Adventure of Flat Stanley

It was spring break, and ‘Flat Stanley’ was sitting in his room twirling the globe (atlas) that he got as a Christmas gift last year. His favourite subject in school was Geography and he loved learning about new countries, places and culture. The globe stopped at Asia, which is considered as the largest and densely populated continent. He was intrigued about India, a sub-continent in Asia. As he kept staring at the globe, he started grinning to himself. He knew his parents will never allow him to travel alone. But after the mishap, he was small enough to fit into a person’s pocket.

Flat Stanley decided, he will travel to India and that will be an adventure to talk about. He packed an overnight bag and hopped off to his neighbor’s house, who had come over last evening to inform his parents, that they were taking a trip to India and travelling to Goa for the holiday season.

Flat Stanley was all set for his little adventure. The next morning, he hopped on with his neighbors as they were on their way to the airport. This was his first flight, and he was hoping he would be able to sit near the window seat. He had read, that this was a long journey, since they had to cross two continents to reach the destination. He was enroute to his destination. As they were reaching their destination, the Pilot announced they are passing over the sea and they can have an aerial view of Goa. Stanley was spellbound with the view. He could see the sea and also a lot of greenery. Stanley had read that India had a tropical weather and is a country with diverse culture bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, Arabian Sea on the southwest and Bay of Bengal on the southeast.

Goa a state in western part of India with the best infrastructure and is a tourist place. Stanley was excited as they were on their way to the place that would be his home for the next few days. April was summer season in India and the weather was humid.  

Goa is a country where it has a mix of western and eastern culture, since it was initially a part of Portuguese Empire in the 16^th Century. The houses (architecture) was a mix of native Goan, Ottoman and Portuguese styles. Stanley was hungry after a long journey and hence he went to a shack (place facing the sea). He wanted to try the Goan food as it was a blend of various origin. He ate the local specialty – dishes in pork and fish. He was recommended to try ‘bebinca’, a traditional sweet dish eaten during Christmas. As Stanley was famished, he gobbled up the food since he had to travel around the city on his own now.

Stanley hopped into a boat which was to spot dolphins in the Arabian sea. He has seen dolphins previously but never in the open sea. He eagerly sat down after wearing his life jacket. The motorboat took them off to the middle of the sea. And suddenly the skipper pointed at one direction and asked them to watch. It was Stanley’s lucky day. He spotted 4 dolphin calves playing in the water. He was so happy to see them freely in the sea.

Once back Stanley was told he should visit a nearby fort which is called Fort Aguada. This fort also had a lighthouse that overlooks the sea. He was reading about this place. It was mentioned the lighthouse was built in 1864 and the oldest in Asia. This fort was used as a harbour for ships that came from Europe. The place was named as ‘Aguada’, meaning watery in the Portuguese language. The view was amazing to look at and was breathtaking.

Stanley next left to visit ‘The Basicilica of Bom Jesus’ church which is recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Site that was built in 1605. This is one of the oldest church in India.

Stanley was happy to have seen all these beautiful places which had lot of History and finally he left to a small town called Anjuna. He was told by the shopkeepers that he definitely needs to see as the sun sets at the sea. He went into a restaurant that was facing the sea and sat down with coconut water which you get in abundance. The view was amazing as the sun was setting, as the clouds were playing hide and seek. The view was beautiful, and Stanley could not ask for more.

As Stanley was going back home, he was recollecting the wonderful memories he has made of a place with mix of both eastern and western culture. Stanley decided, there were going to be many more trips which will help him with World Geography and World History.