Cities: Kolozsvar and Budapest

Cities

Kolozsvar Here are some photos of the dormitory at the Unitarian high school in Kolozsvar. In the summer, the dorm rooms are offered to travelling pilgrims for $20 (US) per night. I stayed in the dorm on my last night in Transylvania before coming home.
About half of the construction has been completed. Some members of UUFRC, along with other Unitarian Universalists and Unitarians from around the world, have donated money to help the project along.	The dorms are in the attic, which was previously unfinished. The support beams here alternate with skylights in the dining room. Breakfast is included in the room rate.
My friend, the Rev. Koppandi Botand, made sure that the air conditioning works in the new dorm room.

These two photos show the statue of Matyas Rex, which stands in the town square in Kolozsvar. The mayor of Kolozsvar (Cluj to the Romanians) is an ethnic Romanian. Under his direction, much of the square around the statue has been excavated and some Roman ruins reconstructed. The benches around the square have been painted in the colors of the Romanian flag. Many ethnic Hungarians interpret these changes as a direct insult and an attempt to erase the Hungarian influence on Kolozsvar.
Budapest
Here are some of the new friends I met at the International Association for Religious Freedom Congress. We all participated in the Young Adult Programme. From left to right, they are Darihun (a Unitarian from Khasi, India), Helen (a Unitarian Universalst from Virginia), Nora (A Lutheran from Budapest), Klara (a Muslim from Budapest), and her brother Aimen (a Muslim from Budapest). The Congress was held at the Economic University in Budapest, which still sports a statue of Karl Marx in its largest lecture hall.	Here I am with my suite mates from the Congress, Darihun and Nangroi, both Unitarians from Khasi, India.