The Carillon bells at the YMCA in Jerusalem

  Last Sunday we walked over to the YMCA in west Jerusalem and met the Squires and they brought us up the tall tower and we got to play the carillon bells, which is a huge bell system attached to wooden keys you smash down to ring a particular bell. The view was awesome and the bells were super loud and brilliant. After looking out over the city and taking pictures we went into the carillon room. Jed and Jordan played some awesome songs; they are both musically trained and very talented. We would practice on a small practice deal then they would put us on the real thing. Just as we would sit down to play the song Brother Squires would say, “Now 300,000 people will be able to hear this so no pressure”. I was a little embarrassed because I had no idea how to read music so Sister Squires had to help me out. It was so cool to play such a powerful instrument. At noon, Brother Squires did the intro then we all hit the lowest pitched bell note once for every hour (12 times). After we went down into a really small and old chapel under the YMCA and we sang ‘Amazing Grace’ it sounded sweet. We then split up and Rachel Hughes, Andrew and I got a ride back to the Center with the Squires. They asked if we had been to the pita factory, after replying negative, Brother Squires took us into a way ghetto neighborhood on the east side in the northern part of the Kidron Valley. There was a small pita factory and for 5 shekels ($1.25) we got a bag of freshly baked, soft, warm pitas. They were soooo good! The guys working saw me taking pictures and then kept showing me more things to take pictures of, they were way nice. I came home and did some studying for the next week’s finals.

Brother and Sister Squires

The Bells

Where the magic happens