In La Serena

Buenos dias! I have so much incredible good news to share with all of you- and such a short amount of time to do it-
We are now in La Serena, following the 7 hour bus trip on Tuesday- the bus trip itself was wonderful- we sat at the very front row, on the second story of a bus, so we could see the scenery perfectly and snap lots of pictures. I got to sit next to a La Serena native, an older woman named Marta who is a computer teacher, and who was very willing to slow down her spanish enough so that i could understand- she even gave us her phone number and wants us to come visit her home- which sounds wonderful because she loves to cook and has a garden and was oh so friendly- it was so encouraging to make a friend even before we got off the bus. She even helped us buy 'pasteles (pastries)' from some street vendors at a bus stop.
Yesterday we slept in then hit the beach- mainly picking up shells, but i had promised a friend that if i saw the ocean, then i would go in- so, despite, the cloudy and fairly cold weather- we were all wearing jackets/sweatshirts, i had to ride atleast one wave- it wasnt as cold as i thought but you definitely have to move fast to stay warm. Then began more orientation- such an incredible meeting, because we finally!! found out all the specifics about where we will be staying. Here are the high points.
Jenny and i will be living in an apartment in the back yard of an older couple- g'ma and g'pa we are told. We will be living in the small village of Gualliguiaca (not sure on spelling), which has about 300 families- and will be assisting the english teachers in the local school- a K through 6 school of 43 students on MWF. On T,H we will commute around the lake to the even smaller town of San Carlos with a total of 14 children in the school. There is a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains, on which many people windsurf, thanks to the ever constant winds in the afternoon. Sometimes when talking about my trip, i would refer to my homebase as a 'village', but would catch myself, thinking that it was probably a city- but, according to my supervisor, it really is best described as a 'rustic peasant village'- i could not be more excited- there are no stores or restaurants there so last night we went to Jumbo to make a grocery run for the next two weeks. There is no church in the village, but supposedly there are several believers. I would love to write more, but please pray that we would be a blessing to everyone we meet (in a week or two we will know by face everyone in the village) and that God would give us opportunities to share the gospel. I do not know what conditions to expect- but please pray that i would be excited and joyful no matter what our house/school looks like. Also, pray that i would be a blessing to our supervisor-knowing that i am ultimately here to be a small part in God's larger plan for this part of northern chile. There is no internet in our village- but, supposedly, we can walk some and then catch a bus to a bigger town, we can find some internet. Thankyou for all your prayers- Rebecca
Psalm 119:2- pray that i truly would seek Him with my whole heart.