No Dr. Sues ryhming action intended! Regardless, who wants to join the forces with me? They’re giving away Porsches

This is a repost from last year’s blog with some updates.

Qatar is building on the number of events to celebrate National Day year on year. There are a number of huge milestones and events that have lead up to this as well. Qatar’s definitely in the spotlight thanks to mega event after event (World Cup, COP18, Arab Spring involvement, Katara expansions, etc… etc…) and Doha will continue to shine bright as long as changes keep happening.

Why are Qataris so proud? Well we haven’t had that much to be proud of for a long time. Our Emir has brought so much change and development to Qatar that it’s something to almost brag about. A typical Qatari will gladly sacrifice a lot for his country. The Emir has done so much to make our lives better, so why don’t we lift the burden off of his shoulders a bit and try to help?

So whether you’re Qatari, American, British, Indian, Philipino, Japanese, Korean, Lebanese, Pakistani, Chinese or any other nationality (let’s face it, Qatar is a melting pot of diversity), please celebrate National Day with us! Let happiness flow through you like a rush of energy. Think positive and have hope for a fantastic future. Think of each firework that goes off on December 18 as the sound of the country’s heartbeat. WE are Qatar.

One common question I’m asked is how is it that Qatar changed National Day’s date? It never changed. They’re thinking of Independence day, which is on the 3rd of September. Here’s some more info about National Day (from QatarNationalDay.qa):

On 18 December 1878, Sheikh Jassem bin Mohamed bin Thani succeeded his father as the ruler of Qatar. With that, Qatar became a country with a vision… a country that would find unity, grow rapidly, and reach toward ever higher heights.

National Day, also known as Founder’s Day, celebrates the rise of Sheikh Jassem as the father and founder of the State of Qatar. And yet this holiday is a mere two years old: it was founded in 2007 to give people an occasion to honour the history and identity of their country, and to commemorate those who have worked and continue to work to make Qatar a great nation.

The 18th of December is a special day – a day of unity for the people of Qatar. We want you to be a part of it!

Of course don’t forget to check out www.qatarnationalday.qa for all events and great content.

Interested in sponsoring iLoveQatar.net or particular activities? Drop the team an email at contact@iloveqatar.net

Screening Date: December 6, 2012
Time: 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Venue: HBKU Student Centre, Education City

Red Bull 60 Seconds is coming to Qatar to give all university students the opportunity to show how creative they can be, in 60 seconds, with the “WINGS” concept. Students compete individually or in teams of three and film a 60 seconds clip with any HD camera / smartphone. The competition’s theme is “WINGS” so it is up to the teams to figure out how creative wings can get. All the submitted clips will be screened on December 6, 2012 at HBKU Student Center, Education City – THE CINEMA.

Clips will be judged on:
- Creativity
- Theme relevance
- Music integration

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

- All students must submit their student ID number upon registration
- All teams must ensure that content filmed respects Qatari laws
- Maximum number of team members is 3
- At least one member from the team must attend the screening on December 6, 2012
- Clip may be in any language
- Profane language or content will lead to immediate disqualification

SUBMISSION DATES

November 25, 2012: Entry Opens
December 4, 2012: Entry Closes
December 6, 2012: Clip Screening and Judging

To register: redbull60seconds@qa.redbull.com
Technical queries: +974 66004820

RSVP on Facebook to attend! Click here

Hey everyone! We’ve finally finished the Qatar Choice Awards video thanks to a great ILQ supporter alexklim.com (please show him some support and visit his page).

Please share this video! ^_^

We told you that we’d put together a fabulous event and award ceremony and we hope that you feel that we kept our promise.

The video celebrates the winners and hopefully we’ll see more of you attending next year!

The ILQ – iloveqatar.net, Qatar Happening, and Diyafa Qatar are already planning next year and of course we hope to give you all an even bigger voice

Now head on over to the forums and join the great community! Stop hanging out on facebook all the time. –> ILQ FORUMS

I received this from RedBull Qatar. It’s for their upcoming Flying Bach event which sold out almost instantly. It’s happening at Katara (ILQ’s home). www.katara.net

Check it out! We need more of this ajeebness to spread around Qatar.

Tomorrows the day to celebrate Garangao [Ga-ran-ga-oh] (or sometimes called Gir-ga-oon)

Garangao, celebrated on the 14th day of Ramadan, is special to the Gulf region , particularly Qatar, and is believed to have its roots in the pearl-diving tradition of the region. Over the years, the festival has gained more popularity with several expatriates joining the celebrations.

This evening, children, clad in their traditional clothes, will come out of their homes and knock on every door in their neighbourhood, which will be ready to receive them with sweets and nuts. They collect the goodies in the special cotton bags, hanging loosely from their necks. Kids will be seen wandering around the streets until late into the night singing the special Garangao song.

Now people are not just interested in buying the goodies, but they go for the specially designed packets and bags decorated with popular cartoon characters and other symbols dear to the children. So shops are vying to offer new and attractive designs. The prices of these packets range from QR5 to QR50, according to the size and varieties of the goodies.

Several Qatari clubs and organizations, which are instrumental in popularizing the festival, have come out with a variety of cultural events to mark the occasion, as in the previous years.

I remember when I was young, we’d all go around singing songs to the different homes and filling our bags with sweets! It was great! I encourage all nationalities to enjoy this festive occassion

Katara, iLoveQatar’s home, has something great set up too! Interested? Click here! http://iloveqatar.net/forum/read.php?27,36279

The Garangao song!

Here’s the song! Play it loud!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7kpZEKgvQU&feature=player_embedded

Lyrics:

Garangao Girga oh.
Atoona allah yateekum
Bayt Mecca ya wadeekum
Ya Mecca Yal mamoora
Yam il salasil wal thahab ya noora
Atoona min mal allah
Yislam lakum Abdulla.

Now this part of the song is special. You usually end it with the family name or the name of the father of the house (if you know it). So the ending of the song changes. For example:

Khalifa:
Atoona dahbat leefa
Salam Ala Khalifa

Translation:

Garangao Girga oh
Give us what God gave you
To Mecca he’ll take you
The greatly filled Mecca
Covered with tassles, gold and light
Give us what God  have given
Abdulla greets you with smiles

Khalifa:

Please give me us a bit of sweets

Please say hi to Khalifa.

So who’s going to be the first person to memorize and sing the song?

HAPPY GARANGAO EVERYONE!

Just wanted to give you all an update We broke the world record for the largest game of Hide & Seek. It was held at Katara and over 1,200 people came on down to participate.

Way to go!

I wanted to give you all a reminder on something fun we’re partnering with Luminescence events to put together. You’ve probably already seen all the tweets, posts, listings, and all that fun stuff, but since we’re getting so close to the event, it’s about time that we brought this back to the top of people’s minds.

There’s a lot of serious stuff in the world, so when Luminescence events told us they had this great idea, we had to be a part of it. It’s a chance for all of us to feel youthful again AND break a world record while we’re at it! It’s an attempt to break the world record for the largest game of Hide & Seek and it’s at Katara too! Isn’t that great? So come on down, and join us! Shout outs go to all the sponsors and partners including Katara, Qatar Red Crescent, and Stenden!

Hide & Seek Twitter
Hide & Seek Facebook
Event Listing on ILQ 

I decided to Vlog at the Qatar Motor Show !
Now although I love cars, I’m not super techinical, but I hope you still enjoy it!