Ramadan 2011 -- the Artillery Shot to Signify the Sun Has Set

I was going to meet some friends for Iftar dinner but that got canceled, so I decided to head down to the Corniche area to find where they fire an artillery shell to tell everyone that the Sun has set (and that they can break their fast now).

It was pretty easy to find as a lot of cars were already there:


With a half-hour ago people were already crowding around the . . . what is it exactly? An artillery gun?


The police were there handing out Ramadan gift bags to children. There was also a Qatari reporter with a film crew wandering around doing some interviews and preparing to film the firing.


As the time approached more people arrived and more children immediately ran to the gun. Forget ice cream trucks, you want to attract kids in a hurry bring out the heavy artillery! (I swear, there's a gun under all those kids) :)


As the time approached they cleared everyone away


Prepared the gun


Fire!


They fired the gun so quickly it totally caught me off guard and by the time I took the picture I was already enveloped in smoke.

Anyway the smoke cleared and everyone left to go have their Iftar meal


I walked across the street to the Corniche, ate some dates and a banana that I brought with me, and watched the skyline. I have a Sohour dinner that I'm attending tonight so I didn't want to eat too much.


That was pretty cool.

_