Nha Trang

So. We have arrived in Nha Trang. In fact today will mark a full week in this beach side hamlet. Nha Trang has a population of about 400,000 people, as opposed to Saigon's 8.2 million people, and covers only about 251 square kilometers. Nha Trang is primarily a tourist town. Situated in Nha Trang bay its's long sandy beach is fronted by hotels and resorts of every type. Behind the hotels rise the mountains which run along Vietnam's spine. It is generally considered the best beach in Vietnam, and one of the prettiest bays in the world. Dotted throughout the bay are islands with nature reserves and private resorts.

Panoramic of the bay. 

We are lucky enough that the bishop's compound where we are living with 100 of our closest seminarian friends is located almost directly on the beach. All that stands between us is the main north/south road through the city. So far we have been to the beach almost every day we have been here. While the breeze off the ocean pushes clouds inland for a clear blue sky, it also means the sun on the beach is very strong. Most hotels provide beach chairs with umbrellas for their customers, but there are also several enterprising restaurants who provide chairs and umbrellas so long as you are eating and drinking their food. We posted up at one of those establishments last Tuesday to recoup from our day long bus travel on Monday (memorial day in the states). It was called The Louisiane and it is also a brewhouse which makes a good dark beer. Chris was very happy.

Us on the beach - the large building behind us is the Bishop's compound. 

We didn't begin teaching until Thursday, and even now we only have three students. We will not reach our full class size until next week as seminarian students are still coming back from their summer holidays. We aren't sure exactly how many students we will have total, or if we will be able to continue teaching together or will need to split up. There are around 80 seminarians studying here during the year, but I don't think we will have all of them in class. Our current small group of students has actually already finished seminary, and will be ordained deacons in November, so we are working with them to improve their English should they want to do further study. Most advanced books on theology and philosophy are not available in Vietnamese, and masters level study would have to be undertaken in the Philippines, Australia, or even the US - in English.

Panoramic of one side of the courtyard in the Bishop's compound. 

We are currently only teaching for 3 and a half hours a day, much like in HCMC. We aren't sure what our schedule will look like once the year starts in earnest, but we have had lots of free time here, especially since we neither cook nor clean! We are responsible for our own laundry, but we eat with the seminarians who take care of all of the dishes. There is a group of sisters here that takes care of the cooking for the entire compound.

Nha Trang is an international tourist town, although not of the English speaking variety. There are many Vietnamese tourists, but the international ones are mostly Russian or Chinese. As such it seems that Chris and I will have to double down on our Vietnamese here. There are no English masses for us to attend and all prayers at the seminary are said in Vietnamese.

We will continue to update you as we settle into our new beach life - we always love getting comments and questions - so don't be shy!

-Kim and Chris