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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 11, 2015)
Wednesday, February 11, 2015 Travelogue B1 Part four: a by Learning yog s sacred Gange uatemala Next week: G ‘Living vicariously through the adventures of our friends’ ‘…the spiritual ritual ... includes singing and praying and celebrates and thanks (Goddess Ganga) two times a day. At the end of the ceremony an oil lamp is lit and is passed around to the large crowd. Hindu priests circle around these lamps while chanting with the crowd to praise Mother Ganga.’ In India, Ellen and Peggy Hudon connect with Hindi people and culture By ELLEN HUDON For the News y mother and I hopped off the plane in New Delhi, India, and were submerged into a new world. The sun beat down on our skin at 110 degrees and our ears filled with sounds of cars honking and loud voices speaking a language we didn’t know. It was only a tad different from Hood River. A slight breeze in India feels like a miracle, whereas a breeze in Oregon is a reason to bundle up more. It was the summer of 2014. My mom and I have had the travel bug since we went to Haiti in the sum- mer of 2013. We then visit- ed London, India, and Italy, and recently, Hawai’i. This upcoming summer, we plan bought an offering to put to go to Costa Rica. Our into the water from a little trip to Haiti with doctors girl. She spoke English well from Hood River and a few and have vibrant green from Texas was a medical eyes, which was unusual to mission to provide check- see amongst the swarms of ups and medical help to brown eyes. The offering those in need. My mom, had bright orange Peggy, and I wanted to do marigolds delicately placed something similar to what in bowls made of banana we did in Haiti, by helping leaves. On top of the out in whatever way we marigolds there was a flam- could. Since my mom, who mable wick to light. The owns Hood River Coffee Roasters, had been to India Aarti, which is a spiritual ritual, includes singing and before to go on a guided praying and celebrates and trip with a coffee thanks this God- broker, we decid- dess two times a ed to go to there. day. At the end of We found an the ceremony an orphanage called oil lamp is lit and Ramana’s Garden is passed around that liked having to the large volunteers to crowd. Hindu work in the priests circle kitchens prepar- around these ing food. Once we lamps while got there, howev- chanting with the er, we were disap- crowd to praise pointed to find Mother Ganga. that the orphans I have always were on their wanted to hold a summer vacation monkey, and it in the mountains. has been high up I had heard that there on my buck- Rishikesh was et list since I was the yoga center – ELLEN HUDON little. When I of the world. I found out that have loved yoga there were mon- since I was little, keys that hung out on the so my mom and I decided to attend classes daily. This Lakshman Jhula bridge, I was excited. I thought they became our main purpose would be sweet, harmless for our visit, and we head- monkeys, but these ones ed out feeling confident were not like the ones you with all the right gear for would see in the zoo. After our 3-week trip. coming home from the mar- In the first few days of ket one day with a bag full visiting, we went down to of juicy lychees, my mom the Parmarth Niketan and I spotted a rather large Ashram at the Ganges monkey perched on a stone River to celebrate the God- wall. I was stoked to see it dess Ganga which is the because I had only seen one most holy river in India. On our way to the Aarti, we so far. We walked past it, and as it saw my bag of de- M ‘Sun salutations and breathing exercises were the basis of what we did daily. ’ About the author Ellen Hudon, 17, is a ju- nior at Hood River Valley High School, is the daughter of Mark and Peggy Hudon of Hood River. Ellen has studied French for several years and is now taking Span- ish at HRVHS. licious fruit it descended from its perch and slowly crept up to me. I was wor- ried that it was going to at- tack me, so I automatically froze. It reached up quickly and grabbed at the plastic bag I was holding. My mind was on the tasty, tropical fruit, and I was determined to not lose my perfectly ripe snack. I tugged on the bag and my mom nervously told me to “just let the monkey have it!” Sadly, I let the bag go and watched the monkey devour them thoughtlessly. One of the people we had the pleasure of meeting was a Belgian man named Ronnie Hermosa. He was a well-traveled videographer who worked with fair-trade organizations. He knew what to expect from India See TRAVEL, Page B7 Villagers in Rishikesh, India, top, surround Peggy Hudon of Hood River. “We were the minority there, so just about everywhere we went, people would stop and ask to take our photo with them,” Peggy said. “I think we might be on Facebook all over India,” she joked. (See page B6 for more on how the Hudons were warmly greeted wherev- er they went.) With Ellen Hudon is Gopal, a sadhu, or as- cetic, elder, of Rishkesh. Above, rice fields on the downhill part of a long morning hike in Rishikesh. At right, the view from a restaurant, one of Ellen’s first glimpses of the holy River Ganges. Photos by Ellen Hudon