The 1st of September

13 days ago was a much awaited feast in Libya.... the famous 1st of September - the so called Al Fateh Day......

This year, the G.S.P.L.A.J. - for those who don't know this is the offical name of Libya - and not the postcode!!!! (Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) - celebrated its 37th anniversary of the Great Al Fateh Revolution, the day which marks the beginning of the Libyan Revolution of September 1st 1969 by Ghaddafi to overthrow King Idris.

Tripoli was like a Christmas tree.... lights haphazourdly hung everywhere, little green flags all over the place, the big poster signs with Ghaddafi's face on them and big 36s were now changed to contain the exact same portrait but have a big 37 instead!!! Even the Emad Towers were beautifully lit and every building had a massive 37 sign on it commemorating the 37years of the Colonel's years..... It felt like christmas but instead of stars and bells you had big 37s....

the 37 sign outside our office

Usually nothing much happens in Tripoli on Al Fateh day, people take a day off, families stay at home and eat their usual massive Libyan Meals. Usually a big Military Parade is held in one of the cities in Libya. People only know which city it is on the day intself.... so all the cities make it a point to have the best decorations. Usually Sebha is the chosen city as its the city of the Colonel... however this year it was Benghazi and Ras Bajjda...... so as there was nothing much to do in Tripoli we decided to entertain ourselves in another way...

We decided to attend a Grand Prix..... Nah... unfortunately it was not the sort of Grand Prix one would expect... big racing cars and their sexy drivers!!! It was a Remote Control Car Grand Prix, and their middle aged owners!!!!

the racing course and a bunch of Libyan kids amazing at how these '0ld' people still play with remote control cars!

The race consisted of 10 laps of a race course constructed with a piece of rope by the sea. The pit stop consisted of the owners running up three flights of stairs, quenching their thirst and running back down again......

It was quite interesting in an awkard way!!! Hey, although I've walked around the Grad Prix stadum in Spa, I've never been to a 'real' Grand Prix..... besides, nothing better to do on a Friday, especially if it is a public holiday!!!

... and the race begins...

The race went fine, though I never figured out who won, as some crazy kid decided it would be fun to drive their car on the race track where all the little cars were driving!!!!! It was funny but sad!!! Unfortunately I did not grab my camera on time to get a snapshot of this!!