic Relief (2001)}
{description=<Ciro Santilli's father>[Ciro's father] really liked Ali G. when they were in the UK in the year 2000, and Ciro would watch along, not fully getting all jokes, but still amused by his irreverence. This interview with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Beckham[David] and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Beckham[Victoria] Beckham is perhaps one of Ali's best performances.}

\Video[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efgIm9YPZvE]
{title=Wicked wicked jungle is massive song from Ali G Indahouse (2002)}
{description=OK, the last Ali G video, I promise. Maybe. This video illustrate well the main point of Ali G's humour: his cultural appropriation of <American> black <rap>/crime culture, despite it being entirely incongruence with his British background.}