* ROB&nbsp; [August 6]:Thursday was the most interesting day yet. In the morning, Brandon and I visited a drop-in center/temporary shelter on the outskirts of Budapest.&nbsp; We also traveled in the crisis car, an outreach vehicle which travels around Budapest looking for street homeless folks. <img alt="" src="/home/pictur11/public_html/blog/files/image/van_jpg.jpg"

We later met up with Lynn and James after they visited a street newspaper.&nbsp; We all had lunch in an outdoor courtyard restaurant which features artists' works and has American jazz music blaring over a nice sound system. <img src="/home/pictur11/public_html/blog/files/image/dinn(1).jpg" alt="" /><br />&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>

In the evening, Brandon and I visited a die-in protest in front of the Parliment Building. The day ended with a trip to the castle on the Buda side of the River Danube. <img src="/home/pictur11/public_html/blog/files/image/palace(1).jpg" alt=""  class="rtecenter">***</p><p class="rtecenter">* ROB&nbsp; [August 7]:>Friday was a more relaxed day.&nbsp; We met with Tessza at a little sidewalk cafe in downtown Budapest to discuss the workshops which were scheduled for Saturday, Sunday and Monday.&nbsp; Afterwards, Brandon, Lynn, and I walked around the downtown.&nbsp; Like most big cities, Budapest is going through changes.&nbsp; There is a major construction project to add a new subway line -- and there are many vacant buildings, which may be the result of landlords' speculation.</p><p>We ended the day attending a funeral for a Roma woman who was killed while her young daughter was badly wounded. There is a lot of discrimination in Hungary directed towards Roma people.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>