{"id":3043,"date":"2007-08-11T19:55:59","date_gmt":"2007-08-11T18:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/?p=3043"},"modified":"2012-07-02T22:53:13","modified_gmt":"2012-07-02T21:53:13","slug":"an-unexpected-encounter-with-a-genie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/?p=3043","title":{"rendered":"An Unexpected Encounter with a Genie&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When visiting Melga\u00e7o by night, me (Kurt) and Suzanne noticed a trail of footsteps which led us into a dark, deep corner in Melga\u00e7o Castle. Suzanne noticed something shining in the dirt. Filled with excitement and curiosity, she removed the dirt from around the mysterious object and picked it up. We were bombarded by millions of thoughts, and our hearts filled with excitement, joy and at the same time fear. Suzanne rubbed the lamp gently and suddenly the lamp started shaking violently and emitting white light. Sparkling dust poured out from the lamp and formed a floating blob in the cold, humid air of the night. Both of us were taken aback by this happening and were very frightened. We were totally flabbergasted and we did not know what to do. After a few minutes the cloud of dust in the air started moving and changing shape, from a simple sphere into what looked like Chico&#8217;s face. We couldn&#8217;t believe our eyes and many times we asked each other if we both were seeing the same thing and both of us agreed that right in front of us was a cloud of sparkling dust in the shape of Chico&#8217;s face. After having a look around, Chico&#8217;s face turned to us and with a deep voice said: &#8220;Hello there my fellow journalists! I have a task for you. I want you to tell the participants of the International Youth Summer Camp that tomorrow, Wednesday the 8 th of August 2007, will board a double decker bus which will take them to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. You also have to tell them that they have to be punctual, or else I will turn them all into frogs! And that counts to you also Kurt and Suzanne!&#8221; And then the cloud suddenly expanded and exploded into sparkling dust. At this point in time both I and Sue closed our eyes and when we reopened them, all that was left was a dull, grey lamp. After taking everything in, we found enough courage to stand up and start our way back to the hostel. Nobody wanted to believe us, until the next morning&#8230; \u00a0 At 9 o&#8217;clock in the morning, a double Decker bus arrived and the driver told us to climb on board and to get ready to start our journey to Santiago de Compostela.<\/p>\n<p>At 11 o&#8217;clock in the morning, after a two hour trip, we arrived in Santiago de Compostela. It was like stepping back in medieval times. The city is very rich in history, culture and architecture. Musicians played music in the street while painters drew pictures in the street corners. People browsed in the shops and the flea market. Santiago de Compostela is truly a living city.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-3043 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/00170.jpg' class=\"thickbox no_icon\"><img width=\"240\" height=\"180\" src=\"http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/00170.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/00269.jpg' class=\"thickbox no_icon\"><img width=\"240\" height=\"180\" src=\"http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/00269.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/00365.jpg' class=\"thickbox no_icon\"><img width=\"240\" height=\"180\" src=\"http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/00365.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In Santiago de Compostela there are many places one can visit. The fountain of the horses, the Chapter House, the Portal of the Hostal of Catholic Monarchs and of course the famous Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Or maybe, one can enjoy a stroll through the narrow, medieval streets of Santiago. Souvenir shops fill the streets and sometimes it is very difficult to choose from where to buy. While browsing in the souvenir shops, Suzanne and I noticed many things of interest: the symbolic shell of Santiago, miniature versions of the bagpipes, the Zanfono and Birimboa (all traditional local instruments) and a great variety of T-shirts having traditional symbols printed on them. For those having a soft spot for good food, Santiago de Compostela is the right place to be. The city offers a great variety of traditional, local food and liqueurs, like for example the Tarta de Santaigo, the Tarta de Mondo\u00f1edo, caf\u00e9 liqueur and Queimada. There was also a great variety of fresh fish, meat and cheese. Every street had a particular aroma and it was very difficult for me and Suzanne to not notice the mouth watering bouquet. To makes things worse there were a couple of traditional food shops, whose sales person&#8217;s stood outside in the street, stopping people to tantalize their senses and give them a small sample of traditional delicacies. Me and Suzanne immediately for them. As soon as we arrived, a salesperson asked us to try out the Tarta de Santiago. Obviously, we took a little piece and ended up buying three Santiago tarts. Apart from the Santiago Tarts we also bought 3kg of local cheese and some traditional cookies. Apart from the food, we also enjoyed the architecture and the culture of the city. The Cathedral is one of the most astounding places in the city. With its Romanesque architecture and most detailed sculpture it is truly marvellous and worth visiting. We also enjoyed the life street music and street performers. And it was definitely great fun taking pictures with them. We then spent the last hour of our visit to Santiago de Compostela relaxing in one of the many parks found in the city. At 5pm sharp, we boarded the bus back to Melga\u00e7o and at about 7.30pm we arrived at the hostel. Everybody was exhausted and many of the participants called it a day and went to sleep early. But others preferred to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and a game of poker in the main living area.<\/p>\n<p>As the clock struck midnight, I and Suzanne went to the reception to pick up our room keys, only to find out that there was no receptionist at the desk. As we were waiting half asleep at the desk for the receptionist, we heard a trembling noise. As we turned our heads towards the vase on the desk sparkling dust was already filling the air. Our hearts sank and we both simultaneously said: &#8220;Oh no, not again&#8221;. The blob of sparkling dust that now had formed behind the desk was again changing shape and transforming into Chico&#8217;s face again. Chico&#8217;s expression looked like that of a satisfied person and this helped us to be a little less frightened. With a calm voice, Chico the Genie said: &#8220;Hello again Kurt and Suzanne. I am very pleased as you fulfilled your task as I requested. As a gift, I have prepared a little treat for you in your rooms. I have to leave you now, because although I am a genie I still need my rest. But beware, this is not the last time you saw me&#8230; I have other tasks for you two. Good night for now and enjoy the treat&#8230;&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>By Kurt Cassar and Suzanne Farrugia.<\/p>\n<p>Assistant helper Ann Marie Scerri.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When visiting Melga\u00e7o by night, me (Kurt) and Suzanne noticed a trail of footsteps which led us into a dark, deep corner in Melga\u00e7o Castle. Suzanne noticed something shining in the dirt. Filled with excitement and curiosity, she removed the dirt from around the mysterious object and picked it up. We were bombarded by millions of thoughts, and our hearts filled with excitement, joy and at the same time fear. Suzanne rubbed the lamp gently and suddenly the lamp started shaking violently and emitting white light. Sparkling dust poured out from the lamp and formed a floating blob in the cold, humid air of the night. Both of us were taken aback by this happening and were very frightened. We were totally flabbergasted and we did not know what to do. After a few minutes the cloud of dust in the air started moving and changing shape, from a simple sphere into what looked like Chico&#8217;s face. We couldn&#8217;t believe our eyes and many times we asked each other if we both were seeing the same thing and both of us agreed that right in front of us was a cloud of sparkling dust in the shape of Chico&#8217;s face. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3043"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3043"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3140,"href":"http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3043\/revisions\/3140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iyscpt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}