Ahhhh ... success.

Hey everyone.

We are writing to you in zen, relaxed mode. We just took a leisurely swim in the hotel pool and are feeling pretty happy. The beautiful ocean is the most vibrant blue, and the wind is blowing and it is just gorgeous. But I won't torture you with all of that. Especially since we have such good news about today's work!

Today was one of the days we work with the girls the least - we get them from 9 to 11, and then they have an hour long health class, followed by lunch, and then they have academics all afternoon. But actually, we got quite a bit done in that short amount of time. We started off by playing "zip zap zop" - those of you who have done theater with Joel know what that is! -and the girls love it. They are getting better and better at it - and the pronunciation is also improving. We had lots and lots of laughs and smiles as we played, which, of course, is awesome. So we got off to a good start.

We ran what we had, which is the first scene. We even added a bit to it. Miraculously, as we were doing this work, Anna and I noticed that there was a lot of talking going on, but none of it was irrelevant. All of the girls were passionately engaged in the work - whether that meant being an active listener, or even taking a leadership role. Many girls stepped up today that had not previously - Edeleisa, Maria Ynez and Sarah to name a few. Although the constant arguments (and not really arguments - more like confusion) were frustrating for us at times, it was beautiful to see the girls getting so intense about the material. Something changed, and we couldn't identify what it was. But we now have an ensemble.

These girls, despite their differences, have managed to put everything aside to put their whole selves into this piece of theater. Sure, they still separate themselves by race a little bit. But the improvement is huge. All of the girls were laughing, working and making decisions together today. It was an enormous leap forward. We managed to get the entire first section (about corrupting influences - prostitution and drugs) done. That section consists of a group movement piece, an opinions section, and a group text piece that hits on the main points they wanted to make about drugs and prostitution. We ran the whole thing from the beginning a couple of times, and each time when the girls finished the section, they would all clap wildly with huge smiles on their faces. They would then run around the room and give Anna and I hugs, handshakes and smiles. It was pretty great.

Anna and I now plan to have the rest of the show roughly staged by the end of the week. We are psyched about it and actually although it may sound ambitious, it should be pretty easy now that they have this newfound commitment, energy and focus. Should be a pretty cool piece of theater. And already we can tell that it means a lot to them. We couldn't be prouder of each and every one of them.

Wishing you all relaxation and a nice ocean breeze,

Kelly and Anna